Red Sox ace warns pricey newcomer about Boston fans
It’s hardly a secret that many sports fans outside of New England find Boston sports fans insufferable and obnoxious.
Nowhere else will you find fans who are so curmudgeonly despite copious amounts of success.
Since 2000, the Boston Celtics have won one NBA title, the Boston Bruins have won a Stanley Cup, the Boston Red Sox have won three World Series pennants and the New England Patriots have won five Super Bowls.
There really shouldn’t be much for Boston sports fans to complain about.
And yet success breeds high expectations — and intolerance of the ordinary.
Take, for example, Red Sox pitcher David Price.
Lavished with a seven-year, $217 million contract, which is the richest deal doled out in Red Sox history, Price has underwhelmed in his two seasons there.
While Price has been effective when healthy, he hasn’t been particularly healthy since arriving in Boston. More importantly, he has been wholly ineffective in the playoffs, going winless with the Red Sox in the postseason.
That’s led to quite a bit of friction between the team’s ace and its fans.
Boston fans have frequently and vocally booed Price, and he hasn’t held back when it comes to responding to them.
It’s a tenuous relationship that has many people presuming that Price is counting down the minutes for his contract to expire.
So it was a bit of a surprise when news broke that Price helped lure free agent slugger J.D. Martinez to Boston this year.
After an outstanding season in Arizona in which he hit .302 with 29 home runs and 65 RBIs in just 62 games with the Diamondbacks, Martinez headed east partially at the behest of Price. The five-year, $110 million contract the Red Sox offered him probably didn’t hurt matters.
But that doesn’t mean Price didn’t warn Martinez about Boston fans.
“It is tough here [in Boston],” Price told USA Today. “There’s just so much more negativity. I’ve never been one for negative stuff. I like surrounding myself by positive people. Even if my wife starts talking negatively, I let her know. I just can’t stand it. …
“I’ve never been through anything like [the heckling from Boston fans]. There was so much going on. So much. It was a very trying year.
“If I wasn’t making the amount of money I was making it probably wouldn’t have been a big deal. But I’m an easy target.”
He added that he stays away from social media now. “There’s nothing but negativity, that’s all it is,” Price said. “I can tweet out John 3:16, and I’m going to get crushed. There’s no point. No point. I used to really enjoy it, especially Twitter, interacting with everybody. I thought that was the coolest thing ever. I really enjoyed it.”
Price made sure to pass on his concerns to Martinez.
Considering that Red Sox fans are hoping Martinez can help the team close the gap with the New York Yankees’ star duo of Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, there’s no shortage of pressure awaiting the newly signed Boston slugger.
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