The days of players openly expressing contempt for another team seem to be a thing of the past. But not for Yankees catcher Russell Martin.
“Anything to get the Red Sox out [of the playoffs] would be awesome for me,” Martin said less than 24 hours after the Yankees secured the AL East and on the eve of their three-game series with Boston this weekend.
It was not an extremely hateful answer such as would be expected from Carlton Fisk and Thurman Munson in the 1970s, yet it was a change from the normal bland comments players often give, especially when Martin was asked why he felt so strongly.
“Because I hate the Red Sox,” Martin said. “They are fun to play against because they have a quality team and they are gritty and they play hard and stuff. But I would love to see them lose.”
When asked, manager Joe Girardi said that was the first he’d heard of the comments.
“I haven’t heard anyone say anything about it,” Girardi said. “Obviously we know there’s a lot at stake whenever we play these guys and there’s a lot of pride on the line. There are a lot of expectations when these two teams play, but I have not heard anything.
“I don’t ever like to fuel anything, that’s the bottom line. But boys will be boys.”
