After Critics Crush Renteria, He Slams Bombers
By Roger Rubin Daily News Sports Writer
May 29, 2005
MAYBE RED SOX manager Terry Francona is right and it has
something to do with
the weather. Maybe it has to do with being away from the hostility in
Boston. Or
maybe it was just something that was bound to happen.
Whatever the reason, there is no denying that Edgar Renteria has
turned his
season around in a week. When the Red Sox embarked on this road trip,
Renteria
may have been their coldest hitter; he certainly had become the fans'
favorite
target. Five games into the six-game excursion, Boston's biggest
offseason
acquisition is starting to play like it.
Renteria was 3-for-3 with a grand slam and a career-high five RBI
as the Sox
drubbed the Yankees, 17-1, yesterday at the Stadium. On the trip he is
12-for-19
and has raised his average from .239 to .281.
"He's a really good player and he's getting to where he's
supposed to be,"
Francona said. "I've been saying it since the second week of the
season, but now
it's starting to happen."
Francona and the rest of the Sox have been forced to defend their
shortstop.
Fans at Fenway, with high expectations for a four-year, $40 million
acquisition,
have been booing him unmercifully because of the slow start. Tony La
Russa, who
managed Renteria with the Cardinals the previous six seasons, made
matters worse
by telling a Boston talk-radio show "(Boston fans) are not going to be
as
forgiving as they were in St. Louis. So we're concerned that if he
doesn't
really play to their expectations, and they start hootin' on him . . .
it will
not help Edgar Renteria. . . . I think it's gonna be hard for him to
hide."
A self-proclaimed "shy guy," Renteria hasn't been noticeably
affected by the
criticism. However, his teammates reactions' might be an indicator of
how bad it
was. Kevin Millar begged people to pick on him instead. And Curt
Schilling
called that same talk-radio program to rip La Russa.
"Our fans need to know they're going to have Edgar here the next
four years,"
David Ortiz said. "They were booing the guy and taking his confidence
away. They
should give support. He's a franchise guy.
"As a player when you come to a new team, that's not the
impression you want
to take from your fans. I know our fans are way better than that."
Renteria insists his critics don't faze him. "I don't worry about
that," he
said. "Sometimes you play good. Sometimes you play bad. Right now I'm
playing
good and that's good for everybody.
"I know that when you are struggling you have to keep working
hard so that's
what I am doing now."
Some of the change may be due to his getting to know AL pitchers.
And some of
it may be due to shaking off the impulse to immediately prove he was
worth his
big-money deal. As he said, "The only guy who can make a hit is the guy
at the
plate."
"When a player's struggling, people say you've got pressure, but
everybody's
got pressure," he said. "We go outside every day to win. To me that's
pressure."
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