Blue Jays fans aren't loving being asked to "be loud" by players

Toronto Blue Jays infielder Brandon Belt has quickly become a fan favourite in his first year in the city for both his strong bat at the plate and his typically candid and hilarious interview answers.

But his latest quote isn’t exactly endearing him well to the Toronto faithful, even if it was probably meant with good intentions.

In an interview with Sportsnet’s Hazel Mae, Belt shared his requests for fans at the rest of Toronto’s home games to, well, make some noise.

“We need the fans to be loud,” Belt told Mae earlier today. “These are important games for us.”

The sentiment was obvious — the Jays are on the verge of clinching a playoff spot and could do so as soon as tomorrow if they pick up a combination of three of their own wins and Seattle Mariners losses over the final five days of the season.

Home field advantage of a loud crowd can conceivably have a major impact in a sport like baseball, so it’s sensible why a player would want to play in a raucous environment.

The issue, though, is that Belt and the rest of his Blue Jays teammates are coming off a rather uninspired series opener against the New York Yankees, where the team fell 2-0 to their playoff-eliminated rival while garnering only three hits in the process.

The reactions to Belt’s comments were overwhelmingly the same: Toronto fans are happy to be cheering when the team’s playing well, but it’s hard to support a team that isn’t scoring runs.

May I suggest hitting the ball to spark the loudness? https://t.co/8AZQoDEH0p

— brokencool (@brokencool) September 27, 2023

What were the fans supposed to cheer for yesterday? https://t.co/upOMX5CuXK

— Jacob Smith (@JaySmithBall) September 27, 2023

Get more than 3 hits maybe the crowd will cheer https://t.co/fqVVtFQPKk

— fat mahomes (@jaycutzz) September 27, 2023

Maybe they should try playing like it’s an important game https://t.co/in8g2jYJnH

— Conner (@McTagueConner) September 27, 2023

If you’re playing in the game tonight as a Blue Jay, fans request you make your presence known:

“We need more than 3 hits. These are important games for us.” https://t.co/BMkQoN2r1g

— James G (@james_in_to) September 27, 2023

I was cheering loudly last night, even though they gave us nothing to cheer for.

— BlueJaysMamma (@LaurieWulfand) September 27, 2023

A few fans even made reference to a similar request in 1992 from outfielder Dave Winfield, who asked the fans to pick up the noise back in September of that year en route to an eventual World Series win.

The request created the “Winfield Wants Noise” sign, which was held by a fan named Nick Jackson, as per Bluebird Banter author Minor Leaguer in one of the enduring images of the team’s first-ever World Series title.

https://t.co/LwNR1FOuDt pic.twitter.com/IHoQxJ8Qd8

— Tim Bolen (@timbolen) September 27, 2023

If Brandon was Dave Winfield, I’d give him the time of day. But please ask Brandon did he see how many hits we had yesterday? https://t.co/2DxL4AS7gn

— BlueJaysLifer (@LiferJays) September 27, 2023

In any case, Belt and the Blue Jays and Yankees are back at it again at 7:07 pm ET. We’ll see exactly how loud the crowd gets after Belt’s request.

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