Casual fan is a term for people who only casually care about their fandom, and as a result are a big annoyance to the die-hards.
Characteristics include:
- Showing up excessively late and leaving excessively early at games (perpetuating a negative stereotype of Dodger fans)
- Only caring about the team when they're winning
- Criticizing the manager for an idiotic move without understanding the proper reason for that move or that it was the player's fault
- Not being able to name the team's backup catcher
Mike Petriello has expressed frustration with casual fans in blog posts. For example, in the June 2012, the Dodgers were close to first place due to a red hot start but in the middle of an atrocious month-long slump. Mike argued that the team had outperformed their true winning abilities at the beginning of the year and called for the Dodgers to trade Chris Capuano (who had performed far above his career averages that year) to plan for the future. He recieved considerable backlash from people angry that he would suggest throwing in the towel halfway through the season with a decent record. Mike retorted that he was suggesting a plan that would allow the Dodgers to be a good team for years to come, rather than the "casual fan" attitude of going all in every year without understanding the bigger picture.