10
2011
Chin-lung “Boo”
An article by 
The great thing in sports about having a first or last name that has two “o’s” next to each other or a “u” is that fans love cheering the name, even though it sounds like the player is getting booed.
Carlos Boozer of the Chicago Bulls, Mets first base coach Mookie Wilson, Mets farmhand Lucas Duda and scores of others have enjoyed this luxury.
When the Mets signed Chin-lung Hu this offseason, they added another player who fits this mold.
For the Los Angeles Dodgers, Hu had never been more than a backup infielder, since he struggled offensively. He did, however, play a terrific defensive shortstop.
While many fans questioned this signing, I was one of the few who thought it was great (at the time). Hu could provide strong defense late in games, especially if Daniel Murphy was going to receive the bulk of the playing time at second base.
If he could just do an adequate job with the bat, Hu would hear his name chanted loudly every time he took the field.
Well, Hu has been hearing a similar chant lately, but it’s not the customary “Hu” sound. He’s been getting booed for his extremely poor performance.
Hu has only one hit in 18 at-bats, which translates to an .056 batting average. Even worse, of these 18 at-bats, Hu has struck out a whopping 11 times.
Being a reserve player has to be a tough task offensively. You sit around all game and then are expected to produce, usually in a tight situation.
Hu did have that clutch sacrifice fly in Washington a few weeks ago, but other than that his Mets tenure has been lackluster to say the least.
While he has been solid defensively, there are other players out there who are just as good with the glove and can also handle the bat better.
How patient will the Mets be with Hu? “Who” do they have to replace him?
It’s not like he’s one of the regulars struggling this much, so if he keeps this up, he’ll be sent packing very soon. The Mets have already shown that they have a quick leash with underperforming players like Brad Emaus and Blaine Boyer).
The one thing I will miss about Hu is the puns that Keith Hernandez and Howie Rose constantly reference during the Mets television and radio broadcast. That never gets old!
But what’s getting old fast is Hu’s terrible play.
Follow me on Twitter @JMMancari.
About the Author: Jim Mancari
Jim Mancari hails from Massapequa, N.Y. He recently earned a Master's degree in Journalism at Hofstra University. He is a devout Mets fan and takes pride in his team, despite their lack of success over the last few years. Like all Mets fans, Jim has plenty of hope. He also writes as the sports reporter for the Brooklyn Tablet newspaper and the senior editor of metroBASEBALL Magazine. Click my name to view my personal website.
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who cares about these bench players, we need some starters who can hit.wright is going backwards,bay is a bust, reyes will probably be gone soon, and beltran will be.just imsgine how bad it’s going to be next year, when we have no good players and no money to spend on real gamers. thanks wilpons.
Well I would say you can’t have every roster spot filled by a .280 hitter.
Hu is here for no other reason than late defensive replacement.
Is he ever going to be a factor in us being competitive hardly but consider the following.
He is the one bench player who never gets a game start.
All of his PAs are as a PH for the most part which is hard enough to do if your a GOOD hitter let alone a guy who never was even decent when playing regularly.
If you want to look at failures well there are guys on this team who have failed more miserably with more opportunity than Hu has.
Harris ran us out of a inning last night when we needed one to tie and two to get the lead. By getting caught he cost David Wright a chance to tie up the game in a park he has been known to hit well in and hit a lot of HRs.
Hairston has not done any better, both have had regular opportunities, regular at bats and even started quite a few games and produced about as much with the bat as Hu has!
SO no Hu is not going to go down as one of those immortal Met players thats not why he was brought here at all.
But he is doing what he was brought here to do which is be a defensive replacement for 2B and Reyes, not his bat.
The fact Reyes has stayed Healthy and Murphy has shown little need to put a defensive replacement in should not be held against HU when his production is considered.
He is nothing but insurance and everyone thinks insurance is a waste of money until the day they need to cash in the policy on a claim.
Boo-Hu. Please get rid of this bum toute suite!
That we gave up something of value for this worthless bum is amazing and shocking.
A pitcher currently average in AA?
oh the good old parrot donutz hole. It must feel really bad inside to feel the need to write a publicly humiliating blurb supporting every bad and hapless move by your lover sandy and his two assistant clowns. no matter how much you lower yourself donut you’ll never make their club.
It’s Hu cares about bench players…