That's not the only evidence. I personally watched an interview on ESPN once where he was specifically asked how he liked playing with ARod in the WBC. His response: "I prefer playing with Ortiz." When pressed with the question: "Well if you could play with both on the same team?" Answer: "I prefer David Ortiz." Would he put aside personal feelings for the sake of winning? Why not? Derek Jeter did. Professionals will sometimes have to play with someone they don't like. Same thing happens at any job. The question is, does it affect the team chemistry? Something that the Red Sox have relied heavily on. Now granted, that's my perception of the conversation, but to me, watching the facial expressions, and hearing the inflection, he was being quite clear in what he was saying. The way the interviewer reacted to the answer, he felt the answer was the same as I did.
Well, I guess I can't speak for all Yankee fans, but I know that I, personally, didn't think as low of Damon as most Red Sox fans seem to think of A-Rod. Not even close. I might've rolled my eyes at Damon from time to time (he really is an "idiot" and I still think he is one, to tell the truth), but - as a Yankee fan - I also try to assess his value accurately. That's what I meant by "run of the mill hate." I didn't like Damon when he was on the Red Sox... but it was never on a personal level, and I never pretended that it was anything other than that normal rivalry-inspired hatred. But I also did this knowing that I never called him names or wished him ill, or said horrible things about the kind of person or player he was when he was on the Red Sox. Nearly every Sox fan I know HATES A-Rod. Shit, I remember people saying that he STAGED that "rescue" of the kid last season in Boston (or was that 2005?), when he pulled a kid out of the way of a truck. They said it was a publicity stunt.
Yeah, I do agree with this post. There's a big difference between the way ARod is viewed by the Red Sox Nation, and the way Mountain Man was viewed by the Evil Empire. But in the end, it really comes down to a desire to see guys win. Hell, if you told me 20 years ago that Wade Boggs would be wearing pinstripes to win a World Series, while Don Mattingly was watching from home, I'd have wanted your blood. But it happened. And I was happy. I think it's a product of free agency being the animal that it is in sports today. You only hate a guy when he's an enemy. Once he becomes a mercenary, he's no longer part of the enemy, and he becomes acceptable. If Sox fans truly hate ARod that much that they wouldn't want him hitting in a lineup with Manny and Ortiz, then they deserve another 80+ years of ineptitude. I seriously doubt that is the case though.
I don't hate Arod at all. I hope he does poorly because he's on the Yankees, and I think he's made a NUMBER of classless plays and is very fake off the field, but I would still love to have him in the Red Sox lineup.
