Joba Chamberlain and Kevin Youkilis will renew acquaintances in Fenway Park on Friday night, which means all eyes will be focused on Youk's first at-bat. Joba has thrown balls near, above or behind Youkilis' head on four different occasions. That's gotten him suspended, nearly touched off brawls and generally made him about as popular as Bucky Dent and Aaron Boone in New England.
David Ortiz, living up to the name Big Papi, decided to lecture Chamberlain like he was a nine-year old.
"None of that, man -- just play the game the way it's supposed to be, and that's about it," Ortiz said. "This is a guy, as good as he is, the next step for him will be to earn respect from everybody in the league. He's not a bad guy, but when things like that happen, people get the wrong idea."
It's funny. When Josh Beckett threw at Bobby Abreu's head, Ortiz and the rest of the Red Sox seemed to think it was just a normal part of doing business. Headhunting is bad business, no matter who does it but plenty of pitchers, including Beckett, equate fear with respect and, unfortunately, throwing at hitters is part of that.
It was the same thing from the Yankees for years when Pedro Martinez and other Red Sox pitchers would throw inside at their hitters. If you don't like it, either you do something in response and be prepared for what comes next or you just grit your teeth and bear it.
The trash talk, while it must thrill everyone involved with television ratings, is silly posturing that just serves to inflame the already wildly outsized rivalry between Red Sox and Yankee fans in the stands and across the Northeast.
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com in addition to his duties for NBCNewYork.com.
