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The difference between Pedroia and Ellsbury
By adamg on Sat, 08/21/2010 - 1:52pm
Red Sock can't figure out the difference:
... [B]oth young players had bone fractures, both returned ahead of schedule, both experienced additional pain or re-injury, and both returned to the DL. Yet the media presentation of their experiences could not be more different: we are told one is a malingering whiner allegedly hated by his teammates while the other is the very personification of a gritty gamer.
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Comments
Good question
Maybe because Pedroia played more this season? I don't really know- I pretty much put my pink hat on the shelf this season.
It's how the players presented themselves
Pedroia, in spite of a broken foot, stayed in Boston taking fielding practice (mostly by kneeling or sitting on the ground and practicing getting the throw off to various parts of/players on the field) and working with the team to keep his skills sharp.
Ellsbury went home to Arizona, complained about the Sox medical staff and came back after other players with similarly severe injuries (Mike Cameron, etc.).
In other words, Pedroia showed himself to be a team player while Ellsbury showed himself to be a player. In Boston, the difference is night and day in how you are perceived by the press and fans.
I have a feeling
I've heard that Ellsbury is actually something of a whiner in the clubhouse--could be trickle down from that?
Boston media is the curse
Boston media personalities like to insert themselves into stories. They make up controversy to sell papers/website hits. They think they are Boston sports and that it takes as much talent to write/talk about baseball as to actually play it.
The best sports writers/commentators in this market are the best anywhere, but the rest form a pack of incompetent pond scum.
If Ted Williams came up from AAA today, they would have him out of town in three seasons.
Williams was tougher than that
He was the one who came up with the phrase "knights of the keyboard" for the Shanks of his day.
Tough but not free
Ballplayers who were given such treatment pre Curt Flood could be as tough as they liked, but they had no option to move to another market.
It's nonsense
I think they've both simply injured themselves enough where neither one could play effectively, and people have to just leave it at that. The bottom line is, unless you're a player yourself, you don't know personally how these injuries can hamper your ability to play the game the "right way". The writers have just gotta lay off; I have no idea what Ellsbury's injury actually feels like to him, and neither do they, so how could they or I possibly judge him for how he handles it? If medical protocols/suggestions weren't followed, that's one thing, but give it a rest; this just doesn't seem like that big of a deal to me. It's a story born from nothing.
One Tough Player Who Played On
RIP Reggie Lewis. He wasn't a whiner. He's not whining now, either.