I get it, Toronto sports fans. You’re fickle. That’s why you cheer ridiculously when the Raptors score 100 points, entitling you to a voucher for a free slice of pizza that you probably won’t even redeem. That’s also why you boo Lyle Overbay pitch-by-pitch when he’s in the middle of a slump at the beginning of the season. It’s cool — you’re just not that bright.

The fact of the matter is, Lyle Overbay is not as bad as the boo birds at the Rogers Centre and the boobs on radio call in shows think he is. This is baseball — players slump. No one’s jumping all over Jays future franchise player Travis Snider, who is hitting .108 and slugging .243 this season.  If anything, Jays fans should be expecting far more power from Snider’s bat than Overbay’s. So why don’t they boo Snider at every at bat? His numbers are just as bad as Overbay’s.

A big problem with Overbay’s production comes against left-handed pitching. Overbay stopped hitting lefties two years ago — plain and simple. It doesn’t take much of a hitting coach to note Overbay hasn’t been the same against left-handers since John Danks broke his right wrist with a fastball on June 3, 2007. Clearly, the resulting spiral fracture and surgery Overbay had to correct the problem has affected his swing.

Before he was injured in 2007, Overbay hit .287 agaisnt lefties with a .472 slugging percentage. In 2008, after the surgery, Overbay hit just .215 against left-handers with a measly .255 slugging percentage. Those numbers got even worse in 2009 when he hit .190 and slugged .229.

This year? Overbay is 0 for 15 against lefties — a number that is absolutely killing his batting average (currently .080), which is the number most fans point to when criticizing Overbay’s performance this season. Take away those 15 at bats against lefties and his average goes up to .114. A point of reference? That would be the exact same batting average through Monday as New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixiera — who makes $20 million this year, by the way.

Why Cito Gaston insists on continually marching Overbay out against left-handed pitching at this point is beyond me. As I’ve said before, he has veteran slugger Randy Ruiz — who has hit at a pace of one home run per 12 at bats with the Blue Jays — on the bench who could easily sub in at first base instead of Overbay against left handers.

Gaston likes to stick with his guys, however, and won’t be working a platoon at first anytime soon. And even though I don’t agree with the move, I admit that it’s not the worst thing that could happen. This way Overbay can hit his way out of his slump, thus raising his trade value ahead of the July non-waiver trade deadline and giving Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos another chip to play with. Ship Overbay off to another team and clear the way for heavy hitting Jays prospect Brett Wallace to come up and get some major league at bats — nothing wrong with that.

Or keep Overbay until the end of the year — he is a free agent at the end of the season, after all. Eventually his numbers will improve and he’ll likely be a type B free agent, meaning the Jays will receive a compensatory pick when he signs elsewhere. And trust me, his numbers will improve.

Remember, last year Overbay was third on the Blue Jays in doubles, second in on base percentage and fourth in slugging percentage. His 16 home runs and 64 RBIs in 2009 were on par with Vernon Wells’ numbers (15 HR, 66 RBI) and Wells had almost 200 more plate appearances than Overbay.

Lyle Overbay is simply not a bad hitter. Sure, he won’t hit 30 home runs or 100 RBIs but a first baseman does not have to do that. One of the biggest misconceptions among fans is that the corner infielders must hit for power, your second baseman and shortstop can hit poorly as long as they play good defence and your centre fielder must be your leadoff man who steals bases. These are baseball stereotypes. Every team needs a good balance of contact, power and speed to be successful at the plate, but why do those attributes have to come from certain positions?

Who says the first baseman has to be a power hitter? That’s a ridiculous misconception. Overbay consistently gets on base, scores runs, moves runners along and works pitchers deep into counts. What’s not to like? If Jays fans got that from John McDonald, Alex Gonzalez, Jose Bautista or John Buck, they’d be over the moon.

I know you’re fickle, Toronto. But if you think Lyle Overbay is your biggest problem with the 2010 Blue Jays, you’re in for a long haul.