There is no team in Lawrie. Not yet.

The 2013 Toronto Blue Jays came advertised over the winter with big hopes for a playoff appearance and hopefully a World Series championship. It hasn't worked out that way and all but the most diehard and hopeful fans hold on to that dream as June 1st approaches and the team is still way off course with time running out to make a run, even if they do get the team back on track.
Toronto fans are used to that. They have endured a 45 year plus run of Maple Leaf hockey teams that have failed to produce on a consistent basis, and now a Toronto Raptor basketball team, one which has never gone more than two rounds in the playoffs, which is 6 years removed from the playoffs and is one of the worst teams in the league over that period. 

What Toronto fans are also used to are selfish, whiny and self serving players. The list is very long. Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady and Chris Bosh in basketball, George Bell and A.J. Burnett in baseball and countless hockey players that came and went on to greener pastures once they found any success with the Leafs. The list is long. All of those, but most specifically Carter, McGrady and Bosh were the toast of the town until they decided to simply bail on their team and look after themselves first. In Carter's case, it was even talked about that he threw games on purpose. When he returned to town, and every time since in the 10 years after he was traded, he had been soundly booed. At one time, he could do no wrong.

But on the flip side of that coin, many have charmed and been admired by the fans for the way they play and the way they conduct themselves. Many of those were not the most talented of players, but the fans loved them anyway. Jerome Williams (The Junkyard Dog), John McDonald and Wade Belak come to mind. In Williams case, the way he came to town once he was traded only added to the lore of how he was revered by the fans.


"On February 22, 2001 Williams was traded from the Detroit Pistons, He was so enthusiastic about joining his new teammates that he immediately drove from Detroit to Toronto upon hearing the news."

In fact, there was a huge blizzard that night and he drove through that just to be able to play the next Raptor game. Raptor fans never forgot that, nor his hard work and willingness to do the dirty work it takes for a team to win. While Carter and McGrady were scoring the big points, Williams was the player fans took to because of his team first attitude. After he was traded and then retired, he came back to the Raptors organization as a community relations representative and the fans still love him to this day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QstvTCxrNwY

As I mentioned off the top, the 2013 Blue Jays have been a big bust. One of the main reasons for that was the early season injury to shortstop Jose Reyes in April. Even as the team was struggling then, Reyes was the igniter of the team, both on offense and defense. He was part of that winter trading spree, and when he went down the Jays were caught without any replacement to fill the void. Or so it seemed. Enter Munenori Kawasaki. 
Kawasaki was a name very few fans had ever heard. And it seemed that when he was acquired from Seattle, he was little more than a very weak fill in for a star player. It seemed that way, but in fact, he has been a godsend. And more than anything, the fans love him.
Why do the fans love Kawasaki? Simply put, he plays hard and he is a team player. That goes a long way with most fans.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/baseball/mlb/story/2013/05/28/video-munenori-kawasaki-blue-jays.html

Toronto Blue Jays backup shortstop Munenori Kawasaki has been winning over fans and teammates with his unbridled enthusiasm and cheery disposition since he was promoted from the minors last month.
Brought in as a replacement for the injured Jose Reyes, Kawasaki, a 31-year-old from Japan, delivered the knockout blow against the AL East-rival Baltimore Orioles on Sunday, hitting a two-run double in the ninth inning that gave the Jays a 6-5 victory.
The winning double was also a big hit with fans, who flocked to buy Kawasaki T-shirts after the game. "He’s a sparkplug, he’s a breath of fresh air," said Jays manager John Gibbons.

 "My teammates give me opportunity, so I wanted to do something about it."

And then there is Brett Lawrie.
Lawrie was acquired 3 years ago with great hopes and expectations. A Canadian born, very young, very talented player that the Blue Jays gave up their #1 starter, Shaun Marcum to get. At that point, he was deemed a glory boy by the fans. As we all know, as time goes on, that can change. We certainly saw that with Vince Carter. People are never as good as the image that is sold on the front end of any relationship. As time has passed, the bloom is definitely off the rose between Lawrie and the fans. Just two weeks ago, he actually took to Twitter and insulted the fans, as he is want to do. He is young and has a very big, disrespectful mouth. 

http://www.thestar.com/sports/bluejays/2013/05/09/blue_jays_brett_lawrie_wants_people_who_havent_played_pro_ball_to_shut_ur_mouths.html

Lawrie, an avid Twitter user with more than 186,000 followers, wrote on his official account Thursday: “All u people who chirp when things don’t go good have never done anything in pro sport .. Ever .. So shut ur mouths #LetsGetThisThingg #jays.”

