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June 5, 2007
Interleague play on the road, where the pitchers hit and the designated hitters sit, doesn't start for Boston until Friday, when the Red Sox open a three-game series in Arizona.
But the Red Sox pitchers, the starters, anyway, have been getting ready for those situations when they'll have to pick up a bat and stand in the batter's box.
Manager Terry Francona said this afternoon that they started preparing for the addition to their job description when the team was home last week.
He said that, instead of hitting on the field, the pitchers went into the cage behind the Boston dugout where they did some "dry" swinging, hit off a tee, advanced to soft-toss hitting and then to bunting off a machine before bunting and swinging in "live" batting practice against hitting coach Dave Magadan and strength and conditioning coach David Page while games were going on.
"Pitchers are creatures of habit. They do some things at 4, and then other things (at specific times) and we didn't want to mess with that," said Francona of the in-game workouts.
Francona isn't worried about how well his pitchers will hit, but is more concerned that interleague play on the road puts any American League team at a disadvantage.because the DH isn't used.
"We've got guys (pitchers) not used to hitting, using different muscles that are sore. They need to get guys out (not get base hits)," said Francona. "I hope at some point someone in baseball will stand up and say this is just not right, hopefully before I'm an old man and getting my pension.
"We've got David Ortiz as our DH, (and baseball is) asking us to play a handful of games without him. Every game is important. It doesn't mean you can't win, but it makes it harder," said Francona.
Francona also said that it's possible that Ortiz, who plays first base during interleague games, may sit out a couple of starts this weekend because of his legs (he missed three games last week because of hamstring issues) and because first baseman Kevin Youkilis and third baseman Mike Lowell have been hot, as has Ortiz.
-- Steven Krasner
Posted by Steven Krasner 
at 7:48 PM | Permalink
