Francona: ‘Pain’ excuse only goes so far | Boston Red Sox | projo.com | The Providence Journal

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Boston Red Sox News & Notes - 5/3
Published 5/3/2008 by Ian at SOX & Dawgs
... to the Red Sox rotation or bullpen. James Shields plans to take the same approach tonight as he did last week with the Red Sox hitters. Buchholz stayed focused during the jams he got himself into last night. People are starting to notice that Jonathan Papelbon has a pickoff move now. Al Reyes isn’t anywhere near close to returning to the Rays bullpen. Jacoby Ellsbury learned a valuable lesson from Terry Francona, play with your pain. “There’s a fine line,” said Francona. ...

Strong Words From Francona Re Ellsbury
Published 5/3/2008 by redsock at The Joy of Sox
Terry Francona insisted he was not criticizing Jacoby Ellsbury, but his comments to the media about injuries and playing with pain were still a lot stronger than usual from the Red Sox manager. Tito: I'm not pointing a finger at Ellsbury because I think he's a pretty tough kid. I guess my point is you're not always going to be 100 percent. I don't know if we can wait for guys always to be 100 percent or we won't ever be able to field a team. ... We try to be protective, but at the same time, we want guys to understand the responsibility that every ...

Baseball Today: Monday, May 5
Published 5/5/2008 by Art Martone (amartone@projo.com) at Projo Sox Blog
... TOUGH TALK: He's a players' manager through and through, which means any problems he needs to address will be taken care of out of the public eye. Every so often, though, Terry Francona will send a message to his players via the media . . . and that's what he seemed to be doing Friday night, when he talked about the "responsibility" of playing through minor aches and pains. Krasner related his comments, which appeared to be aimed at J.D. Drew and Jacoby Ellsbury; coincidentally or not, both were soon back in the lineup. ...