For Jays’ Fans, That Is Farrell With An F

March 24, 2013; Clearwater, FL, USA; Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell (53) in the dugout against the Philadelphia Phillies at Bright House Networks Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY SportsBaseball can be a bitter game, and there is perhaps no more bitter moment in the game than the feeling of betrayal. Free agency is perhaps the biggest cause of this bitterness, as fans have come to the point where they feel a player owes it to the organization to stay there and do so under the financial constraints that best fit the club, not his own selfish desires.

That may be a bit unrealistic of us, but we’ve all been there. We overcommit and then feel spurned when that commitment is not returned.

So how does that correlate to a manager?

Of course, I am referring to John Farrell, the former Blue Jays manager who will while manager of the Blue Jays always seemed to have his eye on the job he really wanted; the Red Sox managerial role.

In hindsight, Toronto should have seen it coming. Farrell wanted the role in Boston, but Terry Francona was thought to be untouchable at the time, so Farrell was forced to look elsewhere and went to Toronto. As history will tell us, those two seasons with the Blue Jays did not go quite as well as expected.

Needless to say, fans felt like there was a lot of unfinished business in Toronto and Farrell was supposed to be the guy to lead us there. So when it came out that the Red Sox were trying to secure a trade for Farrell, it nonetheless caused uproar against the manager for flying the coup. How dare he tout Toronto as his home and his passion while having one foot in Fenway Park the entire time?!

It goes without saying that the crowd at Rogers Centre will be raucous and the boo birds will be out in full force on Friday night when the visiting Boston Red Sox make their first trip of 2013 to the Great White North. They of course are bringing John Farrell with them.

We received a small sample of this when the Red Sox were in Dunedin this spring and Farrell played it off accordingly. However is he truly prepared for what will ensue before a sold-out house in Toronto? Does he understand the true scope of the barrage he will endure while making every single mound visit?

If the people of Toronto are anything, they are opinionated, and John Farrell will be at the full mercy of that opinionated crowd.

As Willy Wonka once said, “The suspense is terrible, I hope it will last!”