It's not the he may have intended to make, but it was important just the same. In discussing all the human interest angles to Chris Johnson's young pro career with the Astros, he shows us why we as fans should be rooting for Johnson.
↵He's had a really rough time with his sister's injuries recently and his distance from his father growing up. He's touched on both of those in the past, but never so openly. He's had a lot going on off the field, so much so you could imagine it'd be hard for any of us to do our jobs well, much less operate in a public arena where every step is dissected.
↵How do we separate things? Just as Johnson's story should make us root for him, his stats have shown a player who has struggled in his sophomore season. We can look at the advanced stats, like his batting average on balls in play or his incredibly low walk rate and see a player who's got marginal value for the Astros right now. We can know this and wonder if Matt Downs should start at third instead.
↵That's the hardest part of being a fan and why baseball executives have an even tougher go of it. They have to make business decisions regardless of personal feelings.
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