Shut Up

It seems all the players were upset that the fans got on LaTroy Hawkins when he pitched in each of the last three games.

"It was a little classless," said Derrek Lee. "If you want to boo him when he comes in, fine. But chanting 'Hawkins [stinks]' for the whole inning is out of line. It's OK to boo someone, but chanting that on and on is overboard."

Dusty Baker and Ryan Dempster agreed.

Well, did you guys ever think that the fans getting on Hawkins may have unnerved him to the point of giving up baserunners in each game he was in? Or are you guys so protective of your little fraternity that criticism of a guy who almost single-handedly blew one season and part of another is now out of bounds? Not to mention Hawkins also ripped the fans first. You may recall that Hawkins once said to the San Francisco Chronicle that he loved Chicago, Baker and the Cubs players. But of the fans, he said, "Well, only got so much love to go around."

First Kent Mercker, then Luis Gonzalez, now this?

At least Ryan Dempster had this right:

"As a visiting player I could count on one hand how many times I heard the Cubbies get booed. Last year and this year, it seems like I can count on one hand every homestand how many times we get booed.

That's what happens when you come a couple outs from going to the World Series in '03."

LaTroy Hawkins was a big part of preventing a second shot at that World Series. He gets his ass booed. And it helped the Cubs win 2 games and tie up a third.