Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Schilling, Rodriguez spar verbally

Ronald Blum Associated Press

NEW YORK – Even in the dead of winter, Alex Rodriguez and Curt Schilling are still going at it.

“I just hope he continues to talk about me and my teammates,” Rodriguez, the New York Yankees third baseman, said Friday. “It’s going to give us great motivation to beat him up in the future.”

Schilling called it a “bush-league play” after Rodriguez was called out for interference in Game 6 of the American League championship series last October. A-Rod, trying to beat out an infield dribbler, slapped the ball away from pitcher Bronson Arroyo near first base.

“To me it was just odd, because I mean we beat him a couple of times during the year and he was crying on the bench,” Rodriguez said of Schilling. “And then he lost Game 1 and he wouldn’t talk or anything. And obviously, he wins Game 6 and then he’s still talking till today. So it’s just something we as players have been accustomed to. But it’s something I’m not worried about.”

Schilling, reached on a cell phone, said Rodriguez had his facts wrong.

“It’s not true. I talked after Game 1,” Schilling said. “I don’t care what Alex says. When someone says that, you consider the source.”

He also denied shedding tears in the dugout.

“I was upset, but I wasn’t crying on the bench,” Schilling said.

Pitching on an ankle tendon held in place by suture, Schilling won Game 6 and Boston then became the first major league team to win a best-of-7 series after trailing 3-0. Schilling then won Game 2 of the World Series, helping Boston sweep St. Louis for its first Series title since 1918.

He wasn’t upset by the remarks A-Rod made during a telephone conference call.

“That Alex Rodriguez doesn’t like me? Not at all,” Schilling said.

Asked whether he thought the comments were made for self-motivation and to stir up the rivalry, Schilling said: “If that’s what he needs, cool.”

Traded by Texas to the Yankees last February after winning his first A.L. Most Valuable Player award, Rodriguez went 2 for 17 in the final four games of the playoff series against Boston. He hit .286 during the regular season with 36 homers and 106 runs batted in, but batted .248 with runners in scoring position and was 2 for 12 with the bases loaded.

“I played well at times, I played terrible at times,” Rodriguez said. “And at the end of the day, I feel like my job was a failure because I was basically taken there to be the final part of a world championship team. So if you have to blame someone or point a finger at someone, you have to look in my direction, and I take 100 percent of the blame.”

While Rodriguez hit .270 in the first half, he batted .307 after the All-Star break. Playing in New York was far different than in Seattle, where he began, or in Texas.

“It was a tough year overall to (get) used to all the different things you have to get used to, especially off the field, in New York,” he said. “But I finally felt in August, September and October I was back to myself and played well and felt more comfortable.”

With a record $252 million, 10-year contract, expectations are high and he knows it.

“Coming in for me was totally different than most players,” he said. “I think you have to ask Rocket (Roger Clemens), myself, probably Randy (Johnson) and the upper-echelon-type of player, because there’s a much grander responsibility that comes along with being who I am, and I understand that completely. … To me that’s the responsibility that I’ve always carried, and that’s fine. I want those fans to expect those things from me. I expect them from myself.”