Jimcs50
09-27-2004, 10:42 AM
Old foes intensify rivalry
By Stephen Harris
Monday, September 27, 2004
Big league first basemen and baserunners, for their mutual well-being, normally try to avoid making contact with each other.
Fenway fans were reminded yet again yesterday that the rivalry between the Red Sox [stats, schedule] and New York Yankees [stats, schedule] can hardly be called normal, and they also got a firsthand glimpse of a rather nasty ongoing tiff between Sox first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz [stats, news] and Yanks outfielder Kenny Lofton.
Competitively, the drama was over early on a sun-drenched afternoon in the Fens, as the Sox lit up Yankees starter Kevin Brown, took a 7-0 second-inning lead and breezed to an 11-4 win. But the third-inning confrontation between Mientkiewicz and Lofton on a routine ground ball out sparked the always-simmering tension and anger that exists between the ancient AL rivals.
On the play at first, Mientkiewicz seemed to partially block Lofton's path over the bag, and Lofton delivered an elbow to the first baseman's back as he ran past. The incident led to an exchange of apparent message pitches and three ejections.
The first payback was delivered by Sox reliever Pedro Astacio, who buzzed a fastball behind Lofton's posterior in the seventh inning, earning Astacio a quick ejection and prompting an official warning to both dugouts. In the next inning, innocent bystander Dave Roberts [stats, news] barely ducked away from a high and tight pitch from Yanks rookie left-hander Brad Halsey. The chin music brought both teams streaming out of the dugouts and bullpens, although no one came to blows. Halsey and Yankees manager Joe Torre were tossed from the game.
While both Mientkiewicz and Lofton faulted the other, Sox slugger David Ortiz [stats, news] candidly explained the genesis of the friction between the pair.
``How it started? It started with a little bump at first one time on a play just like that,'' said Ortiz, who was a Minnesota teammate of Mientkiewicz' some years back when Lofton, then with the Indians, first made contact at first.
``Lof say he was across the bag, and Mientkiewicz say he was too far away for him to bump, and blah, blah, blah,'' Ortiz said with a hearty laugh. ``I guess they pretty much bump all the time. I guess they don't like each other from a long time.
``Kenny is not a bad guy, and my boy (Mientkiewicz), I guess I'm going to have to put them together someday and take them out for dinner, see if we can fix things up. Because every time something happens between them, they start screaming at each other. You want to see some punches or something - no, I'm just kidding.''
The two foes, who exchanged angry words immediately after yesterday's inning-ending play, were unapologetic following the game.
``It's not the first time it's happened,'' Mientkiewicz said. ``We had an altercation in Cleveland, too, a few years ago. It's been fine since. I don't talk to him at first. When I continue to get rap shots, I don't appreciate it. I get elbowed every day, but when it's continually the same guy every time, I don't appreciate it. I have no problem with Kenny Lofton, but I don't appreciate continued elbows in the back.''
Lofton was equally aggravated.
``Most (first basemen) catch the ball and pretty much get off the base. But with him, that's not the case with me, I guess,'' Lofton said. ``It's the only time it's happened to me. There are plays where a guy has to reach for the ball or something, and you bump into him. Both players will say, as a courtesy, `Oh, my bad,' and he says, `No, his bad.'And it's cool and you let it go. But like I said, it doesn't happen with him and me, I don't know why. I think it (happened) more than once (before).''
So now the Red Sox-Yankees battle, which could be joined anew in a couple of weeks in the American League Championship Series, has a new edge. Just what these teams needed: More reason to dislike each other.
By Stephen Harris
Monday, September 27, 2004
Big league first basemen and baserunners, for their mutual well-being, normally try to avoid making contact with each other.
Fenway fans were reminded yet again yesterday that the rivalry between the Red Sox [stats, schedule] and New York Yankees [stats, schedule] can hardly be called normal, and they also got a firsthand glimpse of a rather nasty ongoing tiff between Sox first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz [stats, news] and Yanks outfielder Kenny Lofton.
Competitively, the drama was over early on a sun-drenched afternoon in the Fens, as the Sox lit up Yankees starter Kevin Brown, took a 7-0 second-inning lead and breezed to an 11-4 win. But the third-inning confrontation between Mientkiewicz and Lofton on a routine ground ball out sparked the always-simmering tension and anger that exists between the ancient AL rivals.
On the play at first, Mientkiewicz seemed to partially block Lofton's path over the bag, and Lofton delivered an elbow to the first baseman's back as he ran past. The incident led to an exchange of apparent message pitches and three ejections.
The first payback was delivered by Sox reliever Pedro Astacio, who buzzed a fastball behind Lofton's posterior in the seventh inning, earning Astacio a quick ejection and prompting an official warning to both dugouts. In the next inning, innocent bystander Dave Roberts [stats, news] barely ducked away from a high and tight pitch from Yanks rookie left-hander Brad Halsey. The chin music brought both teams streaming out of the dugouts and bullpens, although no one came to blows. Halsey and Yankees manager Joe Torre were tossed from the game.
While both Mientkiewicz and Lofton faulted the other, Sox slugger David Ortiz [stats, news] candidly explained the genesis of the friction between the pair.
``How it started? It started with a little bump at first one time on a play just like that,'' said Ortiz, who was a Minnesota teammate of Mientkiewicz' some years back when Lofton, then with the Indians, first made contact at first.
``Lof say he was across the bag, and Mientkiewicz say he was too far away for him to bump, and blah, blah, blah,'' Ortiz said with a hearty laugh. ``I guess they pretty much bump all the time. I guess they don't like each other from a long time.
``Kenny is not a bad guy, and my boy (Mientkiewicz), I guess I'm going to have to put them together someday and take them out for dinner, see if we can fix things up. Because every time something happens between them, they start screaming at each other. You want to see some punches or something - no, I'm just kidding.''
The two foes, who exchanged angry words immediately after yesterday's inning-ending play, were unapologetic following the game.
``It's not the first time it's happened,'' Mientkiewicz said. ``We had an altercation in Cleveland, too, a few years ago. It's been fine since. I don't talk to him at first. When I continue to get rap shots, I don't appreciate it. I get elbowed every day, but when it's continually the same guy every time, I don't appreciate it. I have no problem with Kenny Lofton, but I don't appreciate continued elbows in the back.''
Lofton was equally aggravated.
``Most (first basemen) catch the ball and pretty much get off the base. But with him, that's not the case with me, I guess,'' Lofton said. ``It's the only time it's happened to me. There are plays where a guy has to reach for the ball or something, and you bump into him. Both players will say, as a courtesy, `Oh, my bad,' and he says, `No, his bad.'And it's cool and you let it go. But like I said, it doesn't happen with him and me, I don't know why. I think it (happened) more than once (before).''
So now the Red Sox-Yankees battle, which could be joined anew in a couple of weeks in the American League Championship Series, has a new edge. Just what these teams needed: More reason to dislike each other.