The tweet was later deleted.

But when asked about it Thursday, Lawrie showed no remorse.

“I expect that,” he said of the online criticism he receives from fans. “I expect a lot out of myself, but at the same time I’m not going to sit there and take all that from people that I don’t know. So if I want to say something back, I have more than the right to. Freedom of speech. People want to come at me with something then I’m not scared to say something back.”

Lawrie also plays hard. Maybe harder than any other player I can think of. You can't fault him for that. But he is also a selfish, self absorbed young player. Will he ever grow out of that? Probably. Most of us do as we age.
I don't think many question his talent. Or that he is a passionate player who cares and gives it his all. The problem rests with the "his" part. Brett Lawrie is about Brett Lawrie first, and then possibly about the team. In a team sport, that won't win him any fans or respect from his teammates.

Last year, under manager John Farrell, the Blue Jays had a major problem with this sort of thing. First, Lawrie threw a fit and a helmet at an umpire and was suspended. And that was hardly the only incident with him. 

In addition, later in the year, shortstop Yunel Escobar insulted many fans and citizens when he posted a sexual slur on his face late in the season. When Farrell bolted from the team after the season, a new manager was in order. 
To everyone's surprise, former manager John Gibbons was hired and given the task of leading this potential World Series team to the promised land.
Just a week ago, when Escobar was back in town with his new team, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, he again showed his lack of class and immaturity when he showed up the fans and the Blue Jays pitcher after he hit a homerun. However, the Devil Rays manager, Joe Madden handled the incident in a much different way than the Jays had.

http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/story/2013-05-21/yunel-escobar-home-run-celebration-rays-jays-fans-booing-joe-maddon 


Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Yunel Escobar got himself in hot water with his manager after celebrating a little too much Monday.
Playing against his old team, the Toronto Blue Jays, Escobar homered off Casey Janssen with the Rays trailing in the ninth inning. Booed by the Rogers Centre crowd of 29,885, Escobar thumped his chest and made an exaggerated safe sign as he crossed the plate, prompting more jeers.
"I'm sure that was an emotional moment for him," Maddon said. "The booing probably promoted the reaction that he had. I'm going to talk to him about that tomorrow. I'm certain you're not going to see that again."

Again, Escobar, like Lawrie, is a very talented player. And very young. But neither really has the respect of their teammates or their manager. When Escobar was originally traded to the Blue Jays, many of his Atlanta teammates were glad to see him go. He was known as a clubhouse and on-the-field troublemaker. Lawrie has quickly gained the same reputation.
Which brings us to Sunday's game. In that game, the Blue Jays were down 2 runs in the bottom of the ninth. With runners on first and third, Lawrie hit a fly ball that may or may not have been deep enough to score the runner on third, Adam Lind. That run, however, was insignificant. The important runner was the one on first, the tying run. For Lawrie though, he threw a tirade when Lind was held, in fact glaring at Lind and the third base coach as he made his way back to the dugout. He was mad that he didn't get credit for a run batted in (RBI) and took an out as an at bat, thereby lowering his batting average. Both are personal stats, but have nothing to do with the team winning the game. They do however bear on his ability to gain a higher contract in the future. What he should have been mad about, if he cared about the team, is that he didn't advance the runner on first into scoring position. As a player, in that way, he failed the team. He didn't care about that though.

Back in the dugout, Lawrie and manager Gibbons had a huge argument, right on camera, only separated by another player, Jose Bautista. This isn't the first time Gibbons has had it out with a player on his own team. His first time around as manager of the Blue Jays he had a big time confrontation with another very selfish player, Shea Hillenbrand, who was traded a few days later, and a pitcher, Ted Lilly, who argued with him and had a scuffle in the dugout and in the locker room. Say what you will about Gibbons, but he knows there is only one manager and he must be respected, and also stand up for the rest of the team. 

