Bay succeeds quietly as replacement for Ramirez

[February 20, 2009]  FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) -- Jason Bay is the anti-Manny Ramirez, a player who hustles and doesn't create headlines or distractions.

The contrast between the enigmatic left fielder who left Boston and his soft-spoken successor could hardly be more striking.

"I don't know that I even care about that," manager Terry Francona said. "He's a good player and he's done a good job. And having him the whole year as opposed to a half year, we're excited about."

The former Red Sox star from south of the border in the Dominican Republic had a rocky parting in his eighth season with the team. His replacement from north of the border in Canada blended in quickly.

But there's at least one similarity. Both can crush the ball.

Bay hit nine homers in 49 games after being obtained from Pittsburgh on July 31 in a trade that also sent Ramirez to Los Angeles. Bay finished the year with 31 homers, the third time in four years he surpassed 30.

And he never asked out of the lineup like Ramirez did several times, the last coming two days before he was traded when he said his right knee was sore. But MRIs on both knees showed no problem.

"The easiest part for me I guess is ignorance is bliss," Bay said. "I had heard a little bit of what went on and, obviously, I didn't know the whole story.

"I never took it as I was trying to replace (him). I kind of took it as I came into a situation where they needed a guy to play left field and a right-handed hitter."

He also brought a desire to play every day, run out every grounder and make challenging catches look easy rather than an adventure.

"He plays the whole, entire game," Francona said. "He runs the bases, plays outfield, he shows up, doesn't want to not play, good guy to have around, hit him numerous places in the order, very, very valuable guy."

Boston's decision to replace perhaps the most dangerous right-handed hitter in baseball who was MVP of the 2004 World Series with a solid player who had never reached the playoffs wasn't universally accepted by fans.

But Bay made his transition easier with an outstanding start, made more critical by Ramirez's outstanding hitting with the Dodgers.

"Getting off to a good start definitely helped me relax a little bit, like it would anybody," Bay said. "You come in a situation like that, you might want to try to press a little bit and it was easier for me once I went out and did all right the first few games."

In his debut with Boston he tripled and scored the winning run in the 12th inning of a 2-1 victory over Oakland. The next day he hit a tie-breaking three-run homer in the first inning of a 12-2 win over the Athletics.

And he hit safely in his first seven games with the Red Sox, going 12-for-30.

"He came in ... kind of a fishbowl where obviously everybody's looking at him, what he was going to do, and I thought he handled himself with ease and he turned into a good teammate real fast," Francona said. "He made himself so at home I actually forgot this was his first time (in spring training)."

His teammates helped with the adjustment.

"Coming from Pittsburgh to Boston, the atmosphere is totally different," David Ortiz said. "We wanted to make sure that he feels comfortable. He wasn't the kind of guy who talked too much, but we get him talking."

Bay hit seventh at times last season and figures to bat fifth, sixth or seventh this year in a strong lineup.

"It really doesn't bother me one bit," he said.

Cleanup hitter Ramirez cared greatly about where he hit and drew plenty of attention for his skills with the bat. Not Bay.

"He's quiet but he's not underrated in our book," Francona said. "It seems like he kind of flies under the radar a little bit."

He's in the final year of his contract and likes it in Boston. He would consider a long-term deal before the current agreement expires.

Bay's spring training with Boston will be interrupted by next month's World Baseball Classic, where he'll play for Canada.

He was born in Trail, British Columbia, where his father worked for a company that has one of the world's largest fully integrated zinc and lead smelting and refining complexes.

"I had a job lined up there if I didn't get drafted," Bay said.

He was drafted -- in the 22nd round in 2000 by Montreal -- then moved on to San Diego before being traded to Pittsburgh for Brian Giles in 2003.

Trail celebrated when Bay joined the Red Sox. They were his father's favorite team, perhaps because they were one of three major-league clubs whose games were televised regularly in Trail, and there were posters of Carl Yastrzemski and Jim Rice in the Bays' basement family room.

"No one was happier than him when I got traded over here," Bay said. "All these people where I'm from, Trail, 8,000 people, went 'Oh, I love the Red Sox.' "

His father has replaced one of those posters -- Bay can't remember which -- with a poster of his son. And now Bay plays a historic position at Fenway where Ted Williams, Yastrzemski, Rice and Ramirez spent so much time.

"It's just another position on the baseball field," Bay said, "but it has probably a bigger meaning here than in a lot of other places."

Notes: DH David Ortiz skipped batting practice after sleeping on his shoulder the wrong way Wednesday night, Francona said. "It's kind of a necessary evil for the hitters," Francona said of the batting practice. "But we need to get the pitchers out there seeing hitters in the box." ... The Red Sox planned abbreviated workouts Friday so they could attend a charity golf event.

[Associated Press; By HOWARD ULMAN]

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