Well, that was fast! Clayton Mortensen has only been a member of the Boston Red Sox for about two months and he already hates the New York Yankees.
Mortensen was auditioning for
a roster spot with the Saux and was getting ready to pitch an inning in the
game that Yankees manager Joe Girardi had called after nine innings because he said
he ran out of pitchers. Bobby Valentine was annoyed by a supposed lack of
courtesy on Girardi’s part. Mortensen was upset about losing one last chance to
make a good impression on Valentine & Co. Given the coverage, you would
think the Evil Empire really screwed the Red Sox yet again.
With Valentine, it’s difficult
to tell if he was genuinely upset with Girardi or whether he was just being
Bobby Valentine, stirring up trouble just for the fun of it. But it seems like
he was truly annoyed about not being informed ahead of time that the Yankees
were calling for an end to the game. Of course, Valentine only found himself in
this situation because he called for a suicide bunt to tie a spring training
game in the 9th inning. I didn’t see Girardi complain about that.
For the record, I don’t
believe a spring training game should go more than nine innings. We are just
now getting to the point that the regulars play more than half the game, but
you still don’t see many of them in the 8th and 9th innings.
Most of the players in the latter innings of spring training games are
completely unrecognizable.
And if Mortensen hadn’t clinched
a roster spot by now, one more outing probably wouldn’t have changed that. He was sent
to the minors after the game so I understand his anger, but he’s got to get
over the idea that he somehow got screwed by the Yankees.
The whole drama is just silly,
but with Bobby V at the helm of the Saux, silliness comes with the territory.
Thanks
to the US federal government for the Bobby V photo.
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