Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame outfielder Jim Rice slammed New York Yankees starting pitcher CC Sabathia after the pitcher complained about the Red Sox testing his 37-year-old, 300-pound body and surgically repaired right knee in the first inning by bunting for a base hit with speedster Eduardo Nunez.
“It is kind of weak to me,” Sabathia said Thursday. “It is what it is. It just shows what they got over there.”
He added, “I think they think I’m a bigger guy and I can’t field my position. I’m an old man, so they should go out and want to kick my butt. I just feel like they tried to take the weak road.”
Sabathia made a throwing error on the play, but escaped the inning without giving up any runs. As he walked off the mound, Sabathia made a gesture toward his rival’s dugout and yelled.
In the postgame show on NESN, Jim Rice suggested Sabathia should lose some weight before complaining about the other team bunting.
“What is he talking about? Bunting is part of the game. You try to get on the base any way you can. If you tell him to leave some of that chicken, that donut and that burger weight — maybe his leg will be OK that he can field that baseball,” Rice said. “That’s just stupid.”
“What he has a right to do is fulfill his contract, lose some weight and go out there and pitch,” he added.
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