I don’t hold it against Lee at all, and I don’t really understand why some people do.

I don’t intend to get into an existential debate about what players “owe” the public, but I’d say it’s something more than nothing.

No one - and I mean no one - hates the painful process of the autograph more than I do. I will never judge a player on their willingness to scribble their name. And I roll my eyes at fans who have one short moment with a player, and then judge a player’s life worth based on that fleeting moment.

That said, part of your job as a paid athlete is to provide the fans something more than nothing.

Agree with the basic idea above this, re: owing something more than nothing.

I don’t want to be an apologist or a relativist, but frankly, “staying classy” comes more naturally to some people than to others, particularly when it comes to “saying the right things,” and particularly on camera. The way someone’s personality comes across on-camera is often not reflective of their character at all.

Pattt- Boyo – why be concerned about your irrational reactions to sports? Being a fan allows – nay compels you to be irrational. That’s what there for. Scream at a guy for doing his job poorly outside of a stadium and you’ll probably end up in the pokey – I know I have. Wanna smack the baseball cap offa 6’9", 260-pound, sports playing jerk – go ahead, sounds perfectly reasonable to me. Go on and irrationally violently hate some guy you’ve never met. That’s perfectly fine in my world. Just don’t do it outside the stadium.

As to the tip of the hate thing – I love it. I guess this crotchety thing includes being a contrarian too – forgive me, I’m new at this. Here’s my take on Cliff Lee, based on purely unsubstantiated possibly apocryphal anecdotes. Rage is what fuels Mr. Lee (we all better get used to calling him Mr. Lee if he keeps on pitching like a hurling Roy Hobbs). It’s that I’m-gonna-show-you attitude that fires Mr. Lee. Frankly the hat tip was probably the mildest form of response to a braying bunch of ass-holes. My guess is that what Cliff really wanted to do was go up into the stands ala Ty Cobb, reach under one of the three chins on one of those pot-bellied, round-shoulder morons that were berating him and choke the God damned life outta "em. But being brought up in the Benton Missionary Baptist Church preclude Cliff from acting on his baser instincts. So instead of righteously killing somebody – or even giving them the finger – Cliff did the Southern gentlemanly thing and tip his cap – mockingly for sure – but at least there wasn’t any mayhem.