Sean Rodriguez criticizes ‘entitled’ fans following walk-off

Monday night’s series opener against the Pirates was a wild one. The Phillies coughed up a two-run lead, came back to take the lead in the eighth and then gave up the game-tying homer in the ninth. Luckily, they were able to win it in the 11th courtesy of a walk-off home run from utility man, Sean Rodriguez. For a guy whose been consistently criticized by fans, Monday night was a truly good moment for the struggling veteran going up against his former club. Unfortunately, he didn’t stay in Phillies fans good graces for too long.

Coming into the game, Rodriguez had a .147 average on the season against right-handers and had just one hit in 19 August at-bats, mostly in pinch-hit opportunities. Rodriguez has heard comments from fans and media about his performance, especially after another Maikel Franco demotion, and isn’t quite sure booing is a great way for fans to get the best out of the players.

“Well, think about it. Who’s looking bad and feeling entitled when you hear stuff like that. I’m asking you,” Rodriguez told reporters, including Philly.com’s Matt Breen. “I’m not the one booing. I’m not the one screaming. I’m not the one saying pretty disgusting things at times. That seems pretty entitled. You’re just making yourself look pretty bad as an individual, as a person, as a fan.”

The boos he is referencing aren’t just directed at him. He hears them coming at Rhys Hoskins and he heard them earlier in the year when Bryce Harper was slumping. In the end, Rodriguez believes that some fans feel entitled in these moments.

“[Hoskins] has 60-plus homers in three years and you’re booing him. Explain that to me. That’s entitled fans,” Rodriguez said. “I don’t know if it’s them feeling like they’re owed something. There’s nobody in here that doesn’t want to win. That’s what sucks. When we hear that, we’ve learned to try and take that and use it like we should. But if I sat and just buried you every single day verbally, is that helping?”

Rodriguez went on to mention that there’s no one in the clubhouse that doesn’t want to win. That may very well be true, but don’t expect fans to boo any less because of what Rodriguez said after the game.

Although the Phillies dropped two out of three to the Marlins over the weekend, their win against the Pirates put them just one game back of the Cubs for the second Wild Card spot in the National League.

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