RIVALRY LOSING SOME PUNCH
Papi: Yanks-Sox just not the same
THE YANKEES and Red Sox squared off for the first time this season Friday night in the Bronx, but for David Ortiz, the rivalry just isn’t what it used to be.
Ortiz and Alex Rodriguez are the only players remaining on the two rosters from the epic ALCS matchups of 2003 and ’04, games that had the intensity of a heavyweight fight — not to mention its share of bean balls, body blows and more.
“I think the whole game in general has changed,” Ortiz said before the series opener. “The motivation, wanting to win the game, we play with so many rules now, the rivalry we used to see five or 10 years ago is not the one you’re going to see today. They’re paying more money to players, they want those players on the field more. You don’t want to have a guy injured getting hit, have him on the DL for a couple weeks because of that.
“The rivalry continues, it’s just not going to be at the level it used to be where you’d see all those fights and stuff. We have more concern now about being suspended, stuff like that. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, you’re just going to see more brawls in the stands than you see on the field.”
Ortiz was quick to point out that “the games are still the same,” most notably the intensity of the fans at both Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park. But the days of Pedro Martinez and Roger Clemens exchanging purpose pitches into the ribs of opposing hitters or Don Zimmer charging the field appear to be behind us.
“When I first got here, it was a little wild the way things used to be,” Ortiz said. “Since then, all the way to today, when you have a guy throw a pitch close to a hitter or anything like that happens on the field, there’s always warnings and concerns. That was a big part of what this rivalry used to be. Because that ain’t happening anymore, it seems like the rivalry isn’t the same.
“We want to beat up each other the professional way, but the ‘Beast Mode’ is kind of down because of that.”
The last time the two teams experienced anything close to the old days was in 2013, when Ryan Dempster hit Rodriguez with a pitch to express his disapproval of A-Rod playing through the appeal of his 211-game Biogenesis suspension. “Well, yeah,” Ortiz said when reminded of the incident, a big smile appearing on his face. “But that was 88 (mph). I can take 88 in the ribs all day.”
Red Sox manager John Farrell believes the rivalry remains intense, but as the names in the lineups change, so do the feelings between players.
“To say that that would suggest a greater intensity, guys still go out and compete to the best of their abilities,” Farrell said. “I don’t think this is diminished as much as maybe some others might think.
“It’s still a spectacle within our game and a great time when you come into New York or they come into Boston to know that all eyes of the baseball world are seemingly on this series.”
Although Ortiz believes the nature of the rivalry is different than it was a decade ago, the slugger still has the burning desire to beat his division foes every time he takes the field against them.
He’s just not as worried about winding up in the middle of a good, old-fashioned baseball brawl the way he once was.
“To be honest with you, I don’t think the fans need any of that,” Ortiz said. “You don’t want your kids to watch a guy swinging at another like it’s the WWF or something. You brought your kid to the field to watch baseball. I want to see 50 guys playing their best for nine innings, my team wins or their team won and we go home happy.”