Mike Sweeney spent 13 years with the Kansas City Royals, not counting his minor league time in the organization, and was the team captain for about half those years.
He was an All-Star, a team MVP and an all-around All-American kind of guy – then and now.
So why did he get booed during a pinch-hit at-bat Monday night, and why does he expect to hear more of the same today, when he starts as the Seattle Mariners designated hitter?
“My son Mikey asked me that,” Sweeney said of his five-year-old. “He wanted to know why they were booing me. I told him, ‘You’ve got to be pretty good to be booed.’
“I loved my time here and did my best. I still have friends here. I don’t fully understand it, but I’m ok with it.”
Oddly, the booing of Sweeney did not intensify when he singled home a run in that Monday appearance. In limited time this year, Sweeney is bating .158 with two RBI.
“This is a special place for Mike, and we wanted to make sure he got at least the one start here,” manager Don Wakamatsu said.
I would LOVE to see Sweeney get more at-bats against both RH and LH pitchers…Griffey is clearly done (as sad as that is to write now and see each day during the games), whereas Sweeney has always shown the ability to hit when healthy (as he is now) and given regular playing time. With a team that desperately needs to find more offense, this tact with Sweeney during April has made absolutely no sense…the type of DH that many would like to trade for may alreadly be on the roster.
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Gotta agree bubba, grif seems done, even my wife notices. It’s sad sad sad to see him not be able to catch up with even a garden variety fastball. I really thought he should have called it after the shoulder ride around the diamond last fall. That would have been the way to go out, a surprisingly good season, nice base hit in last at-bat…
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