Nick Swisher: Soft-Hearted Bro

Nick Swisher has had a tough go of it this postseason. Despite four years of above average production with the Yankees and a deep love for his “tweeps” (it hurts now to even write that), the Yankee faithful have let loose with a torrent of boos now that Swisher has gone 4-for-26 and missed Delmon Young’s hit in game two of the ALCS. Turns out, those boos sting.

Said Swisher:

“It hurts. Sometimes I’m a sensitive guy and some of the things people say, they get under your skin a little bit. I’ve been lucky to be here for the past four years, bro.”

Which, adding “bro” to a discussion about your sensitivities, makes it a kind of hilarious statement. However, it is refreshing to see ballplayers step back from the machismo and admit that these things do affect them.

At the same time, I’ve never really understood booing. Boo at a player, one who plays for your team, just because he isn’t doing well? That’s never really made sense: baseball is really, really hard. Sometimes people are unlucky, sometimes they’re battling an injury, sometimes they’ve just sucked for a few weeks. We’ve all been there.

As long as the player is out there and trying, I can’t imagine booing, especially while the players who have racked up DUIs or domestic abuse charges are left alone by the home crowd.