We get emails sometimes at NFTN, and the firing of HawkerRob last week prompted a host of them. I’ve been holding off on printing them all because I really had to get my head around the situation myself, and figure out what’s the best way forward.

Let it be known, personally, I wouldn’t have fired Rob. But I would have demoted him from Head Beerhawker, and would have suspended him for a month, so really I can’t complain too loudly about what went down. It sucks, but he put himself (and the team) in a bad spot, and here we are.

Of course, it took me a week to get to that point. That week basically saw me go from anger to annoyance to acceptance to understanding as I considered all angles, but not everyone has found the same path. So I figured, rather than print each email we’ve received on the topic, I’d tackle the loudest, most stompiest one as a means of saving time.

ANON from Parts Unknown says:

What’s up with you, man? You just going to take Rob losing his job lying down? Why don’t you get the fans together and rally them to protest for him to get his job back? The Canadians totally overreacted to a silly mistake and if we told them we are angry, they’d probably let him come back. It’s as if you’re resigned to this happening - fight back! Get angry!

Where do I start with this?

I don’t like that Rob won’t be at The Nat this season.  In fact, it sucks.

But here’s the thing: I’d wager the C’s don’t like it either.

So why did they fire him?

Because the Vancouver Canadians are trying to shed the image of their being an amateur hour rinkydink ballclub, which has been their established rep for the last three decades, and they want to show everyone - staff, non-staff, customers, investors, advertisers and the Oakland A’s - that they mean business. 

They’re not worried that Rob can’t be trusted. They don’t think ill of him. But he crossed a line and they felt they needed to reestablish that line as uncrossable.

Was it an overreaction?

Well, for the old C’s, sure. But the old C’s were a collection of people who, if they were to keep their jobs, were only required to not completely screw everything up completely. The new C’s want their staff to be not just better than that, but better than those at every other sporting organization in the city, which is a bit of a culture shock to folks who essentially fell into their jobs and stayed in them because working at a ballpark is fun.

In the corporate world, and that’s the world the new C’s want to inhabit, you need to establish the boundaries early in a change of ownership/management situation, and the Canadians front office has done that by making an example of someone who, by rights, would have assumed he’d always be a part of the C’s family.

As a result, you can guarantee that at Nat Bailey Stadium right now, nobody on staff is cutting any corners. They’ve seen what will happen if they act like their job is a party, they know they have to impress the new boss, and they know they have a certain amount of time to establish themselves as being not just adequate, but necessary.

Sucks for Rob, sure. Sucks for people who enjoyed Rob being a part of the Nat Bailey Stadium atmopshere. But that’s the way it works.

Marjorie from Yaletown writes:

I know that hawker. Not by name, but I’ve bought a lot of beer from him over the years, right back to when the AAA team were in Vancouver. He’s a nice guy. I won’t stop going to the stadium but he’ll be missed. 

Sure enough, though I suspect he’ll still be prowling around section 9 on occasion, demonstrating that there’s no hard feelings. And it’s nice that such a thing will be possible. 

When you’re in the business of trying to get people to pay money to come love you a few times every week, as the Canadians are, you don’t want to be STRICTLY corporate in everything you do, or the fans will quickly lose their connection with you and attendance will suffer. See Marlins, Florida.

So credit where it’s due, the C’s have admittedly left the door open on Rob perhaps coming back next season, and I know Rob is prepared to pay his pennance and come back as soon as he’s able without a complaint, so there’s no bitterness on either side. Rob will be tough to replace and the C’s know that, so it’s highly likely that once the dust settles, they’ll find something for the big guy to do around the ballpark, and he won’t say no.

DK writes:

I’m not going to any C’s game this season. Corporate lackeys suck.

Oh yes you are, you big liar.

I got a few other emails from people all outraged and wanting to fight back, but as far as ‘rallying the troops’ through the blog, I’m not about to do any such thing, and here’s why: Imagine that we got 10,000 loud, angry people to show up at The Nat in Rob McGowan wigs and the C’s panicked and chose to agree to our request that Rob get his job back. What sort of workplace would that leave the big guy in?

Instead of being welcomed back like family, he’d be allowed back begrudgingly. Instead of having done his time and being prepared to contribute any way he could with a clean slate, he’d be the guy they can’t wait to find a reason to get rid of. Instead of everyone shaking hands and understanding they wish it hadn’t had to be that way, there’d be anger, annoyance, distrust and maybe even recrimination.

On the other hand, if we let the C’s know that Rob is important to Vancouver baseball (and he is), and that he lives, eats and breathes the C’s (and he does), and that we each and every one of us understand why they did what they did (which we should), then come season 2007, I can’t imagine Senor 80’s-Hair not being a regular back at The Nat.

The new C’s are good people, but they have rules that must be followed. So let’s do our part in accepting those rules, and give them the room and the trust necessary to do their jobs, so that next year can be one where everything is back to normal.

For those who wish to pass on their good wishes to Rob, go DONATE MONEY to his Cancer charity. He’s racking up the funds and rapidly nearing his target - let’s help him get over the line.

And if you REALLY want to say hi, go do so on his ShaveRobForSummer blog.