Kansas City Royals fans provided the highlight of what was otherwise a dull Home Run Derby. Bitter that Kansas City's hometown hero Billy Butler was left off of the Home Run Derby as captain Robinson Cano picked other players despite Cano stating that he would take a hometown player, they let them have it. Billy Butler has 16 home runs so far this season. Prince Fielder (who ended up winning the Home Run Derby) only has 15 home runs this season.
Coming up to initial boos, the crowd cheered each out that Cano made. And in full schadenfreude mode cheered every out Cano made all the way through the tenth out…with not a single home run off the bat of last year's champ.
Now, Twitter was abuzz with people calling the Royals fans "classless" for booing Cano:
Sorry, you did not get your wish.
How quickly they forget the fans at Yankee Stadium booing Chase Utley at the 2008 All-Star Game. Yes, that triggered the now-famous "Boo? F$*! you" reaction from Utley, forgetting he was wearing a microphone.
Here's a rough recording of it. Parental discretion advised, as it contains foul language:
Yankees fans are in no position to be calling other fans "classless" for booing Cano. If anything, it shows that in a tough baseball town the fans really do care about the game and paid attention to the selections.
Would it have been awful to bring Butler? Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports now advocates a hometown player be picked every time. However, he too had a problem with the booing, stating the fans went "too far".
Maybe so, but Yankees fans should not be able to have a gripe.
