Farzetta: Seinfeld's Wrong, All-Star Booing Is Right
By Marc Farzetta
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Lifelong Mets fan Jerry Seinfeld isn't happy with how his fellow fanbase booed players during Tuesday night's All Star game introductions at Citi Field. While voicing his displeasure, the comic also managed to work in a jab at the Philly fan base.
"It was shameful. Name another city they would do that in besides Philly." Seinfeld told WFAN's Steve Somers on Wednesday. "They didn't [boo] in the Bronx in 2008! Undignified."
Well thanks for bringing us into the mix, Mr. Seinfeld, but that's more exaggerated than Larry David's George Steinbrenner impression. And the fans did boo at the Bronx in 2008. Specifically, they booed Chase Utley, leading to Utley's famous quote, "Boo? F*** you."
Booing players you don't like is part of being a fan, even if it IS at the All-Star game. The fact that a player you don't like, who plays for a team you don't like, is suddenly an All-Star, doesn't make them immune to the boo. If anything it makes the boo more venomous. 'Oh you think you're a big shot All-Star? Well you still suck!' That's what an All-Star boo means.
There have been plenty of cities outside New York and Philadelphia that have booed their rivals at the Mid-Summer Classic. The single best example comes from a city that nobody would think of. Not New York. Not Philly. Not Chicago or LA, but the "Charm City" itself, Baltimore. In this case the fans booing the intros actually affected the game.
To set the scene, it was 1993 and the Orioles were hosting the game at Camden Yards. The O's and Toronto Blue Jays had great rivalry going in the early 90's. As a result, all SEVEN Blue Jay All-Stars that were introduced had boos raining down upon them. Of course, the guy who heard it the most was Public Enemy #1 in Baltimore and later that year in Philly was Joe Carter. As a result of the fan's actions' AL and Blue Jays Manager, Cito Gaston purposely kept Orioles pitcher Mike Mussina on the bench and never used him throughout the 9-3 AL win.
As for other comments Seinfeld made about the boos...
"This is one of the lowest moments of my lifetime of Mets fandom, when the Citi Field crowd was booing teams that they see as a rival to their Mets team and I'm standing there, I was in shock. I was embarrassed. I thought it was horrible manners. These are the best players, in the game you love, that have come here to put on a show for you, and we're booing them like 5-year-olds as if there's some sort of real animosity. The American League is not the Taliban. [Why] are we booing Miguel Cabrera?"
Seinfeld did go on to say he felt somewhat redeemed as a Mets fan, when the crowd gave Yankees Reliever and future Hall of Famer, Mariano Rivera his ovation in the 8th inning. He also never specifically mentioned either Dominic Brown or Cliff Lee during his interview. Due to the fact he was at the game, I assume he is unaware of the death stare Lee offered the home audience while he was receiving his portion of the boo.
Marc Farzetta is a sports anchor and host for 94WIP, follow him on Twitter @marcfarzetta.
