May 22, 2006

Ortiz On MFY Series: "This Isn't Vietnam"

David Ortiz was polite, if not exactly historically accurate, when he discussed the Yankees:
Dude, that team always wins. ... That doesn't mean I have to hate them and they have to hate me. It's a game, with a bunch of professional guys. It's not like I want to kill someone over there. ... It's not like this is Vietnam. I like the intensity. It keeps you awake the whole game. Those games, hell yeah, this is it right here. You know the whole planet is watching you.
Does that mean Ortiz sometimes naps during games against the Royals and Devil Rays?

The Yankees are pretty banged up. Hideki Matsui (wrist) and Bubba Crosby (hamstring) are out and several others are bothered by various Jorge Posada (back), Bernie Williams (gluteus), Johnny Damon (foot fracture), Shawn Chacon (shin) and Kyle Farnsworth (back) are bothered by various problems. The batting order has been featuring Melky Cabrera, Kelly Stinnett, Andy Phillips and Kevin Reese.

Notes: Jason Varitek played in his 1,000th game yesterday, the 953rd as catcher, putting his third on the team's all-time list (Carlton Fisk (990) and Sammy White (967)). ... Coco Crisp will take batting practice today. ... Gabe Kapler may be a week away from game action (probably in extended spring training).

Some New York media was in Philadelphia trying to get Francona to discuss the New York series. "I know your paper paid for you to come down here but tough shit. I'll let you talk to Wells."

It may be too late. Claiming that his comments about Dave Dellucci and steriod rumors were taken out of context, Wells says he is through with the media:
I wasn't accusing him or anything of the sort. So the [expletive] who did it, or the [expletives] who did it, I think they need to eat a full bowl of [expletive]. And you can quote me on that. [Expletives]. ... I like talking to reporters, but not anymore. I'm done with them. Today's the last one. You guys get the last hurrah.
We'll see how long this lasts. ... While Wells didn't claim outright that Dellucci was juicing -- he mentioned him more as someone who might be suspected -- from what I read, his comments were not misconstrued. What's amazing to read is Wells saying it's a damn shame that Dellucci's good name was dragged into the discussion when it was Wells who mentioned him!!

The Globe has some silly thing: "Ask the 8-Ball a YES or NO question about the Sox-Yankees series. Get ready to see into the future!" ... I typed in "why does the globe still pay dan shaughnessy for his tripe?" ... The answer: "Schilling knows all."

Finally, David Damiani writes about the "Yankees/Red Sox Sound Chamber" in the odious American Enterprise:
In its ongoing bid to transfix the attention of everyone residing in a 200-mile swath of the Eastern seaboard, ESPN broadcast two of three games of the Yankees/Red Sox series this week. ...

Two factors that go well beyond ratings dictate the way the Red Sox/Yankees series are covered: the largely northeastern-centered major media's belief that the rest of the nation is fascinated over anything occurring in their environs, and an astonishing sense of entitlement. Mike Celizic's MSN column generally opines that baseball has no meaning or value if the Yankees aren't a dominant force in it, while Tom Verducci in Sports Illustrated can always be counted on to explore that rarely acknowledged Yankees/Red Sox rivalry angle. ...

Yankees/Red Sox coverage early in the season encapsulates almost everything that's wrong with the mainstream baseball press: self-indulgence, hysteria, an inability to focus on more than a handful of talking points, and a contemptuous confidence that repetition will never fail to entertain its audience.
I love good media bashing, but, dude, just turn your TV off.

And why in god's name are you wasting your time with Mike Celizic? Only the guys at Fire Joe Morgan -- who have dubbed Celizic "The Chancellor and High Commander (American/Western Media Division) for the United Front to Prevent Anything Ever Being Written That Is Not About the Yankees" -- should do that.

3 comments:

Zenslinger said...

Globe's RS Notebook clears this up by quoting him in toto. Not that Wells isn't a meathead, but this time he's become the victim of selective quoting.

In the full quote below (from http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2006/05/22/wells_attempts_to_clear_the_air/), you see that he specifically says he doesn't suspect Delucci of steroid use. The discussion is about who might get suspicion thrown their way.

--
Question: ''Are there guys, power guys, who you say there's no way they're juicing, or is everybody under suspicion?"

Wells: ''Now everybody is, I would think. You see a little itty bitty guy hitting 30 home runs, like Dellucci, I guess. How many home runs did he hit last year? Twenty-nine? Has he ever done that in his career? The numbers have gone down tremendously since all this has come up. You know, I know Dave. I've never suspected him of doing 'em, so, you know, it's something that, who else, who else could be? [Craig] Biggio, he can hit the ball, he can make good contact. I guess if you've been around the game enough and know the strike zone. It's like Wade Boggs, he never hit home runs but he could if he wanted to. He could see the ball well and he could put the bat on the ball well. BP, he was unbelievable. He could go deep at will.
--

Zenslinger said...

Long URL didn't come out right, sorry.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/
2006/05/22/wells_attempts_to_clear_the_air/

allan said...

there's no possibility that the reds would swap brandon for foulke (forget about wells for the moment).

there is also no possibility that arroyo would be putting up the same numbers in the AL, pitching some of his games at Fenway. i liked arroyo, but he was league-average at best most of the time. that is replaceable.

theo made a very good deal -- he dealt arroyo when his value was high and got good value for him.