Yesterday, after the Minaya and Manuel firings, a number of New York (or New Yorky) writers made a point to talk about how great those guys are, how sad it is that they’re losing their jobs and how unseemly it was that Mets fans and bloggers were expressing happiness about the moves.
I thought it was strange. I also thought it was cynical, and was possibly borne of guys not happy about losing good sources or drinking buddies or whatever.
Matthew Callan of Amazin’ Avenue, however, explains today how simply misguided such thinking is, whatever was motivating it. Most of the post is devoted to noting the divide between how the media and how the fans view the ballclub to which they’re attached. The key analogy here, however, is that fans are basically investors. Not necessarily financially — no one fan’s contribution to the Mets is all that significant — but in terms of mental and emotional effort.
While it would certainly be over-the-top to lay serious hate on Minaya and Manuel or to wish them real ill, It makes no more sense to criticize fans for being pleased that they got fired than it does to criticize stockholders to be pleased when the CEO gets canned. It’s business. People are just protecting their investment, and they have a right to a bit selfish about that.
Good stuff. Go check it out.
