The Sports Ethicist: When is it okay to boo a returning player?

As a sports fan, you may occasionally confront an issue so morally complex that you cannot act alone. The Sports Ethicist is here to aid in those quandaries, a vital resource in answering questions of how, when and why a fan should act. If you have an ethical dilemma of your own, e-mail tips@Cut4.com.

This week, the Sports Ethicist discusses when it's appropriate to vocalize negatively toward a former hero turned returning villain.

To begin to tackle this question, we must first acknowledge that the professional athlete, upon reaching free agency, has the right to choose where he wants to work. Just as an architect can decide to take his talents to a new firm, so too can a player choose to join a different franchise.

Equally, the fan has the right to be displeased with a departing player's decision. The fan has committed time, energy and resources to following a team and has both a psychological and economic attachment to the team and its players.

Booing another human being is, essentially, proclaiming your disdain for their existence: an inherently aggressive action. If someone left a major investment bank for a cushy job at some private equity firm, would the bank's customers boo him? Of course not. He might have some unenviable verbal encounters with collegiate protesters, but not a complete shaming at the hands of an entire consumer base.

To boo a player, the circumstances of his move from one team to another must be so completely outside the behavior of normal, everyday business that a fan base becomes truly offended by his actions. This is a very rare occurrence.

Ultimately, the decision process for the fan should be this:

1.     Did he ever hurt the team through prolonged ineptitude or a bloated contract?

Sometimes a player says all the right things, but his play on the field just rubs fans the wrong way. Be it through a lack of effort or a poor performance, when a player leaves a bad legacy with either their stat line or bottom line, boos are warranted.

For example, Carl Pavano signed a 4-year $39.95 million contract with the Yankees prior to the 2005 season but made only 26 starts in pinstripes and pitched to a 5.00 ERA when he was healthy enough to take the mound. He was lustily booed on his return to New York, mostly as an airing of frustration by the New York fans. Pavano's injuries weren't entirely his fault, but his contract was not a successful investment for Yankees and it's hard to blame the fans for booing him.

2.     Did the athlete leave the team of his own will, either by free agency or trade request?

If he left without any say in the process, you should not boo him. If, however, he did this, feel free to do this.

3.     Did he leave for a hated rival?

When Johnny Damon left the Red Sox at the end of 2005, he did so to join the New York Yankees. As a result, he was not very warmly received by Fenway in his return. If he had left for a relatively neutral team, then Red Sox fans should not have booed him.

Case in point: no one should ever be booed for signing with the Buffalo Bills.

4.     Did he insult your fanbase?

Josh Hamilton's comment that Dallas "has always been a football town" fits this test. While the outfielder may not have meant it as a slight, some Rangers fans took it that way. Hamilton was booed, and this Sports Ethicist believes that was acceptable behavior.

Hamilton disagreed, which is also acceptable behavior: "I said the ones that are true baseball fans won't boo when I come back, and the ones that are not, will."

Here's a good rule of thumb: boos may only be used when the fanbase was directly remarked upon. When Hamilton said, "there are true baseball fans in Texas -- but it's not a true baseball town" and "they're supportive, but they also got a little spoiled," he was specifically referring to Rangers fans. A fan has a right to take offense to that. But if Hamilton had said, "Angels fans are the best in baseball," that alone would not have been cause for Rangers fans to boo.

Unless at least one of these four criteria is met, boos are unwarranted and unnecessary. A fan base that engaged in unjustified booing is only inviting criticism and an endless stream of jokes at their expense.

-- Dakota Gardner / MLB.com