Nick Swisher was a fan favorite during his four seasons with the A’s and left the team not by choice but because he was traded to the White Sox following the 2007 season.
He’s been back to Oakland as an opposing player plenty of times since then, but after being booed by A’s fans last night Swisher voiced his frustration to Nate Stulhberg of CSNBayArea.com:
“Chavvy” is Eric Chavez, who spent the first 13 seasons of his career with the A’s before joining Swisher on the Yankees last season.
My guess is that simply playing for the Yankees explains a large part of the booing, but considering Swisher was traded away (in a good deal that got the A’s both Gio Gonzalez and Ryan Sweeney) and Chavez mutually parted ways with the A’s after playing for them from age 20 to age 32 it does seem a little odd that the crowd in Oakland would choose them as booing targets.
I’d normally say that perhaps A’s fans are simply frustrated in general and wanting to lash out at someone following five straight .500-or-worse seasons, but with the team playing very well of late and looking like legitimate playoff contenders that explanation wouldn’t make much sense either.