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/11/21/shea-hillenbrand-on-the-blue-jays-hiring-john-gibbons-thats-awesome-hes-a-great-guy/ 


In July 2006, Blue Jays infielder Shea Hillenbrand wrote “The ship is sinking” and “play for yourself” on a clubhouse bulletin board. In response, manager John Gibbons confronted him in a closed team meeting and challenged him to a fight. A couple days later Hillenbrand was traded away.
So what does Hillenbrand think about Gibbons being re-hired as the Jays manager? Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star talked to him and he thinks it’s quite delightful, actually:
“That’s awesome,” he said. “He’s a great guy …I think he handled the situation that we had very professionally and I didn’t handle it professionally at all …
After the Lawrie tirade, Kawasaki hit a game winning double that may never had happened had Lind been sent home on Lawrie's fly ball and been called out at the plate. In terms of the team, it was the right call to make. If Lawrie was a team player first, he would realize and accept that. So far, he is not that type of player. The fans realize that.

http://www.thestar.com/sports/bluejays/2013/05/27/brett_lawrie_displayed_most_disgraceful_exhibition_of_mefirst_mentality_ive_ever_seen_in_mlb_griffin.html 

There are certain things you never do. You don't berate your teammates in public, and really not in private either. You don't show up your teammates, and you don't blame them for a loss. You support and you play together. That is tough these days (and maybe even was back in the old days) when your compensation is based mostly on how you perform and not how the team performs. It is an inherent problem with how professional team sports are organized.

We don't reward the team players financially like we reward the talented, me first type players, so it isn't surprising that we see so much of that. Or that those that are that way do it, and know they can get away with it. Talent wins games. Or does it? Maybe. Or maybe it is a combination of both. Pure talent without the other variables likely won't get you all the way.
In any event, the fans reward the players like Williams and Kawasaki with support because they play for the team first. There is an old saying that there is no "I" in team. Even though Kawasaki ends in "I", you wouldn't know it by his play or his attitude. He plays for the team and he is happy when the team does well. And that is why a guy like him will always have a job as long as he is even remotely capable of playing big league ball. As for Brett Lawrie, as long as he remains as selfish as he is, then he will only be useful as long as he can produce results that satisfy himself while still furthering the team objective, even though that isn't his main objective. Or, if he is lucky, he will grow up long before the skills fade or age takes hold and robs him of the only gift he was given. Which in the long run may not even be a gift, but a hindrance or a curse.
 Lawrie and his need for attention and validation is something that fans understand but don't care for. It is the price you pay sometimes for the talent he possesses. As for Gibbons, You can't really blame him for the on field lack of production. He doesn't pitch, and this team will live and die with the pitching staff, which is a total bust at this point. But at least this season, when a young player steps out of line, there is someone there to make sure that is not tolerated, and hopefully corrected. Someone has to. Lawrie is certainly not going to change that behavior on his own. Escobar likely never will. Nobody was shedding any tears when his ass was shipped out of town.
The old saying is that you can't fire 25 players. That is why managers get fired and many times take the blame for poor team performance. And that is true. You can't. But you can sit down one of them to make a point about what is important. Because if one player makes that much difference in the fortunes of your team, and he knows that, and knows that you will let him get away with anything because of it, then you really don't have a team. 
Maybe Kawasaki's ultimate value to the team will be as an example to Lawrie, who has the tools to be a superstar, in the hope that he will see what a true professional does and how they handle themselves in a team game.
John Gibbons may or may not be a lousy tactical and motivational manager, but lets give him some respect for doing what needs to be done. If Alex Anthropolous (the GM) had any guts, he would let Gibbons bench him for a week to wake up Lawrie to the realities of life. You play for the team, not for yourself. If you want to achieve for yourself, take up tennis or golf. Baseball, despite how the players are paid, is a team game.
But for now, there is an "I" in Lawrie, and it is more prominent than metaphoric.
Munenori Kawasaki has a first and last name that ends in "I", but he certainly is a team first player. That is neither metaphoric or symbolic. That is just fact. He shows that everyday on the field. Lets hope Lawrie does as some point as well.