NY Daily News Says Jonny Gomes Has "Richard Sherman Fever" Because He Said The Sox Are Still The Champs
(NYDN) — Richard Sherman fever is spreading — all the way to Boston. A day after the Bombers spent $155 million on Japanese hurler Masahiro Tanaka, an outspoken member of the champion Red Sox did some trash talking of his own, firing the first 2014 salvo in baseball’s fiercest rivalry. “People can go out and sign whoever they want right now,” Jonny Gomes, taking a page from the Seattle Seahawk loudmouth’s playbook, said Thursday in Boston. “Boxing rules, we still have the belt. Whoever else, reloads.” But Gomes didn’t stop there, as he took dead aim at the free-spending Yanks and their $458 million free-agent bill this winter.“It’s kind of interesting, though — $500 million and still some questions,” Gomes said. “You’ve got (free agent catcher Brian) McCann who hasn’t been in the American League before, the pitcher (Masahiro Tanaka) who hasn’t pitched a game over here. They’ve got some guys playing different positions. It’s about winning the summer. It’s not about winning the winter.”
Look at the Daily News trying to stir up the rivalry again. Adorable. “Hey who’s the most controversial athlete in the media right now, Richard Sherman? OK well Jonny Gomes just said ‘We’re still World Series champs’ and a bunch of other facts… classic Sherman Fever, right?! PRINT IT!” Not a single word Gomes said is false, or aggressive, or self-promoting. Sox are World Series champs and everyone else is reloading to go for the belt, fact. McCann has never caught in the AL, fact. Tanaka has never pitched in America, fact. So how that’s Sherman Fever, I do not know. But hey, whatever sells papers.
And by the way, yes the Yanks have had an outrageous offseason. Spending half a billion dollars in a few months is no joke. But, I’m really not all that bothered by it. It doesn’t feel like some overlord coming back to knock us down a peg. It’s not like they BEAT the Sox, because the Sox weren’t interested. It wasn’t an arms race, Cherington just sat back and said “No thanks” to humungous deals, as he said his M.O. would be. There’s a difference between the Yanks outspending on guys both teams want, and the Sox just being deep with too many prospects to go waste 7 years on an injury prone guy like Ellsbury who never sniffed another 2011 season. Too many prospects to take a 15o million dollar risk on a guy from Japan who can’t even throw a gyro ball. Beltran is the only contract they picked up this year that I would have been interested in at least exploring. So did the Yankees “win” the winter, yeah I guess so. But the Sox weren’t even playing.
