Renteria Starts Answering His Critics
By Nick Carardo
The Boston Globe
May 25, 2005
TORONTO - In one corner of a subdued Red Sox clubhouse, Alan
Embree stood
and offered his mea culpa after allowing a three-run walkoff homer to
Reed
Johnson in a 9-6 Toronto win last night at Rogers Centre.
Down the other end of the room, starter David Wells said he
needed to be
better if his Boston pitching career was to continue and flourish.
At his locker, closest to the player exit door, Edgar
Renteria dressed
without much notice. During a disappointing start to his Red Sox
career,
Renteria has been hard to find, protected almost daily by teammates who
have
been defending him vehemently at every turn and railing against the
hometown
fans who boo him and the media members that dwell on him.
Last night, Renteria went 2 for 4, including a triple that set up
the tying
run in the eighth inning. He hit the ball hard to right field, which is
where he
hits it when he's going well. Weeks of working with hitting coaches and
watching
video until it was time to break out the Visine work that fans never
see seemed
to pay dividends last night.
But Renteria didn't see it that way.
"I'm not happy, because we lost," Renteria said. "It doesn't
matter what I do
if we lose."
That's where he's wrong. In a loss, there was a win. A big W for
Renteria in
a season of personal L's.
While all the pundits have wondered why the Red Sox signed him
when they had
a perfectly good shortstop in Orlando Cabrera, all you have to do is
understand
Renteria's desire to make it in Boston.
Notice you haven't heard many players lamenting the loss of
Cabrera.
Renteria's former manager, Tony La Russa, has talked about
Renteria being
quiet and sensitive and wondered how he'd react to a tough market like
Boston.
La Russa recently reiterated some of those comments while promoting a
book in
Boston. The words got back to Renteria.
"I don't know why Tony would say that," said Renteria. "I wanted
to play in
Boston. They offered me the best contract and I knew I wanted to come
to Boston.
I think the fans are great there. I knew all about it. I knew what a
great place
to play Boston is and I haven't changed my mind about that.
"I'm going to show Tony that I can play here."
How about the booing during the series with the Braves last
weekend?
"That doesn't bother me one bit," said Renteria, who went 1 for
13 against
Atlanta. "If you're not doing the job, people have the right to boo
you. If I
don't give them a reason to cheer for me because I'm doing good, what
can I say?
"I know the fans in Boston are the best in baseball. When
you perform the
way you're supposed to, they're behind you. When I play the way I'm
supposed to
play, the Boston fans will be behind me."
Renteria, who signed a four-year, $40 million deal, isn't denying
that he has
a lot to live up to. He wants nothing more than to justify the faith of
Terry
Francona and Theo Epstein, in particular, who went to ownership over
the winter
and sold them on Renteria.
"All I can do is try to work my way out of it," said Renteria. "I
work every
day with Papa Jack [hitting coach Ron Jackson]. Mike Barnett has helped
me, too.
Everyone is trying to get me going, but I have to go out and do it
myself. I
know this will come because I know myself. I know how hard I work at
it."
There is no regret that he's no longer in St. Louis. He has found
his new
home quite comfortable, despite the difficult beginning. He has found
the
support of his new team remarkable, from Francona on down. Even after a
tough
loss last night, the manager said, "I've had so much confidence in
Edgar
regardless of how he's done. Our clubhouse, we're there for him." Maybe
it was
being out of the Fenway Park pressure cooker that allowed Renteria to
let it out
last night. He would never say that was the reason. Nor would anyone
else on the
team.
Last night, it was obvious that Renteria was working on hitting
the ball to
right field. His batting practice was focused on going the other way.
In his
first at-bat, he singled to right. And he went that way again in the
eighth,
after grounding out to the left side in his middle at-bats.
"That's what I do when I'm hitting," Renteria said. "If I can
keep doing
those things, I'll be good."
Francona has often pointed out how fundamentally well Renteria
plays the
game. Sure, he's made eight errors, and the notion that you can
separate
fielding and hitting sounds good, but the human element often overrides
the best
of intentions.
There's no question that Renteria has won the respect of his
teammates. Now
he knows there's a bigger challenge ahead.
"I have to win the respect of the fans," Rentera said. "All they
can go by is
what I do on the field. I have to give them a reason to cheer for me."
Last night, they would have.
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