Orlando Hudson lashes out at Padres fans for booing the team

earlier in the week re: booing one’s own team. But regardless of your position on that separate issue, Orlando comes off as a bitter a-hole here. Fans boo because they’re jealous not to have been “blessed” with superior talent? No, fans boo to express displeasure (for the most part). (Fans in Philadelphia don’t count.)

Isn’t that special.

I’d say someone should take him up on the offer.

He certainly has the free time based on his nitwitter activity.

I saw the one yesterday that starts “Pads fans” and I was totally with him on that one. Some of this other stuff I can’t say I’m a fan of and it does make him sound petty. Don’t ruin it, O-Dawg! I was liking following you, bub!

It had the wrong effect he was hoping for. I didn’t know hawpe was playing THAT badly. Worse than I thought he was.

I think that speaks for itself.

the team has sucked so far, but the fans have sucked too. sometimes team leaders chew out their teammates to start a fire inside them (i.e. michael jordan). perhaps o-dawg is doing the same with the fans. god knows if you’re a padre fan, you like the abuse.

that the small (in baseball terms) second baseman who wear the ‘Marvin the Martian’ double-flap helmet is calling everyone lil buddy.

“…well that’s the reason why they’re fans, they can’t play, they can’t play at this level, some have tried and got cut at the HS level or whatever. We’re the ones that are blessed enough and got talent enough to make it to the big leagues….”

There’s a difference between playing in the big leagues and winning in the big leagues, and I think we’re seeing that.

I’m a “boo-er”. It happens. If I am displeased about the performance of my team, I will let them know that. The team exists to win, not be an also-ran. And I feel like Hudson here is justifying this poor play by getting upset with those who have righful complaints. Hawpe hasn’t performed. Things haven’t gone according to plan. I don’t understand though why beration of the fans (who pay the salary of the players through ticket sales) is a good way to deal with it. I almost want to say that it’s childish to act that way, a la Milton Bradley.

If they truly are winning ballplayers, they will play well in spite of their issues, not make excuses and attack those who are basically stating the obvious.

If he made these comments while playing for either NY team, Boston, Philly or Chicago, fans would call for his head. I was in Chicago when Milton Bradley (sorta) called out Cubs fans and it was not pretty.

But winning will.

He can’t be very bright. Maybin says something about Panda Express, something tangentially-related to the Padres, and he gets a talkin’ to. Directly insulting fans? THAT’S A PADDLIN’!

Pipe down, guy.

I could ask Bud Black 2 put u in da lineup an we can see how many runs u drive in

Well it can’t be less than zero, so it’s worth a shot

i think most of you know where i stand after monday’s rant.

although, calling out the fans seems a bit unprofessional.

Didnt something similar happen in NY with Jeter a few years ago?

I like o-dog, but I dont think this is the best way to address this, if he should even address it all.

twitter is a whole different medium… one of the guys was saying “you guys should thank denorfia for keeping the team ba above .200”… its not like a generic taunt from the stands. twitter is different in that it’s more face-to-face and personal (relatively speaking).

it’s like if you’re having a bad day at work, you don’t really expect someone to write on your wall “way to blow it with those TPS reports, buddy.” you kind of leave yourself open to that sort of thing with twitter.

that said, the tactful thing would have been to let it roll off his back, but i don’t think it’s the same as ripping the entire fanbase.

It takes a lot to get San Diego fans booing, so if you’re getting boos here you definitely deserve it.

He’s been here a month and he’s telling us how to act? Go back to the Dodgers or the Twins, I don’t really want him here anymore, he can leave with Hawpe.

This just really rubs me the wrong way. Maybe he can pick up a dictionary with all that dough he’s rolling in playing at such a high level.

Baseball players get paid millions of dollars to entertain, generate morale, and cater to the fanbase. It’s an industry, and the customers in this case are the fans. It’s a bit like if you plunk down $35 bucks (from a job that likely pays you less than $1 million) for a movie and then find out that it is terrible (a la Dreamcatcher, Skyline, or the prequel Star Wars trilogy), you’re immediate reaction is going to voice your displeasure. Maybe you walk out. Maybe you shift in your seat. Maybe you throw stuff at the screen. Maybe you boo.

It’s one thing to ask the fans not to boo you because you’re trying your best, but it’s another to talk down to them or stubbornly make ridiculous arguments that fly in the face of common knowledge. We’re not paid to cater to the player. The player is paid to entertain the fans, and if the player does a bad job after the fans have paid to see a game then there are not a lot of options left for fans to do. We can’t demand refunds.

So, with respect to O-Dawg’s challenge: Yes, I will gladly play in place of one of the Padres for a day. Just make sure that I receive that player’s daily salary in compensation, and that you adhere to your “don’t boo the player” philosophy while I’m there and performing at the same level as that player I’m replacing.

I think there is a major difference between booing the TEAM and booing an individual player. I can handle the team sucking and being out played by every other team, as long as each player is out there playing hard and giving 100% all the time. It’s obvious that some of these guys are not a good fit for PetCo and were just brought in to fill a roster spot. I was born a Padres fan (In fact, my Parents had tickets to a double header at the Murph the day I was born and instead my Mom went into labor), and I will never be anything other than a Padres fan. Through the ups and the downs I simply just look at it as “entertainment.” Last year was a great season, and although I wanted it to end much differently, I refused to be disappointed in how things turned out. That team WAY exceeded my expectations, and that’s all I could ask for. Some years (like this one), they aren’t meeting my expectations. But I still watch and I still care. The bottom line is, fans want to see a winner. Or at least a competitive team. We aren’t getting either of those things and it’s frustrating. While I may not agree with the booing, us fans really have no other means of expressing our disgust. Orlando is totally out of bounds by attacking fans the way he has. No, we don’t get paid to play baseball. We are actually paying to watch YOU play the game. Be thankful that there are actually fans passionate enough to go to games and make some noise, whether it be good or bad. It may not be long before everyone just starts staying home, where the beer is cheap and there is no line for the bathroom, and you can boo without getting a nasty response from a rent-a-player.

So when I pay for a product I expect it to come with quality I paid for. since I know that tickets are a lot less then the disgusting premiums at NY’s ballpark I understand that I may be entitled to less, so I’m not expecting a world series. In fact, I have long given up on the idea of ever winning one in San Diego. Believing it will ever happen just used to hurt too much.

But u do believe that the price I pay and that the price that sponsors pay for ads and that the amount paid to each player was with the expectation that they would play up to par with the average professional MLB player. And as a customer if they don’t do that I think I have a right to complain. If I find a life of dog crap in my McDonald’s hamburger do I first need to work behind the McDonald’s counter as a cashier before I can be worthy of complaining about the product I paid for? I think not. I don’t believe that we should view this.any differently. So I’m not sure how people do things where Orlando is from, but where I grew up, if you paid for something and you didn’t get it you have every right to ask some questions, complain, or in this case boo.

I know that they are trying their best. They work incredibly hard, and playing 162 MLB games is a feat that I cannot even imagine doing. On the other hand, I understand how frustrating it is to watch this team, and the temptation is there. Yet, my boos would be more directed at ownership than at players. To me, the owners will always be the real jerks of the professional sports world. The players are merely trying to realize a dream, giving it their all, risking their mental/physical health.