Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Booing unfair to Castro

Starlin Castro is only 20-years-old. He made his Wrigley Field debut for the Chicago Cubs against the Florida Marlins Monday night and promptly made 3 errors in the Cubs 4-2 loss to the Fish.
The Wrigley Field faithful booed.
Castro is only 20-years-old.
He didn't skip high school and jump right to the Major Leagues.
He didn't politic to make the Big League squad out of spring training.
He didn't beg or plead to be called up from the minors this early.
He has gone about his business the best he could in the minors at DOUBLE A Tennessee so far this season and was being patient.
The Cubs, needing an offensive spark, called him up, mostly on his offensive merits.
The fans' booing was way out of line. I don't care that the guy drove in a MLB record 6 runs in his debut or smacked a 3-run homer in his first at bat against the Reds.
The kid is 20-years-old. He is going to make mistakes.
Shame on the fans for booing him like he was a seasoned-veteran.
I know what you are thinking. The guy is a professional and is getting paid to play the game. Fans pay their money and deserve the right to boo. I normally agree. Not this time.
Boo A-Fraud for, well, you know. Boo Milton Bradley for acting the way he does. Boo Ken Griffey Junior for allegedly napping in the clubhouse when he could have pinch hit in a game. Boo Radley. Oh, sorry. Got carried away there. That's something for my literary blog (which will probably never exist).
You get my point.
Maybe Castro's sparkling debut in Cincinnati raised the bar too high, too soon. The kid played in 26 AA games this year. Last season he played in 94 games in A ball and only 31 games in AA ball.
In 2008 he played 51 games in the Arizona League and in 2007 he played in the Dominican Summer League. Those two leagues are lower than the the Midwest League where the Dayton Dragons play (not a knock on the MWL, just a reference point).
So you can see, this kid is more than wet behind the ears.
Let's let him towel off a bit before we shower him with boos.

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