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May 2, 2008
Jacoby Ellsbury is back in center field, leading off for the Sox tonight in the series opener against the Rays at Fenway Park.
He had missed the previous three games because of a sore groin.
Boston manager Terry Francona went out of his way to say he wasn't calling out Ellsbury, but he engaged in a discussion of the difference between pain and injury in this afternoon's media gathering.
"There's a fine line," said Francona. "You're not always going to be 100 percent. We can't wait for guys to be 100 percent. If we did, we couldn't field a team. There's a responsibility (to play). They're protective (of players and their aches and pains) in the minors and they're supposed to be. We try to be (also), but every game here is a big deal."
Francona again mentioned that Ellsbury thought he'd be ready to play after the day off on Monday, but he wasn't, intimating that he thought the rookie should have come in on Monday for treatment. Francona said the situation has given him and his staff an opportunity to talk to Ellsbury, as they do with all young players, in trying to educate them about the way things are done in the big leagues.
Francona brought up outfielder Coco Crisp, who played the last two nights despite a sore knee, as an example of doing what needs to be done even if a player isn't 100 percent.
Of course, then there's J.D. Drew, another outfielder, who has been sidelined because of a sore quadriceps and has the reputation as being a player who won't play with pain. Drew left Tuesday night's game after one at-bat and hasn't resurfaced, though Francona indicated he might return to the lineup tomorrow.
-- Steven Krasner
Posted by Steven Krasner 
at 4:16 PM | Permalink
