Confession.

This may make me a terrible person (although, I don't think that I've ever claimed otherwise) but when they booed Jason Bay down in Florida today it made me snicker. By all accounts, Bay is a good guy and I don't begrudge him his move to Queens. I don't. But I wish that were possible for a player to leave Boston without subsequently whining about what an awful place it is and how terribly he's been treated by the front office.

Maybe the players are right. Maybe the front office is a terrible place filled with terrible people that don't respect players--I do have a suspicion that Theo is really a power-hungry baddie from some comic book series who uses ballplayers as his pawns in some manic scheme to take over the world while nestled deep within his secret lair. Maybe they shouldn't have to carry their own bags and maybe they should be allowed to star in commercials proclaiming their joy at finally being with a winner. Maybe it shouldn't be suggested to them that they might need surgery. Maybe I don't want to hear about it.

If you're Petey you can get away with it because, well, you're awesome; you're the best pitcher of the modern era and arguably in the top ten since the beginning of baseball. (If Roger Clemens hadn't become such a clown, then he might have fit into this category as well.) The rest though, should stop pretending to have been so grievously wronged and just leave. If they're going to say anything at all, a simple I followed the money would suffice. It's widely accepted that (with the possible exception of Tim Wakefield) all ballplayers are money grubbing. And so except for those players who swear false loyalty to a club before going off and signing with the Yankees, no one blinks when a player behaves in this manner.

Manny, for all his faults, did it right. I do come close to wearing blinders when it comes to Manny but I don't recall him ever saying anything about how awful Boston was, once he got to L.A. There was a story (I'd guess in the ProJo given the inflammatory nature) where he said something like "Dodger fans are the best fans in the world" but that's hardly the same thing. I really do hope that if they decide not to pick up David's option next winter that he goes Manny's route; that he doesn't start whining about lack of respect and about what he deserves. I would hate to be annoyed with him.