Renteria's Rough Ride Continues
By Jeff Horrigan
The Boston Herald
May 22, 2005
Matters didn't improve for a beleaguered Edgar Renteria last
night in the Red
Sox' 7-5 loss to the Atlanta Braves at Fenway Park but his teammates
stress that
fans need to show patience with the shortstop.
Renteria, who was soundly booed on Friday night after twice
grounding out
with the bases loaded in the Sox' series-opening win, committed two of
the team
's season-high four errors last night and ended up getting ejected by
home plate
umpire Andy Fletcher for arguing after being called out on strikes in
the ninth
inning.
``When things are not going well and you're not doing well,
frustration is
going to come out,'' David Ortiz said. ``I don't want people to blame
him for
things because he's a hard worker and he's always trying hard. We've
got the
best fans here and I know they're going to understand. They'll let him
get back
into the groove he's used to.''
Johnny Damon said Renteria, who signed a four-year, $40 million
contract in
December, is still completing his assimilation to Boston.
``When you come over here and you're not producing like you're
used to, it's
definitely going to be frustrating,'' Damon said. ``He cares a lot
about what he
does. It's just not happening right now. It's a different environment
for him
and once he gets there, he's going to be great. We've seen flashes of
greatness
from him, but right now we have to pick him up.''
Captain Jason Varitek said that the Sox have complete confidence
in Renteria.
``He's working his butt off to be the player he wants to be,''
Varitek said.
``We all have a ton of confidence in Edgar. He's been clutch everywhere
he's
been. We haven't seen his full game yet.''
Renteria batted .305 or better in two of his final three seasons
in St.
Louis. His average for this season stands at .245 and has been above
.258 for
only one day.
Back to 2005 Articles Page