Yu Darvish actually wanted Dodgers fans to have the opportunity to boo him during the season
He knows there’s pent up frustration in Los Angeles.
It might sound crazy, but Yu Darvish actually wanted Dodgers fans to have the chance to boo him when he returned to Dodger Stadium with the Cubs this week — his first time back since his disappointing performance in last year’s World Series against the Astros.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Darvish admits that he understands “no one’s forgotten what happened” during the postseason, during which he allowed four runs in 1 2⁄3 innings in Game 3 of the Fall Classic, and followed that up with five runs allowed in the same span in a pivotal Game 7.
Darvish says the first thing he looked at when he signed a contract with the Cubs in free agency is when they would play the Dodgers, but now he won’t be pitching in the series due to injury. He wishes he was though, mostly because he actually wanted Dodgers fans to have the chance to let their unhappiness with him out.
To boo him during the regular season before the Cubs had the opportunity to meet the Dodgers in the postseason, where tensions will only be worse. He said,
“In the playoffs, it will be worse. It wouldn’t be as bad in the playoffs if I could pitch in this series. The frustration of the fans is pent up at this point. If they could release some of that frustration now, I think it wouldn’t be as bad later.”
“I’m a little scared of how that frustration is building and building.”
Darvish has always seemed to be one of the more level-headed and logical players in the league right now, willing to be honest about his career. This is yet another example, where he is mostly upset at the way he “disappointed” Dodgers fans and his teammates rather than the vitriol from fans online about his performance.
The ugly truth of sports is that some Dodgers fans are almost certainly going to boo Darvish if and when he returns to the mound at Dodger Stadium in a different uniform. He’s right that if they got to do that in June rather than October it might be an easier moment, but it didn’t work out as easily as he hoped this time.