August 22, 2008

Dear Jimmy Rollins,

I attended last night’s Phillies Nationals game and per your request, I cheered you. I cheered you despite the fact that that you attacked my character as a fan; despite the fact that you blamed me for your .261 batting average, eight home runs and and 42 RBIs this season; despite the fact that you continually refuse to run out simple ground balls and play hard like we have all grown accustomed to you doing; despite the fact that you refuse to take ownership of your own failings this year, I cheered you.

During your interview on the Best Damn Sports Show Period you indicated that I, as a fan, should not boo you, or any other Phillies player, when you come to bat. Your point, I believe, was that booing before you have even had an opportunity to succeed or fail is self-defeating, that just because you grounded into an inning ending double play your last time at bat, you still have a job to do this at bat and booing just makes it harder for you to do that job. You asked that we cheer you and show you support and encouragement when you come to bat. We need to show you that we are behind you, that we support you and want to see you succeed.

I agree with you. I disagree with the way you went about making that point, by attacking (completely unprovoked I might add) our character and our actions instead of simply stating, “Hey, we are all in this together. Both us the players and you the fans want to see us win and make the playoffs and succeed, so lets work together. We’ll make a deal with you, if you cheer us and support us and show your encouragement, we will promise to give it our all, leave it all out on the field, hustle every play, and try our best to win each and every game we play.” Instead you called us front runners, which you apparently meant to infer that we only cheer and support you when you are doing well and that just makes your job harder.

Again, I agree with your intended point. So last night I attended a game for the first time since you made your now infamous request. Each time you came to bat I cheered you. I even cheered you after your at bats. What I don’t understand, however, is why it didn’t work? You still grounded out three times and popped out once, including a critical ground out in the seventh inning with Geoff Jenkins on second base that would have given the bullpen the added cushioning they needed to win the game.

What I really do not understand is after making those comments, you still are not hustling. How can you not hustle out your first two ground outs of the game? Your teammate Shane Victorino showed why every baseball player is taught in little league to run out every play in that same seventh inning (for the record, you did run it out on your ground out in that inning). Victorino grounded out to Washington third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, but he flew down the line like he had hit in the left field corner. Since Victorino is so fast (much like yourself) it added pressure and urgency on Zimmerman to make the throw and it forced him to hurry the play and he ended up making a throwing error and Victorino made it to second. He would later score, tying the game.

If you want me to cheer you before every at bat, I think the least you could do is hustle on every play. So I’ll make you this deal, if you hustle every single play from now until the end of the season, I will cheer you before every single at bat.

I am willing to do my part, are you?

Sincerely,