Everyone else was baffled at why anyone would boo Magglio who is easily the star of the Venezualan team and a genuinely nice player, which is hard to come by. The guy goes out of his way to sign autographs for everyone right up until his coach beckons him to the bench before the first pitch. Not just during Venezualan games, but Tigers games as well, home and away (I've been to both). And this wasn't a one time thing, they did it both games I attended and have continued the tradition when Venezuala moved to the final rounds in Miami. It got to the point where his team members were coming off the bench and signalling fans to cut it out.
Magglio has been batting... well, normally, but nowhere near his regular self. He has a .312 career batting average - last year he hit .318, and in 2007 he averaged .363. In the Classic games, his average has sunk to .150, just over his spring training statistics, where he has only had three at bats. This is abysmal. He had 21 homeruns last year and 178 hits, and that was a BAD season. You can tell the fans are really getting to him, he usually has a hop in his step and a big goofy smile on, but he appears sullen and depressed.
My thing is, I hate teams that boo their own players. The Leafs are notorious for this, and it's part of the reason why the team deflates and chokes and players get distracted. I believe you can be displeased with players on your team, but you should keep quiet. If a player isn't doing well, more than likely, he will be traded - management doesn't need your boos to know whether or not to trade a player.
You should treat players you don't like as a dysfunctional member of your family. You shouldn't harass them til they leave, just pray silently by your bed at night that they get better or get traded. For Magglio, he doesn't need to improve, he's already the best on the team. And he can't be traded, this is the World Classic, you are supposed to play where you are born, and we all know you don't choose where you're born any more than you choose the dysfunctional members of your family.
The reasoning behind all this? Magglio has publicly supported Venezualan leader Hugo Chavez, who in February just passed a law that can allow him to remain as the President forever, as long he keeps winning elections. Sorry, there was a referendum on whether or not he should be allowed to pass this law, and popular vote approved it. That means that most of the people IN Venezuala (not the ones who have left and are living in Miami) approve enough of Chavez to keep him in power indefinitely. Now I'm not an expert on Venezualan politics, they may be corrupt, but do you think one of the biggest names to come out of the country would publically support a leader he (and the majority of the country) believed was good? I just find this hard to swallow.
Even so, I'm sure many players in the MLB supported Bush when he was unpopular. This would never have happened here, especially if the player in question was the best on the team. In any event, the Venezualans have managed to make it to the semi-finals with the rest of their star-studded roster having to overcompensate (Miguel Cabrera, Carlos Guillen, Bobby Abreu, Endy Chavez and the various Blancos). What the fans are doing, however, is rendering their biggest gun almost ineffective. It's leaving a huge hole in their lineup, a hole in the field and it means other team members have to work harder. Other teams don't have this problem, so it may be only natural that the Venezualan team will fall just short. And if they don't make it to the finals (they should, the USA team is quite disadvantaged next to them) the only ones that can be blamed are the fans.
Shame on you, Venezualan fans. As Magglio said in an interview, "baseball and politics don't mix." Nor should they. This is the same drudge that happens during the Olympics all the time that everyone hates. Keep your politics off the ball field!
-- the golden girl
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