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Alex Rios knew he would be yesteryear’s hero. “One loud BOO!” said Rios, when asked what fan reaction would be when he was introduced with the White Sox last night in the Blue Jays’ home opener.
Rios hit that one on the nose — unlike most of the pitches he saw last season.
Rios got a cheer they could hear all the way to the Bronx. His teammates guffawed, and, he played along — grinning and waving his cap. That only stirred up sentiment against him to a more vehement pitch.
“I wasn’t surprised. It gets you going,” he said, laughing as teammates broke into a “Rios! You Suck!” chant in the Chicago dressing room.
A comeback win, three singles and a stolen base allowed for levity as Rios cemented his position alongside Toronto’s other candidates for Public Enemy No. 1 in the world of sweat. Move over Daniel Alfredsson and Vince Carter.
“It (the boos) don’t matter because when you’re at the plate whether people cheer or boo you basically don’t hear anything,” said Rios, whose fall from favoured son was quick and hard. Once approachable if not loquacious, he became sullen and troubled last season. The cheers turned to boos. There was that embarrasing YouTube video of him cursing a fan. But now it is, he says, different. The batting numbers still aren’t great, but the fun and smile are back and so is the hope his game won’t be far behind. After the White Sox claimed him on waivers last August he hit .199. “He couldn’t play worse for us than he did last year even if he tried,” said manager Ozzie Guillen. “He was one of the worst I’ve ever seen.”
Last night bumped his average to .250. “In Chicago they cheer him; maybe I should ask the fans to boo him, please. They do here and he get three hits,” Guillen said. “He’s the one swinging the bat the best, a lot of line drives. Plays hard. I don’t have any complaints.”
In the clubhouse, Rios looked, well, very un-Rios like; relaxed, he joked with reporters, spoke about looking forward to the birth of his son in May. “It feels like home here now. It took a while to feel comfortable. I thought I’d be in Toronto a long time. I heard rumours but (the trade) was a shock.”
He’s an above-average right fielder, and probably will be a solid centre fielder defensively. But is he worth $69.7 million through 2014? Not, as it turned out to the Jays.
They tampered with his stance. He worried about his swing, he spent hours analyzing film. Nothing helped. “After the season, I took a couple months to clear my thoughts. I stopped worrying. When you change too many things it makes things worse and you get in a bigger hole. I’m keeping things simple. I’m just looking at a fresh start.”
Of course, that’s what he said last August too on arriving in Chicago.
Not the same, said Guillen. “Maybe he tried too much, tried to impress people right away and couldn’t get it done. But right from spring training he’s been very good. I think he can still be a great player.”
But his fall from grace here rivals that of Carter. When he struck out, there was loud approval from a crowd that had treated him as a franchise cornerstone.
Guillen believes Rios became a victim of unreasonable expectations. So when he caught Jays leadoff hitter Jose Bautista’s pop fly it came to a chorus of boos; more boos sliding into a force play and in every at-bat.
From the back of the locker someone yelled: “Way to stick it up their (bleep).”
Rios smiled. His silence was deafening.
bill.lankhof@sunmedia.ca