Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: Learning to love J.D. Drew
Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning (before the news of Curt Schilling's surgery broke). The topics: J.D. Drew's terrific weekend in the place where he is hated the most, whether Drew can sustain his hot streak, Manny Delcarmen as the hot hand of the moment in the bullpen, and the Celtics-Red Sox bond.
Here are some excerpts from Sean's comments:
On Drew's big series at Citizens Bank Park: "He has always risen to the occasion playing in Philadelphia when he returns there. In fact his performance, or his history of success in Philadelphia, was one of the things the Red Sox looked at closely when they signed him to that landmark $70-million deal a few years ago. They saw that as evidence that if Drew could succeed in the face of people throwing batteries at him, as has happened in Philadelphia, then certainly he could withstand the rigors of playing in Boston."
More on Drew: "One thing you see him doing this month, that you haven't seen him do much of in his brief Red Sox career, is really drive the ball, whether it be to center field, where a lot of his home runs seem to go, or some doubles and extra-base hits that he's hit the other way off the ball at Fenway. He needs to use the whole ballpark, and he's been doing that more the last month."
On the Celtics and the Red Sox: "I think there is a bond. There's a lot of guys [on the Red Sox] who are basketball fans, they have enjoyed the run as much as the fans have, and I think there also is a bond between players who play in the same city. Even though you may not run into each other much because of conflicting schedules and seasons, but there's an identiy that's shared, that you kind of represent Boston. And I think there's some pride on the part of Red Sox players who are rooting for the Celtics, even though they may have grown up in other parts of the country, they now share Boston as their place of work."
