Cleveland and Ohio treated us well!

[wayne1218]

savage, your obviously not listening. It wasn't one day, one person, or one isolated incident. If it was we wouldn't be having this UNBIASED argument!

[savage1]

Ok Wayne-then if charity and making sick kids days happy is less important than signing autographs, you and I obviously disagree with what is important in life.

[wayne1218]

You love the Sox NO MATTER WHAT and you have made that more than obvious!

[wayne1218]

Ok Wayne-then if charity and making sick kids days happy is less important than signing autographs, you and I obviously disagree with what is important in life.

I respect the people who do both. Those are the good guys!

[savage1]

Wayne-I think we should end this; you and I obviously view different life differently and have a deifferent perception of Wakefield.
We do agree that he must pitch well;lets keep it at that.

[bhs4life]

Wayne-I think we should end this; you and I obviously view different life differently and have a deifferent perception of Wakefield.
We do agree that he must pitch well;lets keep it at that.

Thank GOD

[wayne1218]

Thank GOD

Is this ruining your day or something?

[savage1]

You love the Sox NO MATTER WHAT and you have made that more than obvious!

I love the Sox but would say the same about him no matter where he played,
Conversely I thought Pedro Martinez, while a great pitcher, was an arrogant self-centered jerk when he pitched for Sox, and I only rooted for him because I wanted the Sox to win.
Who do you think is a better and more unselfish person, Pedro or Wakefield? And who would you rather have as a neighbor?
Obviously, the choice for me would not be too difficult.

[wayne1218]

I love the Sox but would say the same about him no matter where he played,
Conversely I thought Pedro Martinez, while a great pitcher, was an arrogant self-centered jerk when he pitched for Sox, and I only rooted for him because I wanted the Sox to win.
Who do you think is a better and more unselfish person, Pedro or Wakefield? And who would you rather have as a neighbor?
Obviously, the choice for me would not be too difficult.

Give me Pedro. I have not met him yet and his first impression hasn't been damaged, plus he is fun to watch!

[bhs4life]

Is this ruining your day or something?

No SIR .

[savage1]

Wayne-ok. It was fun discussing this.
Put out some winners!

[CHICAGODOG]

just one thought do you think wakefield is the only one 90 percent of the players could give a shit about the fans .......or charity or anything else...its all for publicity....And giving money to these charities is a bigger joke .....they have to give it to sombody or you know will it will go yep the IRS!!!!!

[wayne1218]

just one thought do you think wakefield is the only one 90 percent of the players could give a shit about the fans .......or charity or anything else...its all for publicity....And giving money to these charities is a bigger joke .....they have to give it to sombody or you know will it will go yep the IRS!!!!!

I totally AGREE 100%

I expected what Wakefield did from alot of them. It didn't happen though. Matt Clement (who doesn't even have a ring) stepped away from his family to give us 5 minutes of his time and Trot Nixon let us invade his dinner table and was VERY gracious in letting us bug him for several minutes. He was really fun to talk to and joke with. He could have easily said Please, i'm having lunch and we would have understood, but he didn't.

[savage1]

just one thought do you think wakefield is the only one 90 percent of the players could give a shit about the fans .......or charity or anything else...its all for publicity....And giving money to these charities is a bigger joke .....they have to give it to sombody or you know will it will go yep the IRS!!!!!

I think if you go back and check you will see that Wakefield has given money to charity for sure, but has spent hundreds if not thousands of hours visiting sick children and trying to make their days happier;that is not tax deductible, and when you engage in such an activity not as a one shot deal but for many, many years, one has to conclude that it is not for the cameras only!

[TheRook]

It's a great thread with valid points on both sides. On the one hand I watched with my wife one day Queer Eye with the Red Sox and Wakefield was one of the players that helped a little league team from Florida raise money to fix thier ballpark that was damaged by the hurricane last year. Wakefield, Damon, Veritek, and two others that I'm drawing a blank on took part in it...very cool on their part. some of the things that athletes do in their spare time as far as charity work is very admirable.

I do however agree with Wayne in a lot of what's he's brought up. Charles Barkley's famous comment when he said that "Athletes shouldn't be role models" can go so many different directions and really have no conclusions. My two cents is this.

If you are an athlete I think that you should bear the responsibility that goes with it. I think you need to be cordial to the fans who pay your salary. Everyone has their bad days...everyone. But don't take it out on people who have nothing to do with that mood. they are making incredible amounts of money and have no right in my opinion to be assholes to fans.

Now, in regards to fans....a lot of us are good to the players, but there are some over-zelous, idiotic fans that cross the line. I do wish that players could see the difference between the two and not put us all together. Most of us I think can respect the fact that players are human beings too, and to respect their privacy. As players, I think if its not clear already, your free time if you choose to go out in public is free reign for any fans that recognize you to come up and ask for an autograph. That has been and always will be the price of fame. Some can handle it, some can't.

When I lived in Chicago, I worked at Wrigley Field for 2 years up in the skyboxes catering to the holders. Lots of times you'd have athletes families, a bunch of big wigs. I got to meet a lot of very famous people. Elton John, Shaq, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Frank Thomas, Areosmith, Charles Barkley, ...etc.....most of them were very very cool. THey were out having a good time, and I respected their privacy. the only one that has ever been an asshole was Frank Thomas. It wasn't just one time...it's been numerous times that I've dealt with him or his family. Completely classless, and wanted to be treated like he was the only person on earth. Lost a lot of respect for him through the years.

I don't know if I just rambled on and actually made a point or not, lol...but if not, I think what I am trying to say is that athletes are seen in a different light then the every day average joe. If that's true, then they need to bear that responsibility or find another profession.

As far as the Red Sox Fans traveling well....as a cubs fan, I can say that we are pretty close to you all. The NLDS a couple years ago in Atlanta was typical of how stupidly loyal we are. I went to game one and game 5 and I swear to you, no joke, there were 40% Cubs fans there. I walked up the day of Game 5 and got tickets at the ticket window. We travel very well. Hopefully one day they can pay back all that loyality with a World Series Championship.