La Russa Stands By Renteria Statement
By Chris Snow, Globe Staff
June 07, 2005
ST. LOUIS - The St. Louis manager and the Boston shortstop chatted
for several
minutes on the Busch Stadium field yesterday afternoon, and before
parting, Tony
La Russa and Edgar Renteria shared a hug.
"We're good," Renteria said before last night's game.
"We've always been
good."
Renteria still does not understand why so much
was made of the
comments La Russa made on WEEI May 16, when he suggested that Renteria
wouldn't
respond well to fan pressure and that it would be tough for Renteria to
"hide"
in Boston.
Curt Schilling later compared La Russa to a "jilted lover."
La Russa defended his statements yesterday.
"I said he is a real good player and when the season is
over he'll have a
real good year," La Russa said. "And that being unhappy with him will
not make
him better sooner. He's not a guy who will respond well to that.
"I still fail to see where there's an issue there. I know
what Schilling
supposedly said, but I was asked [about Renteria]. It wasn't like I
initiated
this. It was kind of ridiculous. I don't know where Schilling's coming
from with
that.
"Edgar's a good player, a real good player. When the
season's over, he'll
have a real good year. The sooner you support him, the sooner it will
happen.
That was all I said. Believe me."
When Renteria came to the plate in the top of the first
inning last night,
he was briefly booed before receiving an overwhelmingly positive
ovation.
Thousands of fans stood to hail their former shortstop, who won two
Gold Gloves
during his six seasons as a Cardinal.
Renteria still speaks weekly with St. Louis slugger Albert
Pujols , who
was his best friend on the team.
"I was trying to call him at least once a week when he was
struggling and
letting him know to just relax," Pujols said. "I told him, 'You know
your
numbers are going to be there.' He's the kind of guy who starts
thinking a lot.
I knew he was probably thinking a lot that the decision [to sign with
the Red
Sox] wasn't going that great. I'm just happy for him now."
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