Booing Dan Uggla

One of the greatest days of my childhood was "Get Your Picture Taken With the Braves" Day at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. The Braves were pretty awful at that point, so the only lines were for Dale Murphy and Chief Knockahomer.

My parents thought my brother and I should have our pictures taken with every Brave, but as we approached relief pitcher Jim Acker (who I never once saw get a batter out) I told my dad, "I don't want my picture with him - he's terrible!" Acker heard it. I don't remember him laughing either. Without actually making the sound, I believe that was my first "booing" of an Atlanta Brave. It might have also been the only time I had ever done it.

Until yesterday.

Last night, I made my first trip of the year to Turner Field to watch the Braves avoid being swept by the Padres (thanks, Jordan Schaffer). I told my friends that I was going to boo Dan Uggla and assumed I would be one of many expressing frustration about Uggla's .175 average and unique ability to leave runners in scoring position stranded.

And yet I was the only booing Braves fan within earshot.

In fact, there was a guy sitting in the row in front of me wearing an Uggla shirt. Seriously.

Why haven't Atlanta fans turned on Ugh-la at this point? The big off-season acquisition has been a big bust at the plate. He is currently in a 4-47 slump, which is actually worse than the horri-awful (Shaq tribute) start he got off to initially. He has 16 RBI right now - two more than Eric Hinske despite 121 more plate appearances. When runners are on base, Uggla is driving them in 7% of the time (the MLB average, which takes into account every horrible hitter in the league, is 15%). He is doing nothing positive for the Braves' offense right now.

And still isn't getting booed.

Last night, after being benched for two games and dropped to seventh in the batting order, Uggla came up in the 1st inning with the bases loaded and one out.

I booed.

He popped the first pitch he saw up in the infield. Rally killed.

I booed again. Alone.

There isn't much Fredi Gonzalez can do with Uggla other than move him down the order and hope his bat comes around. The Braves aren't winning in the playoffs with Brooks Conrad at second base (see: 2010).

I realize Atlanta is a pretty passive crowd. I also realize booing Uggla isn't going to make him start playing better (I don't question his effort, though I hate his approach at the plate that he hasn't altered). But I don't understand why there isn't more frustration among the fan base towards a guy we all expected so much from and are getting so little.

If Uggla was in New York or Philadelphia hitting like this, he'd be hearing about it every at-bat from more than just one idiot along the third baseline. I also wonder if Uggla's reception would be cooler if he wasn't white. Somehow Uggla doesn't seem like a $9 million off-season bust. He is more Brooks Conrad than Jason Heyward. There is no swagger or aura surrounding Uggla, but statistically he was supposed to produce like someone who had some. And he isn't.

Until he starts to come around, I'm booing.