Machado not real bad guy here
No hard feelings from Sox By MICHAEL SILVERMAN
If Manny Machado’s the best villain Hollywood’s Dodgers could come up with for this World Series, get me re-write.
Because even though Machado’s no angel, he’s not a Yankee. At least not yet.
He does do and say some stupid things on the field -things that are indefensible. That foot drag/kick he gave Milwaukee first baseman to Jesus Aguilar in the NLCS was bush league, A-Rod-level stuff. Plus he has a tendency to stick a foot in his mouth when he does speak.
He also happens to be bright, articulate, thoughtful and in the current top five of all ballplayers when it comes to power, speed and defense. He is a gifted athlete and he can give Mookie Betts a run for his money as the best player on the field in this series.
But really, to concoct the storyline that the Red Sox have Machado in their bull’s eye of hate is a stretch.
“Is this high school? I’m a grown-ass man, dude, c’mon,” said Dustin Pedroia when asked if he or the team has any lingering resentment for the Machado slide.
It all goes back to the hard, aggressive but clean slide Machado made two Aprils ago when he was an Oriole and his spikes made contact with Pedroia’s surgically repaired knee.
Yes, the slide caused a big setback in Pedroia’s still active comeback, but take another look at the slide. It wasn’t dirty. Just costly. “I don’t think you understand for 11 months, waking up early, working the way I worked to try and come back and overcome this injury and not being able to yet, obviously that’s tough but I’m not mad at him – it’s over, man,” said Pedroia. It wasn’t at the time. The slide sparked a series of retaliations from the Red Sox. Matt Barnes threw behind Machado’s head later in the game and got suspended, and when the Orioles played at Fenway Park soon after, Chris Sale whizzed a ball behind Machado’s legs. After the game, Machado let loose a few unprintable words along with some others about how he had lost all respect for the Red Sox organization.
And then the story mostly died down...until yesterday, when Machado and his new Dodgers team showed up at Fenway.
And guess what – everybody stayed on message: Nobody’s mad at anybody.
Machado would not take any bait on the subject.
He said the incident was “old history,” and that as far as bad blood was concerned, there was nothing to be concerned about – “Both teams are trying to win a World Series, trying to win, just want to be the last team standing.”
Get this: Machado said he is not a dirty player.
“I play hard for my ballclub – whatever uniform I put on I’m going to bleed and die for, so I hustle, I run down the line, I do whatever I can to win ballgames,” said Machado. “Those are the only things we control as baseball players.”
Sale was no more interested in stoking the flames of a Machado history than he was about clearing up the existence of his belly button ring.
“Not at all,” said Sale when asked if any bad feelings lingered. “We have bigger things to worry about now on both sides, on their side and on our side. We’re dedicated to winning this World Series and bringing a championship to our city. We’re not worried about any individual player. We’ve got one thing in mind and that’s winning.”
Steve Pearce was 29 years old and in his first season with the Orioles when 19year-old Machado began his big-league career with Baltimore. The two spent four combined seasons with each other, and Pearce could not have been much more of a Machado fan.
“I know Manny personally, he’s one of my favorite people of all time – I still have a relationship with him, I still root for him,” said Pearce. “It’s unfortunate everything that’s going on with him because for me personally, that’s not the type of guy he is. I hope he turns it around and maybe make everybody forget about what’s going on.”
Pearce does not appreciate the “dirty player” being slapped on Machado.
“I think it’s unfair,” said Pearce.” I’m trying to find the disconnect with what’s going on with him on the field and what’s going on off the field because I know what type of guy he is off the field, and I haven’t been his teammate for a couple years now. I really don’t know what’s going on inside his head, but he’s still one of my favorite guys.”
Be my guest hooting and hating on Machado for the next four to seven games, but I’ll wager he’ll do something to tick you off because of a home run he hits, a bunt he lays down or a play he makes in the field rather than being involved in a “dirty” play.
Like Machado said, he’s here to win games, not make any more enemies.
“It’s awesome, it’s a blessing to be here, a blessing to be part of this, everyone’s dream is to be in the World Series and I’m here, it’s just truly amazing to be here, playing against a team I’ve played against before, played quite a bit, so it’s definitely going to be fun.”