« The managers agree
Main
Final: Red Sox 7, Yankees 5 »
April 21, 2007
Yankees’ first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz spent much of his time before the game today in a long discussion with reporters about two issues.
One was about his positioning on Coco Crisp’s triple in the five-run Boston eighth-inning Friday night. Mientkiewitz did not guard the line and the bouncing ball got past him for a triple.
That turned out to be the smaller part of the chat. More time was spent on Mientkiewicz’ experience with the Red Sox and, especially, the controversy he was involved in when he kept the ball he caught for the final out of the 2004 World Series. Mientkiewicz came under fire for keeping the ball for some time before donating it to the Hall of Fame.
``I wanted to give it to the Hall of Fame long before that, but I didn’t know the protocol,’’ he said.
The articulate Mientkiewicz spoke at length about how the incident bothered him. It caused problems for him and his family and, for a time, colored his experience with the Red Sox. But he said he realized that focusing on the ball was not the right way to remember his time in Boston.
``My wife loved it here and I enjoy it,’’ he said. ``My only regret is not being able to come back for a full year.’’ Mientkiewcz detailed how got along so well with his teammates while he was in Boston and how much respect he has for John Henry and Theo Epstein.
``There are no ill feelings toward the Red Sox at all,’’ he said. ``My time here was phenomenal.’’
Mientkiewicz spoke about he gave the ball from the seventh game of the Yankees series to Derek Lowe; how, on the advice of Tino Martinez, he put away the glove he used in the World Series-clinching game and now has it in a case; and how he now enjoys being with the Yankees, although he does not enjoy looking at his batting average (.139).
While fans might get uptight with the Sox-Yankees rivalry, it is not the same among the players, he insisted.
``The thing that gets lost in the shuffle is both sides respect each other immensely,’’ he said.
Posted by Paul Kenyon 
at 3:35 PM | Permalink
