Mariano Rivera via Brian Costello and George A. King III:
Derek Jeter via Chad Jennings:“It’s incredible,” Rivera told The Post. “If he has places to go, let him do something else. What does he want us to do, swing at balls?”
“He has a job to do. He should do his job,” Rivera said. “We don’t want to play four-hour games but that’s what it takes. We respect and love the fans and do what we have to do and that’s play our game.”
“It’s his words, ask him what’s embarrassing about it,” Derek Jeter said. “I don’t see what’s pathetic and embarrassing about it. As opposed to what? If it’s 20 minutes shorter it’s not pathetic and embarrassing? At what point is it not embarrassing?”Some more from Jeter via Wallace Matthews:
"Are the fans complaining? Are the sponsors complaining? Who's complaining?''Andy Pettitte via Jennings:
Asked his opinion of West, Jeter, ever savvy, said, "I'm not saying nothing about umpires.''
“Those are pretty bold statements,”Alex Rodriguez and Joe Girardi via Matthews:
Girardi: "I know baseball is trying to speed up the game, but . . .we're not gonna ask our hitters to change their approach to speed up the game. We're just not gonna do it. We're trying to win ballgames here, not see how fast we can play 'em.''
Rodriguez: "I enjoy the game. I got nothing bad to say about the length of a baseball game.''
Terry Francona via Comcast Sports Net:
"Obviously I need to be somewhat careful or selective," began Francona, "but I think it kind of surprised all of us. When you have someone who's in charge of running the game without bias and then you hear those comments coming out pretty strong . . . it worries you a little bit.Curt Schilling via Bugs & Cranks:
“Watch Joe West during the game,” Schilling told his new employer. “He never lets the catcher throw a ball in play. He rushes everything, and calls a small plate. He’s decent behind there, consistent, but smaller than he can be. If he wants to pick up the pace he should get the pace of the game going by calling more strikes.”
"Not to mention he often times acts like he’d rather be any place in the world other than the field.”
“… Part of the reason the games are slower is because their offenses are so deep, and so good. Hitters never give away at-bats. Every pitch matters, on both sides, for nine innings.”
“The reason the games are slow is very clear, and one not many will print — TV. Ad revenue has gotten to the point that TV is allowed to dictate pace of game, not the game itself.”
Dustin Pedroia had a lot to say about this, here are his quotes via Gordon Edes, Daniel Barbarisi, Ian Browne and Peter Abraham:
"To call the Yankees and Red Sox, two of the best teams in baseball, 'pathetic' and 'embarrassing,' that's just ridiculous,'' Pedroia said...
"If he doesn't want to do Red Sox and Yankee games, he should tell the umpires' union. Then when we're in the World Series, he'll be out of that assignment, too.''
"There are a lot of good hitters on both teams, a lot of pitches thrown. That's just the way these games are played.''
“It’s pretty disappointing to hear that. I don’t think anyone thinks either team is pathetic and what was the other one? Embarrassing. I’ll tell you what, I’m sure there are 28 other teams that would love to play like we do. There’s a lot of good baseball teams, but the Yankees have won the most World Series championships and we’ve won quite a few ourselves. I don’t know. It’s pretty disappointing to hear that,” he said. ... “I don’t understand what the big deal is? Does somebody have dinner reservations? We’re playing baseball. It’s not a timed game. There’s not a shot clock. And there’s a reason for that. The first pitch of the game isn’t at 7:05. It’s whenever the pitcher throws the ball. That’s the way this great game is. That’s the way it should be. If those guys have an issue with that, it might be time to pick a new profession or talk to the umpire’s association about not working Yankees-Red Sox games.”
"Obviously, I don't agree with [West]," said Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia. "The Yankees and the Red Sox, we play the game hard, we play the game right. A lot of fans like to watch us, we're always on TV. Two pretty high payroll teams that care about winning. When you have situations like that, you want to make everything right before you go out there and execute your game-plan, so it takes some time."
The way I look at it, if he’s going to call out two of the best teams in baseball, maybe we’re not the problem.’’Here's what John Lackey said, also via Pete Abe:
“The pitcher gets to throw the ball on his time. There shouldn’t be anybody yelling at you to get in the box,’’ Pedroia said. “Derek Jeter is a Hall of Fame baseball player and the umpire is yelling at him. That’s embarrassing. That should never happen. Being an opposing player, it made me upset. I’m playing against him and I want to see him hit. Who doesn’t? That’s not how it should be.’’
“If we criticize people, we get fined a lot of money. I don’t know who he answers to, but something should be done.’’
“If a player said something like that he’d probably be in some trouble,’’ John Lackey said. “We’ll see what he gets.’’Jacoby Ellsbury also thinks TV is more to blame:
“The biggest thing is the TV. I’ll go up for an at-bat, and I’ll have to wait a minute and a half. I mean, on each side, that could be 20 minutes just right there,” Ellsbury said.Like most of you, and the players and managers above, I also believe West's comments were ridiculously stupid. I'm glad to see that there are players on both sides responding. The more backlash the league gets for this the harsher the penalty will be for West.
