Larry Brown Sports

When David Ortiz barged into the interview room and interrupted Terry Francona’s press conference last week, it left us all slightly confused.  There was no denying the spaz attack was real.  Ortiz, Francona, and the young lady who was trying to stop Big Papi are not good enough actors to pull off a prank like that.  Now that the real story has surfaced, we realize Ortiz was not playing a prank but had, in fact, been pranked.

According to Joe Haggerty of CSNNE.com, Dustin Pedroia played a prank on Ortiz after Boston’s win over the Indians that worked to perfection.  Ortiz was probably heated about the official scorer taking an RBI away from him to begin with, but the reason he thought the change was made is what really set him through the roof.

Haggerty informed us that Pedroia told Ortiz Red Sox owners John Henry and Larry Lucchino had ordered the official scorer to take Ortiz’s RBI away.  By doing this, the ownership group could in theory keep Ortiz’s stats lower in a contract year.  If I thought my boss had done that, I would be pissed too.

Don’t get me wrong, the way Ortiz went about it is still extremely selfish.  Players aren’t supposed to show the public that they are stat-hungry or money-hungry, let alone interrupt an official press conference to settle a personal issue.  However, the Laser Show’s prank makes it a tiny bit more reasonable. Now the question is, how does this compare to other baseball pranks we’ve featured here at LBS.

On Monday, we told you about some of the complaints managers have had about interleague play, particularly Terry Francona.  David Ortiz has been one of the Red Sox’s best hitters this season, but he is as pure of a designated hitter as they come.  Without Ortiz and Adrian Gonzalez both in the lineup, Francona has no choice but to give up a good amount of offense.  In the event that the Red Sox reach the World Series, Boston will have to find a way to get both players in the lineup on the road.  Experiment A will take place on Wednesday night.

According to Peter Abraham on Twitter, Ortiz will play first base Wednesday night in Philadelphia and Gonzalez will try his luck in right field.  If the Phillies are smart they will try to hit the ball to the right side all night.  With Boston’s defensive setup looking less than stellar, Dustin Pedroia is dreading the added responsibility he will have in the field

“It will be good for us offensively,” Pedroia joked. “But damn, I’m going to have to play second, first, and right.”

Sox fans had better hope the jockey got his rest last night, because he’ll probably have to cover some ground.  Ortiz isn’t terrible at first, but it’s going to be up to Pedroia to get to any blooper that’s hit between right field and behind first base.  Should be interesting.

We all know the story by now.  Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia broke his foot back in June and did everything he could to get back on the field as quickly as possible, including taking ground balls from his knees.  Nobody knows if the Red Sox medical staff cleared him prematurely or if he just tried to do too much too soon, but Pedroia apparently wasn’t ready to return when he came off the disabled list and ended up re-injuring the foot, ending his season.

Pedroia, who made our list of the top 30 franchise players in the MLB, now finds himself seeking a second opinion to determine if he’ll need to undergo surgery on the left foot.  Along with the second medical opinion, Terry Francona arranged for Michael Jordan to give Pedroia some advice.  Francona and M.J. have a history together, as Tito was his manager when he decided to leave basketball and join the Birmingham Barons in 1994.  Coincidentally, Jordan suffered the same injury on the same foot while playing with the Bulls during the 1985-1986 season.

I don’t call Michael very much just because I know how much people bug him” Francona told WEEI’s Dale and Holley Show. But because of Pedey, I knew that Michael would enjoy talking to him, and he did. He was almost fatherly in his advice. He was like, “I went through this, it’s tough, you got to listen.” Pedey was all ears and that was good. When guys like Michael Jordan talk, people are apt to listen more.”

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I’ve started to pick up on a somewhat of a theme over the past few weeks.  For whatever reason, MLB players don’t seem to like when things they say end up as catch phrases on t-shirts.  I’m not sure if it’s because they want a cut of the profits, they’re embarrassed by the attention, or some other reason but, Dallas Braden and Dustin Pedroia have both recently expressed discontent over shirts that have been made in their honor.

Braden is the most recent example.  He thinks the “Get Off My Mound” shirts the Oakland Athletics are selling — which is of course a reference to the famous barking attack Braden unleashed on A-Rod when he ran across the back of the mound — are a poor marketing tool and he’d rather the incident go away.  Here’s what he had to say about the shirts, courtesy of Out of Bounds via New York Daily News:

It’s just not cool,” Braden told the New York Daily News, referring to the shirt. “It’s just a serious, gross lack of tact. At the end of the day, I hope I do not become associated with that kind of approach.”

“They’re trying to generate revenue, trying to get butts in the seat, I can see that,” Braden said. “It’s almost like, at what cost do you do that? They didn’t have permission. They were told on multiple occasions, that, no, it’s not a good idea. It’s not going to be approved. They just kind of put the horse-blinders on and ran with it.”

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Dustin Pedroia has to be the most committed little jockey I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching play.  You can say what you will about his arrogant attitude and obnoxious quips like, “Laser show…relax,” but the fact of the matter is no one has worked harder to get where they are than Pedroia has.  The 2008 American League MVP is listed at 5’9″.  Let’s just say I may or may not have a 5’6″ friend who once took a picture next to Pedroia and he may or may not have been the exact same height as him if not slightly taller.

Dustin’s the definition of a player who has had nothing handed to him and that’s reflected in the way he goes about his business.  On Wednesday, we got the chance to see his work ethic on display.  The Red Sox second baseman is reportedly going to be on the shelf for about six weeks with a broken foot.  Doctors have ordered him to not put any pressure on the foot while it heals, but somehow that hasn’t stopped him from participating in infield drills.  Take a look at this video of Dustin Pedroia taking ground balls from his knees with his foot in a boot and crutches at his side, courtesy of NESN:

Source:
Hobbling Dustin Pedroia Takes Grounders From His Knees Before Wednesday’s Game (Video) [NESN]

There’s a reason Ozzie Guillen’s a two-time Hall of Famer here at LBS, and comments like this one are helping his case for a bronze statue as well. Keep in mind that Ozzie Guillen was complimenting Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia who had gone 8-for-8 against his team at the time of his comment:

”I never thought I was going to walk a goddamn jockey. ‘Walking a guy who just came from being on top of Big Brown. Right now, he’s on a roll. This guy right now is on fire. No matter what you throw up there, he’s going to get it. I can’t believe you can change professions in one year, go from the Kentucky Derby to the Boston Red Sox ballpark.
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I think Pedroia is the heart of [Boston's] ballclub right now. A lot of people talk about Manny [Ramirez] leaving, I wish Pedroia was the one who was leaving because this kid can beat you so many different ways.

Honestly, how can you read a comment like that and not like Ozzie Guillen, or at least appreciate him for his comedic value. I can’t believe you can go from the Kentucky Derby to Fenway, go from Big Brown to the batter’s box? Does it get better than that? This guy is freaking hilarious. And if I’m Mr. Laser Beam Pedroia, I would assuredly take those words as nothing but a compliment.

Thanks to Jerry Bailey err Will Brinson at FanHouse for the story.