Wes Helms speaks out (Booing former Brewers)

[Thurston Fluff]

If I thought the fans booed Helms on opening day because he came in out of shape after signing his contract I would understand. I doubt most of them did so for that reason since most of them probably didin't know that. They booed him because of his previous bad play. Seems to me the start of a new year would be the time for some encouraging cheering instead of kicking a guy as he's trying to get back on his feet.

I only boo when I feel players are dogging it. Not running out a grounder, lazy or sloppy defense that sort of thing.

[IIAY]

I wonder if Prince will be booed in 2011 when he returns to Milwaukee wearing pinstripes.

[Invader3K]

I view a lot of the booing of former players as a little more tongue in cheek than anything. I don't think most of the people booing someone like Brady Clark actually hate the guy.

[brewcrew00]

I just need to say that I have lived in St. Louis, and attended games, and they are terribly boring, and the fans seem as if they could take naps when they are there. They are far from the best fans in baseball, they are arrogant. "Baseball Heaven" is a joke, the announced 41,000 a game is a joke, they average an actual of roughly 25-30,000.

[joepepsi]

By and large I think booing is stupid. It's like hating the guy who worked in the cubby next to you because he left for a better paying job. Carlos Lee leaving was good for the team and good for him. Thanks for the good times, Carlos, no hard feelings.

 

Wasn't Wes released so the Brewers wouldn't be stuck overpaying through arbitration? If that move angers you, then boo Doug Melvin.

[valpocrewsader]

I view a lot of the booing of former players as a little more tongue in cheek than anything. I don't think most of the people booing someone like Brady Clark actually hate the guy.

It took a lot of posts for this point to be brought up, and I think it hits the nail on the head. The casual booing heard for former Brewers is nothing more than the 5 seconds of ribbing you give your best friend who goes out of state to college and comes over to your house on break wearing an Gophers t-shirt.

[homer]

I view a lot of the booing of former players as a little more tongue in cheek than anything. I don't think most of the people booing someone like Brady Clark actually hate the guy.

It took a lot of posts for this point to be brought up, and I think it hits the nail on the head. The casual booing heard for former Brewers is nothing more than the 5 seconds of ribbing you give your best friend who goes out of state to college and comes over to your house on break wearing an Gophers t-shirt.

Apparently, Wes Helms doesn't see it that way.

[JJHardy7]

I don't think booing Davis is right or to an extent Clark. Clark did get an extension and didn't pan out, but it at least appeared he was trying. Showing up out of shape and then playing poorly like Helms is a no no. Some may say Sheets shows up out of shape, but he still manages (when healthy) to pitch to his standard. I'd boo Helms, but not Davis or Clark. If booing Helms pumps him up, we should've booed him every at bat when he was on the team.

[JJHardy7]

Balkin,

 

Did Uecker really say that about Estrada? If he did, that's hilarious.

[don1481]

I can see booing Wes Helms, Jeffrey Hammonds, or other players that are commonly-perceived to have "ripped off" the Brewers (in Helms' case, by not showing up in shape after the contract; in Hammonds' case, by never being able to make it through an entire season). However, there's no reason why the fans should be booing players like Cirillo, Davis, or Clark. All three of those guys "played it the right way."

 

That said, I think Wes' comments are a tad out of line; does he forget why he was ridden out of town, or does he still blame it on a wet ramp in Puerto Rico...?

[bucks2281]

Davey Lopes is the Phillies' third base coach, and I didn't hear one person boo him during the three games this weekend. I thought he deserved boos more than Wes Helms did.

[don1481]

Bucks, I'm sure that if Davey Lopes was the Phillies' manager and was announced as such at the start of the game, he probably would have been booed. Wes Helms was announced each time he came up to bat. He was the center - for that moment - of everyone's attention. Granted, Wes is nowhere near as "boo-able" as, say Gary Sheffield, but in many people's eyes he did "wrong" the club and accordingly got booed.

[kgbaseball]

This all comes with the new wave of casual/bandwagon fans since the Brewers have been doing well this year, and it's not going to stop. Personally, I don't boo anybody but Barry Bonds, and that's only because he's the biggest jerk in the game.

[BrewCrewForever]

I to didnt and wouldnt boo a player like Brady Clark or Carlos Lee. But Wes Helms deserves it. We trade for him before the 2003 season and he plays good at 3B and hits 23 HR. Seems good? Then in 2004 gets the money shows up out of shape, cant hit worth a crap and made numerous bonehead errors. Had a little better year at the plate in 2005, but with hardly any power and still played crappy 3B and 1B. Screw Helms he deserves to get booed.

 

Edit: You can throw Cirillo in that group with Lee and Clark that I wouldnt boo, and if someday Jenkins goes elswhere and comes back him to.

[RobertR]

I'm also in the camp that thinks booing former players is mostly lame. Heck, there was a sizable chunk of people that booed Paul Molitor when he left after all he had done for the team and the apparent non-interest by Bando in resigning him. What was he supposed to do, retire?

