I suppose it wouldn’t be MLB in Asia without me finding something bitchy to zero in on. I’ve been busy and out of town, so I haven’t had a chance to watch any of the games. I saw that Jack Cust hit a home run, which for some reason still never ceases to surprise me. I think I’m going be that way with Rick Ankiel as well. I’ll just go on not believing, even as they each hit their 30th of the year.
Anyway, I saw this little tidbit that spilled from the lips of Dustin Pedroia, who I’d kind of started to like last year. But I’m not too crazy about this:
About 30 minutes before the game, Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia stood in the dugout working over the handle of his bat with a pine tar rag. Out of nowhere, a blunt noise filled the stadium. Pedroia pirouetted toward left field. A band of Tigers fans in left field had begun a chant. Then drums joined in. Then a horn. And clapping.
“What the (expletive) is that?” Pedroia asked.
Get used to it, he was told. That’s Japanese baseball.
The answer seemed not to suffice.
“Shut up!” Pedroia yelled toward the fans.
Probably nothing to get too worked up about. This may have even been taken somewhat out of context. He might have meant it in a completely joking way.
Or maybe Pedroia doesn’t know or care about anything related to Japanese baseball. I would have thought someone might have mentioned the loud, wild crowds on the plane ride over.
I would be curious if Pedroia would react in a similar way to a stadium of similarly noisy fans in the Dominican or Mexico. I don’t mean to say he’d fear the reaction, because I’m assuming none of the fans in Japan even heard or saw him. I’m just talking about his reaction in general.
(Taken from Yahoo!)
6 responses so far ↓
1 Zammer // Mar 24, 2008 at 5:46 am
Pedroia’s always tipped off my douchedar. He just seems like he’s not a very pleasant person, but how many major league ballplayers are? Erik Bedard better put up Cy Young numbers in Seattle, because he sets my douchedar off the charts.
2 Simon Currie // Mar 24, 2008 at 10:30 am
I was at the game, the Hanshin fans gradually got into the game and were cheering and singing pretty madly by the end of the game (though the Sox had pulled most of its starters from the 7th inning on). First time I’ve ever been to a Hanshin game (difficult to get tickets even in and around Tokyo), and this was just an exhibition (though the Tigers took it pretty seriously going up against the MLB champs), can’t imagine what Koshien’s like.
3 SoxAcumen // Mar 24, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Pedroia is the guy who gave up his full-boat to Arizona State so they could sign a big time pitching prospect. His team made the College World Series the year after he graduated and the kid who has his scholarship was a major part of the ASU getting to the WS. He is a gamer and a team player, he does not come off as a douche.
I think his “Shut Up!” was more of a question than telling the Tigers fans to be quiet.
Kind of like: “hey that guy just ate 100 hot dogs in 5 mins…”
“Shut Up!” More of a joke than a demand.
4 jackson // Mar 24, 2008 at 4:07 pm
All I can say about that is that the Mexican team were bitching like crazy about the Taiwanese fans and those horns they blow during the game. I’m sure it had nothing to do with their disappointing 0-3 start and/or sucking the whole tournament.
5 IronChef // Mar 24, 2008 at 8:45 pm
Erik Bedard is probably the rudest Canadian person I know. And he’s merely slightly unpleasant.
6 westbaystars // Mar 24, 2008 at 10:40 pm
The person who wrote the original article being quoted has been making poking jabs at Japan and the Japanese game since he got here. After reading a couple of his articles my wife asked if he even likes baseball? The author of that piece has serious ethical and bias issues. Please ignore him.
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