That scenario may not seem too packed with pressure, but in Boston, there's no such thing as a meaningless at-bat. The fans sit and watch with bated breath as every fastball, curveball or changeup flies toward the plate, their emotions hanging in the balance. A hit brings euphoria. A whiff inspires melancholy.
The whole exercise can grow tiresome for a fan, but for a player, the pressure of trying to fulfill the impossible demands of the Fenway faithful can often become a heavy burden to bear — especially given the added scrutiny of the media. For Kevin Youkilis, it appears that he is at the breaking point.
“I’m just annoyed with the media as a whole,’’ Youkilis told The Boston Globe's Dan Shaughnessy. “People write stuff about players on this team throughout the whole year, and it’s been going on for years, and people just keep writing crap. One night, we get beat, and it’s the end of the world, and the next night, we win big, and it’s totally solid. We’re back. It’s up and down. One night, we’re getting bashed, and the next time, they’re cheering. One guy has a bad game one night, and they’re all over him, and the next night, he has a good game, and he’s a hero."
Youkilis, as beloved a member of the Red Sox as there is, has never really felt the scorn of angry fans, though the criticism he got for charing the mound against Tigers pitcher Rick Porcello may have spurred his outburst.
"You guys [in the media] don’t have to hear what people say to us on the street," added in the Globe. "People have made comments to me. I’ve heard them say some things to my teammates. … I understand everything’s not positive in this world, and negative stuff sells, but I come to the ballpark and go to a football game or basketball games. I don’t even think you can take kids to a game anymore. There’s so much negative yelling and screaming at players. People don’t even root for their team anymore. They just root against the opposition’s players. They’re so angry at people."
It was just eight short years ago that a certain Celtics coach named Rick Pitino went off on the sports culture of Boston in a similar fashion.
"All the negativity in this town sucks," Pitino told the media after yet another loss in his tumultous reign as head coach. "I’ve been around when Jim Rice was booed. I’ve been around when [Carl] Yastrzemski was booed. And it stinks. It makes the greatest town, greatest sports city in the world, lousy."
In Youkilis' case, it's hard to sympathize with a man who signed a $41.25 million contract over the winter to play a game, but it's also easy to understand where he's coming from. Youkilis plays the game hard — perhaps harder than anyone else. The only issue he ever has with focus comes when he's required to wipe the sweat that's pouring down his face during an at-bat. He hustles. He's a wiz in the field. He comes through in the clutch.
Love or hate the guy, you can't help but respect him.
He's not the first player to succumb to the pressures of the fans and media in Boston. Just 11 days ago, David Ortiz, once the savior of baseball in Boston, went on a rant of his own about how he's been treated since he was reported to be on the list of players who failed a drug test in 2003.
“Like I always say, I come in one day, I’ll go out another. When I get to be gone, I won’t give a flying [expletive] about nobody, period. Nobody going to give a flying [expletive] about me," Ortiz told the Globe's Amalie Benjamin. "But I see where all the media and player situation here come from. That said, I thought it was different. It ain’t, though. All people [worry] about is making money, selling bad news, talking [expletive] about people. Trying to call attention. I don’t agree with it.’’
Former teammate Manny Ramirez had an even stranger relationship with the media, often telling writers in a polite fashion that he'd rather not talk to them. Long before any of today's current Sox were even born, Ted Williams had created a force field around him, taking stabs at the media and refusing to acknowledge the fans. Later, Rice's less-than-cordial relationship with the media nearly cost him a seat in the Hall of Fame.
The common thread woven among all these players is that they all played for the Red Sox — the most heavily watched, scrutinized, judged and celebrated team in the country. The passion that makes Red Sox Nation so great comes with its fair share of negatives. A booted ground ball leads to broken hearts, and broken hearts lead to folks needing a scapegoat.
When you play in Boston, this is simply understood — and maybe Youkilis does indeed understand. He could just be worn down. Maybe someone crossed the line, saying something to his wife in the stands. Maybe his emotions are still out of whack from the death of Greg Montalbano, a former teammate in the minors. Maybe he's still learning what it's like to carry a team on his back in a pennant race.
Whatever the reason, Youkilis clearly is running thin.
"When I see negative stuff all the time, that bothers me," he told Shaughnessy. "If I don’t comment, people are going to get mad at me. But I’m just going to [say] ‘no comment’ about certain things. If people don’t like it, they don’t like it."
Such a stand is not too dangerous of a position for Youkilis to take — if the fans decide to boo him in his next at-bat rather than shout "Yoouuuuuuk," it would be hard to notice the difference. At least he can count on one positive.
That's more than most Boston athletes can say.
