« Photo: The dust flies in Fort Myers
Main
Arroyo to face Red Sox on Thursday »
March 28, 2006
In an offseason when the Red Sox picked up players known for quiet professionalism -- such as Mark Loretta, J.T. Snow and Mike Lowell -- they had to know that they had potential trouble in Julian Tavarez. To look at his statistics, the 32-year-old relief pitcher has put together a solid 13-year career -- even if Red Sox fans before this year might best have remembered him as the Cardinal reliever who gave up the game-winning home run to Mark Bellhorn in Game 1 of the 2004 World Series.
The Boston Globe's Gordon Edes today runs down Tavarez's history of problems -- from insulting fans to punching other players and even dugout equipment.
Meanwhile, the St. Petersburg Times reports today that Devil Rays players are blaming the problems yesterday on Tavarez, and not on the past brawls between the Red Sox and Devil Rays. After all, many of the players who took part in those fights have moved on to other teams. But in June 2003, Tavarez, then with the Pittsburgh Pirates, was suspended for coming out of the bullpen and throwing punches during a brawl against the Devil Rays. One of the principal players in that 2003 melee was Tampa Bay star Carl Crawford, who was fuming mad at Tavarez yesterday.
Even if the Devil Ray players are downplaying their past troubles with the Red Sox, some on a Tampa Bay fan site see yesterday's episode as evidence of a Sox franchise with out-of-control players.
Posted by Mike McDermott 
at 10:37 AM | Permalink
