Pablo article hits home
Comfort an issue in Hub for Sandoval
RED SOX NOTEBOOK
When Pablo Sandoval was in Boston, he said all the right things about trying to earn back the respect of Red Sox fans after playing horrendous baseball through the first two years of a five-year contract worth $95 million.
Ever since he left town, it’s been a different story.
Sandoval wrote a lengthy essay on The Players’ Tribune yesterday about how much he missed San Francisco and was never comfortable playing in Boston.
“Because every day I spent in Boston, my heart was still back in San Francisco,” said Sandoval, who re-signed with the Giants after the Sox cut him and is now playing every day for them after a brief stint in the minors.
Sandoval wasn’t much of a talker while with the Red Sox. A native of Venezuela, his English wasn’t perfect, but he did his best to answer questions in his second language.
The essay he penned in English for the player-owned publication was written with style and carefully pieced together. The publication often has its own writers interview the players and re-write the interviews.
But it was Sandoval’s byline. Always a people pleaser, he clearly aimed to please the folks of San Francisco, whom he said goodbye to after winning the World Series in 2014.
“I want to take a moment to apologize to the Giants and to the fans,” he said. “I know I already have, and I probably will again, but I don’t think I can apologize enough for the way I left — for some of the things I said. I said things I didn’t have to say. Things I don’t want to repeat.”
Sandoval was critical of San Francisco after he joined the Red Sox when he said that the Giants didn’t respect him.
Now his negative feelings are associated with a different town.
“At the end of the day, I just never felt comfortable in Boston,” he said. “It had nothing to do with the organization, or my teammates, or the fans, or the city. Everybody was great to me. I think it was just something that happens sometimes — you don’t feel comfortable somewhere, or you don’t fit in, even if you’re in a place you chose to be.
“In Boston, I was lost . . . It just never felt like home.”
Red Sox manager John Farrell said yesterday he was aware of Sandoval’s comments.
“Coming to Boston was his choice,” Farrell said. “A lot of expectations, a pressure place to play — that’s not to say that San Francisco is not — but for one reason or another, I think he might have outlined many of the reasons why he didn’t feel comfortable here. I think we went to many steps that took into account his needs on and off the field as best we could.”
‘Professional’ explanation
Reliever Addison Reed spotted six competitive pitches all around the edge of the plate against his first batter, Chase Headley, on Sunday night.
After Headley walked, the second batter, Ronald Torreyes, sacrifice bunted on the first pitch.
At this point pitching coach Carl Willis visited the mount but the Sox kept Reed in the game against the Yankees. And why not? Reed hadn’t shown anything to indicate he was in trouble.
Reed then started Jacoby Ellsbury with a slider in the dirt.
One pitch, and Farrell had seen enough.
Why did Farrell try to take Reed out of the game (unsuccessfully, due to a rule that mandates a pitcher remain in the game for the entire plate appearance following a mound visit)?
“I was looking to get Craig (Kimbrel) into the game,” Farrell said yesteday, after the Sox came back to beat the Yankees in a 3-2 10-inning win. “Unfortunately, the rule is what it is. I’m well aware of the rule, as I addressed after the game last night. I felt like, didn’t want to leave that series without having Craig Kimbrel on the mound.”
But Farrell remained unclear about why he tried pulling Reed in the middle of an at-bat and not getting Kimbrel in the game before Ellsbury got to the plate.
Farrell said he sat down with Reed after the game to discuss the decision, with which Reed was visibly upset.
“That was obviously a unique situation last night,” Farrell said. “I didn’t want him leaving Yankee Stadium last night without at least sitting down with him and giving him some thoughts that went into that.”
And was Reed angry during the meeting?
“I don’t know that I would need to give the contents of the meeting,” Farrell said. “But I think it was a professional, good conversation.”
“Professional” is also the term Farrell used to describe a conversation he had with Dennis Eckersley regarding David Price’s disrespectful behavior, though Farrell never apologized.
No activity for Laser Show
Dustin Pedroia has not begun doing any baseball activities. He’s currently rehabbing an inflamed left knee . ...
Price (elbow) did not throw yesterday. He still has to complete a throwing program before he can begin throwing off a mound . ...
Hanley Ramirez got a routine day off yesterday while Eduardo Nunez took over at DH and Brock Holt played second . . . .
The Sox will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1967 “Impossible Dream” team tomorrow at Fenway . ...
Sunday’s game drew a 2.1 overnight rating, the best for a non-opening night MLB game on ESPN since 2014.