Negativity surrounding the Red Sox is nothing new. But before last night’s series opener against the Yankees at the Stadium, Boston’s David Ortiz said a report this week about dissension in the Red Sox clubhouse hadn’t gone unnoticed by star second baseman Dustin Pedroia.
“The other day, the way Pedroia was playing baseball out there, [angry] and not focusing on what he wants to do because that report came out saying he was against the manager … how do you think he’s going to feel out there?” Ortiz said. “This game is 75 percent mental and then the rest physical … your mind has a lot to do with your performance.
“When you see somebody try to put you against your manager, it will be a distraction, and knowing the Pedroia I know, that kid wants to do nothing but play baseball. No matter who his manager is, no matter who is the umpire, the fans, he doesn’t care. He wants to go out and beat the [bleep] out of whoever he’s playing against.”
Pedroia was one of several players mentioned in a Yahoo! Sports report Tuesday that detailed how Red Sox players blasted manager Bobby Valentine during a team meeting with ownership here in late July.
But Ortiz disagreed with that sentiment, saying Valentine isn’t to blame for the way things have played out in Boston, as the Red Sox have languished at the bottom of the American League East for most of the season. They began last night in fourth place, 12 ½ games behind the Yankees and 6 ½ games behind the Orioles and Rays, who were tied for the two AL wild-card spots.
“I think Bobby’s doing great,” Ortiz said. “He’s had to deal with so many things through the season.
“I guarantee you that if we didn’t have so many guys going to the DL through the year, history would be different this year, and all the talk and all the negativity that have come out against him, I don’t think it would be there … he can’t manage the team and at the same time go play for us.
“All he can do is make moves and move pieces, but if you don’t have the squad out there providing what you expect because of injuries or whatever, I don’t think people should be looking at it like it’s his fault that we’ve struggled the way we have this year.”
The bad aura surrounding the team goes back to late last season, when Boston endured a historic September collapse, culminating in being passed by the Rays on the final day of the regular season to miss out on the playoffs.
That led to manager Terry Francona being fired and replaced by Valentine. But the vibe around the team hasn’t changed after the Red Sox, armed with one of the highest payrolls in baseball, struggling to escape from the AL East’s basement.
“The last couple of years have been a roller coaster, the way things have been handled around here,” Ortiz said. “Hopefully it will get better, because playing the game is hard enough.
“Then, having to deal with some of this [garbage] afterwards, I don’t think it’s fair. I know this is a big market, just like the Yankees, like Anaheim, like the Dodgers, but I don’t think the other teams go through what we go through.”
Ortiz, who has been out since July 17 with a strained right Achilles tendon, hit soft-toss before last night’s game, but is almost certainly going to miss all of this weekend’s series.
“I wish I could tell you [when I’ll be back],” Ortiz said. “I can control my mind, but I can’t really control an injury, so to me, I wish I could be playing tonight. I’m dying to play.”
tbontemps@nypost.com