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Why do Twins Fans boo AJ


RockRaines
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I dont understand why they boo a player who meant so much to their franchise. He brought them division titles, was traded, then signed as a free agent with basically the only team that offered him.

 

It would be like Sox fans booing Rowand when he returned. It wasnt AJ's fault he was traded, and he actually brought them a hell of a haul. What is their problem?

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It wouldn't surprise if the smallest amount of Ray fan's were to boo AJ. It's this thing that fans have where they feed off of other fans. Not to mention that AJ has built a reputation of being in the middle of a lot of controversial displays.

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They boo him for the same reason he was traded (discluding the fact he was traded for tons of goodies). He was a clubhouse cancer for the Twinkies. Didn't get along with his team at all. That's why people started booing him to begin with, because he was known as a "bad guy" of baseball. Then after some of the '05 controversy everyone wanted to jump on the AJ hatred train.

 

MN, is the only place that rightfully should boo him.

 

 

But yeah, the guy who threw back Griffey's homer is an idiot. You could see by the look on his face he was hesitant though.

Edited by Markbilliards
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QUOTE (Markbilliards @ Sep 24, 2008 -> 11:34 PM)
They boo him for the same reason he was traded (discluding the fact he was traded for tons of goodies). He was a clubhouse cancer for the Twinkies. Didn't get along with his team at all. That's why people started booing him to begin with, because he was known as a "bad guy" of baseball. Then after some of the '05 controversy everyone wanted to jump on the AJ hatred train.

 

MN, is the only place that rightfully should boo him.

 

Where did you get that from?

 

I have several friends in Minneapolis who are season ticket holders and say that's not true... that he was never a problem in Minny and in fact was a fan favorite. The only reasons the Twins traded him was because he was no longer cheap ($365k in 2003; $3.5M in 2004); and Joe Mauer was getting ready to replace him.

 

The only place where AJ has ever been that he was perceived as a bad guy was with the Giants... not Minneapolis.

Edited by scenario
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QUOTE (Markbilliards @ Sep 24, 2008 -> 11:34 PM)
They boo him for the same reason he was traded (discluding the fact he was traded for tons of goodies). He was a clubhouse cancer for the Twinkies. Didn't get along with his team at all. That's why people started booing him to begin with, because he was known as a "bad guy" of baseball. Then after some of the '05 controversy everyone wanted to jump on the AJ hatred train.

 

MN, is the only place that rightfully should boo him.

 

 

But yeah, the guy who threw back Griffey's homer is an idiot. You could see by the look on his face he was hesitant though.

 

You're either misinformed or a liar.

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QUOTE (Markbilliards @ Sep 24, 2008 -> 10:34 PM)
They boo him for the same reason he was traded (discluding the fact he was traded for tons of goodies). He was a clubhouse cancer for the Twinkies. Didn't get along with his team at all. That's why people started booing him to begin with, because he was known as a "bad guy" of baseball. Then after some of the '05 controversy everyone wanted to jump on the AJ hatred train.

 

MN, is the only place that rightfully should boo him.

 

 

But yeah, the guy who threw back Griffey's homer is an idiot. You could see by the look on his face he was hesitant though.

I have never heard this!

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I've spent some time researching this a couple of years ago because I was trying to figure out where all the AJ hate seemed to be coming from. I posted questions about it on a couple of Twins boards and talked to several people I know who live in Minneapolis. (I spend about 2 months a year in Minneapolis on business working with a big financial services firm downtown... right near the dome.)

 

It seems like the issue with SF actually started when AJ was with Minnesota... and the Twins were playing the A's in the 2002 playoffs.

 

The series had been contentious... knockdowns... a couple of near fights, etc.... Then in the deciding game (which the Twins won) AJ hit a homerun and when he crossed home he stopped looked the A's catcher right in the eyes and yelled BOO-YAH... and almost incited a riot. (Minnesota fans enjoyed this btw.)

 

But it pretty much branded him as public enemy #1 in the bay area.

 

Then, he got traded out there and it seems that people in the bay area were slow to warm up to him.

 

And he by no means was blameless. He had significant run-ins with a couple of Giant's pitchers, particularly Brett Tomko, and called out the staff publicly for their lack of focus and heart.

 

Also, the Giants management side of the story is that they gave AJ a couple of chances to repair the damage to his image in the community and he was not really cooperative... and things got worse... and worse with both the team and the fans.

 

So... it was a bad marriage that ended in an ugly divorce and the 'AJ as a cancer' story had begun.

Edited by scenario
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This from Joe Cowley on Wednesday, Oct. 1st...

 

"Why do opposing teams and players dislike A.J. Pierzynski? Because he's smarter than them. He proved that against the Angels in the 2005 playoffs, and he added to his legend this season. Tied up in the 10th against Tampa Bay and facing a sweep, Pierzynski went "Fall Guy'' and drew the charge on third baseman Willy Aybar for the phantom interference call. The Sox go on to win, Tampa Bay hates A.J. ... same old song. Lost on all the boos, however, was that Pierzynski is a winner. Period."

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QUOTE (scenario @ Sep 25, 2008 -> 09:44 PM)
I've spent some time researching this a couple of years ago because I was trying to figure out where all the AJ hate seemed to be coming from. I posted questions about it on a couple of Twins boards and talked to several people I know who live in Minneapolis. (I spend about 2 months a year in Minneapolis on business working with a big financial services firm downtown... right near the dome.)

 

It seems like the issue with SF actually started when AJ was with Minnesota... and the Twins were playing the A's in the 2002 playoffs.

 

The series had been contentious... knockdowns... a couple of near fights, etc.... Then in the deciding game (which the Twins won) AJ hit a homerun and when he crossed home he stopped looked the A's catcher right in the eyes and yelled BOO-YAH... and almost incited a riot. (Minnesota fans enjoyed this btw.)

 

But it pretty much branded him as public enemy #1 in the bay area.

 

Then, he got traded out there and it seems that people in the bay area were slow to warm up to him.

 

And he by no means was blameless. He had significant run-ins with a couple of Giant's pitchers, particularly Brett Tomko, and called out the staff publicly for their lack of focus and heart.

 

Also, the Giants management side of the story is that they gave AJ a couple of chances to repair the damage to his image in the community and he was not really cooperative... and things got worse... and worse with both the team and the fans.

 

So... it was a bad marriage that ended in an ugly divorce and the 'AJ as a cancer' story had begun.

 

He also had the incident with the medical staff in SF. This did not endear him to the support personnel either.

 

Also as I've said before they boo him probably because they've met him.

Edited by ptatc
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