 

Gary Sheffield is the only former Brewer that actually deserves the boos he gets. Other than that, what have most other former Brewers done except play up to or down to their abilities?

 

Robert

[sheethead]

While I agree that booing guys like Brady Clark and Doug Davis is wrong booing is part of the game and is done in almost every stadium. If you think the fans of Milwaukee are bad you should see how disgusting New York fans are.

Exactly. How about booing a perennial MVP that plays for your own team?!?! Wes Helms needs to relax and think about all the money he stole from this organization and block out the boos. Get a helmet Wes. I for one don't boo that often, but I realize there are many fans on the bandwagon. Many of those fans are less than ideal people to sit next to, and many don't know jack about the team or the sport. Let them boo, they paid their money. I would rather have a stadium full of people booing Wes Helms than have 15K not caring what the outcome of the game is.

[crewcrazy]

I view a lot of the booing of former players as a little more tongue in cheek than anything. I don't think most of the people booing someone like Brady Clark actually hate the guy.

It took a lot of posts for this point to be brought up, and I think it hits the nail on the head. The casual booing heard for former Brewers is nothing more than the 5 seconds of ribbing you give your best friend who goes out of state to college and comes over to your house on break wearing an Gophers t-shirt.

 

I can see that as a reasonable point, but if you boo guys like Helms or Clark in jest, doesn't that take away some of the meaning of booing Gary Sheffield or anyone else who you have strong negative feelings about?

[Fatter than Joey]

Wes Helms needs to relax and think about all the money he stole from this organization and block out the boos. Get a helmet Wes.

 

I think Wes was trying to make a point, that when you boo a marginal player like him, it gives the player more motivation.

[sheethead]

Wes Helms needs to relax and think about all the money he stole from this organization and block out the boos. Get a helmet Wes.

 

I think Wes was trying to make a point, that when you boo a marginal player like him, it gives the player more motivation.

I agree this was partly his point, but he also claimed that's how people are in this town. The only reason he doesn't get booed anywhere else is because no place else knows him like we do. I completely agree booing a player gives him more motivation.

[HebrewHammer]

Who cares if you boo. If you paid to get in you have the right to boo whoever you want for whatever reason.

[jason21nl]

I don't boo, but I don't get mad at the people that do boo. They paid the money for the ticket, and the players are on other team now. If people want to boo Helms and Lee go right ahead, they don't play for us anymore. Booing your own players can go both ways. You dont boo Helms or other teammates at the start of the year during intros but if a player on your team is dogging it, or giving up 3 run leads in the 9th, you have every right to boo.

[crewcrazy]

Who cares if you boo. If you paid to get in you have the right to boo whoever you want for whatever reason.

That's certainly a valid point, but where do you draw the line? Is it okay to berate stadium staff because you supposedly pay their salaries? Or is harassment only acceptable towards the players?

 

[HOF4canrake]

I think if a player had a nice run for the team and did not leave on horrible terms, he deserves a nice hand for his first appearance of the game.

However, for people who like to boo (I rarely do), I wish they would boo every player on the opposing team because they are the enemy.

[HebrewHammer]

Who cares if you boo. If you paid to get in you have the right to boo whoever you want for whatever reason.

That's certainly a valid point, but where do you draw the line? Is it okay to berate stadium staff because you supposedly pay their salaries? Or is harassment only acceptable towards the players?

 

Booing is within the context of a sporting event. Booing an usher isn't in any context that is regarded as acceptable. Part of the game is cheering and jeering players. Cheering and jeering stadium staff isn't what reasonable people would deem part of the game.

So long as the people booing don't interlace it with publicly unacceptable behaviors, such as profanity, etc, there shouldn't be an issue.

The real question now is what to do with opposing fans? That is, where is the line between jeering a fan booing your team (or cheering for the away team) drawn between "game time fun" and disorderly conduct? I'd argue that when watching your home team, jeering an opposing fan should be considered acceptable. That is as long we nothing is a direct personal attack, lewd or profane, etc. For instance, yelling at a cheering Cubs fan to go back to Illinois is acceptable. Calling them a FIB is probably borderline, but could be framed in a context that is either acceptable or clearly not, and swearing at them or publicly debating their apparent weight problem is probably off limits.

I guess the theme is context. Jeering players is almost always within an acceptable context. Jeering opposition fans has a lot of gray area. Jeering stadium employees is almost always unacceptable.

 

[pitchleague]

you know, I still only partially understand the semi-hatred of Wes Helms by Brewers fans. Yeah, I understand that he wasn't God's Gift to Great Sporting Bodies but he was just starting to play the way we expected when he got hurt in Puerto Rico. That was the end. Suddenly he was the worst Brewer player just because he slipped on some wet cement in the dugout.

 

For the record, I always liked the guy. I was disappointed that he wasn't a second coming of Mike Schmidt but he wasn't that bad of a player when healthy.