Red Sox-Yankees Off-Season Trash Talk

[Desnudo]

I guess 2005 won't see any oil on the water.


Schilling draws ire of A-Rod
Yankees slugger objects to comments of Sox ace
By Chris Snow, Globe Staff | January 22, 2005

In one of his more memorable moments of 2004, Curt Schilling said he couldn't "think of any scenario more enjoyable than making 55,000 people from New York shut up."

Alex Rodriguez can think of something better: Schilling shutting up.

Rodriguez, on a conference call yesterday, said he found Schilling's frequent public statements about the Yankees "odd."

"To me, it was just odd because, I mean, we beat him a couple of times during the year, and he was crying on the bench," Rodriguez said. "And then he lost Game 1 [of the American League Championship Series], and he wouldn't talk or anything. And, obviously, he wins Game 6, and then he's still talking till today. So it's just something we as players have been accustomed to."

Schilling took aim at Rodriguez following Game 6, the night Rodriguez slapped the ball out of Bronson Arroyo's glove near first base. Schilling called it a "bush-league play."

Schilling, who did not return a message left by the Globe on his cellphone last night, was reached by the Associated Press.

"It's not true, I talked after Game 1," Schilling said. "I don't care what Alex says. When someone says that, you consider the source."

Schilling also said he "was upset, but I wasn't crying on the bench."

Asked whether he was bothered by yesterday's developments, Schilling said: "That Alex Rodriguez doesn't like me? Not at all."

Rodriguez, who came close to being traded to the Red Sox for Manny Ramirez a year ago, encouraged Schilling to keep talking.

"I just hope he continues to talk about me and my teammates," Rodriguez said. "It's going to give us great motivation to beat him up in the future."

Countered Schilling: "If that's what he needs, cool."

Rodriguez also addressed his postseason play. While he was arguably the Yankees' most valuable player in the AL Division Series against the Twins, he went 2 for 17 in Games 4-7 of the ALCS.

"I played well at times, I played terrible at times," Rodriguez said. "And at the end of the day, I feel like my job was a failure because I was basically taken there to be the final part of a world championship team. So if you have to blame someone or point a finger at someone, you have to look in my direction, and I take 100 percent of the blame."

Rodriguez hit better as the season progressed. A .270 hitter the first half, he hit .307 after the All-Star break.

"Coming in, for me, was totally different than most players," he said. "I think you have to ask Rocket [Roger Clemens], myself, probably Randy [Johnson], and the upper-echelon type of player, because there's a much grander responsibility that comes along with being who I am, and I understand that completely." Rodriguez said losing the ALCS has been "the driving force of my winter." He admitted, "It's been hard to sleep thinking about that."

[Ksyrup]

Nothing is going to turn the public against the Red Sox quicker than this kind of crap. Because really, once the novelty of no more 1918 wears off, people are gonig to forget all of that and focus on how big Boston's payroll is, and they'll become nothing more than the Yankees' Mini-Me.

[Swaggs]

Yawn. Millionaire Goliath player and Millionaire Goliath player trying to make news.

The Red Sox winning the World Series was a great story, but their big spending, success, and subsequent arrogance by folks like Schilling pretty much makes them look like a Yankees' clone to me.

[sterlingice]

I like how this passes for news in Boston and New York. Say, press, don't you have a murder or ten to cover?

SI

[Desnudo]

The murder rate is very low in Boston, so no, usually not. And if you don't like reading this article, then you can take this thread and shove it.

[rkmsuf]

Who cares what A-Fraud says.

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Nothing is going to turn the public against the Red Sox quicker than this kind of crap. Because really, once the novelty of no more 1918 wears off, people are gonig to forget all of that and focus on how big Boston's payroll is, and they'll become nothing more than the Yankees' Mini-Me.

Well said.

Not to mention that when something like this is big news, it reinforces the idea that MLB has become about the Yankees and the Red Sox and nobody else matters.

[Bomber]

Its great that the two newest members of the rivalry can't shut the fuck up (though does anyone really expect Schilling to stay out of the public eye for an entire offseason, it would probably kill him if he did).

[McSweeny]

Originally Posted by Bomber

Its great that the two newest members of the rivalry can't shut the fuck up (though does anyone really expect Schilling to stay out of the public eye for an entire offseason, it would probably kill him if he did).

who really cares if they shut up or not? gotta talk about something until pitchers and catchers report

[Galaril]

Wow! A lot of anger in a thread about nothing.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Desnudo

The murder rate is very low in Boston, so no, usually not. And if you don't like reading this article, then you can take this thread and shove it.

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

Well said.

Not to mention that when something like this is big news, it reinforces the idea that MLB has become about the Yankees and the Red Sox and nobody else matters.

It's bad enough that there are sports journalists wandering around Boston and New York just hoping "stories" like this trip and fall in their laps. But it's even worse when it's on ESPN instead of real sports news moreso than just a little regional verbal spat.

SI

[SoxWin]

Originally Posted by rkmsuf

Who cares what A-Fraud says.

Indeed. And as a Sawx fan, I wish Schilling would shut his mouth too. I respect his talent on the field, but I'm already tired of hearing his mouth run.