The Reaction

Too boo, or not to boo? That is the question. For Jimmy Rollins, there was a little bit of both.

When first announced, Rollins got a mixed reaction from the fans. He received boos with some cheers mixed in. Some even gave him a standing ovation.

The boos got louder for Jimmy as the game went on. Rollins went 0-4, including a ground out into a double play.

For Jimmy Rollins, the boos don't affect him.

"You go up and you're on deck and people are already on you, talking to
you. If you go up there and getting booed, sometimes it gets hard to concentrate
on what you need to do..."

"Then, instead of your concentration being on what you need to do, you
might lose it for literally a split second. That's all the time you get to swing
a bat, and that results in an out. Not that you wouldn't make an out if you were
100 percent concentrated, but it's just the added things that make it more
difficult..."

Manager Charlie Manuel felt that the fans here aren't much different than fans from any other fan base.

"Fans have been here all summer," Manuel said. "They stay until the game is
over. That's what baseball is supposed to be about. I've said this before, the
only difference I see [in Philadelphia fans] is they swear more here. Outside
that, they're the same. In Japan, they're a little bit quieter, but they'll
throw balls at you."

Manuel feels that Jimmy Rollins will be able to handle the attention around him during this time.

"Some guys can handle it better," Manuel said. "If you can focus on what
you're doing, you can completely block it out. You don't hear it. It's like
grabbing a shell off a beach, it's just a roar. Every now and then, when it gets
quiet and you're coming off the field, and somebody yells at you, you hear it.
Outside of that, you don't hear nothing."

I'll have to agree with the manager on this one.

QUOTE SOURCE-Phillies.com