I've said some terrible things about Chris Perez. The worst
of which, probably came after his opening day meltdown this year. That was as
angry as I’ve been watching a sporting event. And I’m a Notre Dame fan, so that’s
saying something (Okay I may have been angrier that one time). None the less, I
have no shame in completely reversing my position on Pure Rage Perez because of
a few things that took place in the last week and his comments toward tribe fans last night and this morning. It also doesn’t hurt that he’s
been pitching lights out.
I had the pleasure of being at Fenway last weekend to watch two of the Indians-Red Sox games. On Friday I arrived at park early to watch the Tribe in batting practice. The majority of the Indians pitching staff were in the outfield shagging fly balls as the position players hit. Chris Perez spent the entire time in center field chasing balls with the vigor that would suggest he might be an emergency outfielder. It only took 45 minutes of watching him to see how much he loves being in a ballpark. When batting practice was over and the team was heading toward the dugout, Perez threw a ball to a fan on top of the green monster from right-center field. The throw was right on the money but the fan mishandled it and the ball fell to the warning track below. Perez jogged all the way from right- center to pick the ball up and toss it back to the fan on top of the wall. Scenes like this that show how much a player loves playing the game and are lost when you’re used to watching a team strictly on television.
I had the pleasure of being at Fenway last weekend to watch two of the Indians-Red Sox games. On Friday I arrived at park early to watch the Tribe in batting practice. The majority of the Indians pitching staff were in the outfield shagging fly balls as the position players hit. Chris Perez spent the entire time in center field chasing balls with the vigor that would suggest he might be an emergency outfielder. It only took 45 minutes of watching him to see how much he loves being in a ballpark. When batting practice was over and the team was heading toward the dugout, Perez threw a ball to a fan on top of the green monster from right-center field. The throw was right on the money but the fan mishandled it and the ball fell to the warning track below. Perez jogged all the way from right- center to pick the ball up and toss it back to the fan on top of the wall. Scenes like this that show how much a player loves playing the game and are lost when you’re used to watching a team strictly on television.
Chris Perez is a passionate guy, whether he’s on the mound
screaming at himself, Alex Rios, or nobody in particular. That passion came through
last night with his direct comments that called out Cleveland fans for their
negativity. It was the first chance he had to speak to the media after being
booed by fans on Thursday night against the Mariners. You may notice he didn’t
even give up a run that outing, but he started hearing boos after putting two
runners on base. He explained how it’s
even more frustrating to hear boos when they’re coming from about 5000 fans. Perez
spoke to the media again this morning and he clarified his comments even more.
Some highlights of the two media sessions include pointing out how embarrassing
it is for the first place Indians to be last in Major League Baseball in
attendance, how the lack of fan support affects the team’s ability to land free
agents, and how it feels at times the team is playing for themselves.
Perez said he received some pretty entertaining feedback on his
twitter account last night and I have a feeling if he takes the mound today he’ll
get more of the same from the home crowd. And that’s absolutely sad. As critical
as his comments may seem, they’re accurate in every way. He’s a dedicated
player that is only asking for support for a team that’s actually pretty good.
He could have bragged about how good he’s been all season but he didn’t. Perez
event went as far as buying 3 pairs of season tickets that he’ll be giving away
every home game the rest of the season. I admire his passion for the game and
honesty and I really hope fans rally around this team instead of continuing to
throw negativity at it. I know I will.
