In a recent ESPN.com article, Boston Red Sox DH David Ortiz suggested that just because the Yankees are in playoff contention doesn’t mean that shortstop Derek Jeter should get more consideration than himself for the MVP award in the American League.
Ortiz also alluded to the fact that the Yankees have a more powerful lineup than Boston has.
“Don’t get me wrong — he’s a great player, having a great season, but he’s got a lot of guys in that lineup,” Ortiz said of Jeter. “Top to bottom, you’ve got a guy who can hurt you. Come hit in this lineup, see how good you can be.”
To that, Jeter replied “I don’t have to do it in his lineup.”
“I’m not thinking about the MVP right now,” he told reporters Monday. “We’re thinking about winning a division. We’ve still got something to play for.”
This is what’s wrong with the Boston Red Sox. They have guys on their squad that are more concerned with individual awards than the success of the team. What Jeter told reporters about winning a division is what players should be worried about.
But no, Big Papi is concerned with getting his – being a politician for an individual award during the final month of the season when he should be wondering how in the hell his team choked as bad as they did after the All-Star break. Maybe this is why Boston is now 10 and half games behind the Yankees in the division.
Don’t you understand that you just made Jeter look more like a hero Ortiz? Don’t you understand that you just threw your own teammates under the bus with the: “come hit in this lineup, see how good you can be,” statement?
The bigger problem for the Red Sox is the unbelievable infatuation with the New York Yankees. I bet their stomachs hurt just thinking about the Bronx Bombers on a daily basis.
New York hasn’t won since 2000 and yet every year people in the Red Sox organization talk about how they must compete with the Yankees – how they must do enough to keep up with the Yankees – how they must stop the Yankees.
Hello? You won a world championship two years ago Boston!
Love or hate the Yankees – love or hate Jeter, but they are focused every single year on one thing: winning a championship. They don’t care about the Red Sox unless they’re in the way of aWorld Series title. They don’t talk about beating just one team; they talk about building a winning organization to complete with the rest of the Major League.
The Boston Red Sox are focused on one thing too: The New York Yankees. Beat the Yankees and it’s the greatest season known to man.
