Boston Red Sox

Not-so-secret admirer

By Eric Wilbur

2 minutes to read

When asked by a reporter whether everybody was making too big a deal of Manny Ramirez admiring his mammoth home run sail into center field last night, Francona didn’t know what to make of it.

“Who’s everybody? You?” he asked.

When told that some players in the Yankees clubhouse were grousing about it after their 7-5 win, he asked, “Did they make a big deal out of it?”

Francona pointed out that Alex Rodriguez couldn’t find his three-run homer last night and stopped to find it in the night.

“Alex didn’t see his, so are we mad at him?” he asked. “I don’t care if we watch it, I don’t care if they watch it. I just want to hit more than them.’

  • Francona was asked by a reporter if he could remember as dangerous a 1-2 punch as Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz. He submitted the duo of Robin Yount and Paul Molitor, whom he played with on the Milwaukee Brewers from 1989-90.

    When asked the same question yesterday, Yankees manager Joe Torre offered up Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris.

    “Joe’s old,” Francona joked. “It’s a combination that you don’t see too often.

  • Also on that Brewers team was Gary Sheffield, just 20 years old in 1989.

    “He was so young, but his bat speed was so quick. He was fearless. You couldn’t knock him down,” Francona said.

    When asked what he thought of last night’s Jonathan Papelbon – Sheffield ninth inning showdown, when the rookie closer got Sheffield swinging and missing on two huge cuts, Francona downplayed its significance.

    “If I was paying to watch games it’d be fun to watch, but it was an at-bat,” he said. “You face Sheffield enough and he’s going to hurt you.”

  • No more leadoff questions for Kevin Youkilis, please.

    “I don’t care where I hit,” the Red Sox third baseman said.

    That’s a refrain he’s had ever since Day One of spring training and one he finds himself repeating more and more often lately.

    Thanks to his success in the top spot of the Boston order in Coco Crisp’s absence, his .423 on-base percentage best among American League leadoff hitters, the inevitable question is whether instead Crisp might find a home elsewhere in the order with his return probable for next week. Not according to manager Terry Francona.

    “When we got Coco it was no doubt he was going to lead off. It’s still the right thing to do in my mind,” Francona said. “We value on-base percentage and Youk has done a great job, but we’ll take the on-base percentage anywhere in the order.

    “He’s going to give you a quality, professional at-bat wherever he hits in the order.”

    Youkilis said his approach would remain unchanged no matter where he hit in the order, the same way any professional hitter would.

    “You tell Nomar Garciaparra he’s in the top spot of the lineup and tell him to take a pitch and he’s going to laugh at you,” Youkilis said.

    • To comment, please create a screen name in your profile

    Conversation

    This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com