Millar Opens Up His Stance...

...On John Olerud, Throws Mientkiewicz Under the Bus a Bit,
And Makes a Heartfelt Statement to the Nation.

5.31 Kevin Millar sit-down with the press (paraphrased excerpts from WEEI): That’s just part of the business. Somebody thought he needed to be here. I’ve been a fan of John Olerud since I was in college and he was winning batting titles. John Olerud and myself is better than just myself at this time. He's a professional and I can learn a lot from him.

There's no right or wrong here. There's no 'who's better?' From Day One I've given everything I have to the Red Sox. None of this is for lack of effort. Ever. And there are other things you can bring to a team beside what shows up on the back of a baseball card. You want to know who’s backing you when things aren’t going your way. Everyone's behind you when you're hitting home runs. The true test is who’s on your side when things aren’t going your way, and I know my manager is on my side, and that feels good, so I've given my all since day one. The fans are behind me. How could they not be? People are behind me. But because I'm not doing good, people felt they gotta make a move. I've been scrapping at the plate, two home runs, but I did this last year and the patience paid off. Hey, the same guy's at first base.

It’s just like Edgar Renteria, Jekyll and Hyde, the fans were booing him, and now are loving him. If I'm 2-for-3, 3-for-4, 3-for-5 -- he's breaking out! It's the same (expletive), not rocket science. I've been booed before. I will be sitting down some games, no doubt about it. A day here and there will make the team better. I can sit behind John Olerud. There's a difference of a track record there. I learned from John Olerud. I'm mean, Doug Mientkiewicz, I love him to death. But that was my point. I don't think we were upgrading with him.

Doug and I are kidders. Last year was a different situation. I had gotten hot before he had come. This was not a jab, this was just (expletive). Doug and I are friends. He'll laugh when he hears it, or he should. He knows me.

When they bring in Troy Glaus up here, you'll be answering the same questions (after Bill Mueller chimed in).

I'll be all right. Olerud was a good signing, even if I were hot. He’s a veteran guy, had a great career, this guy can hit. He’s a nice guy, he’s a guy you learn from. He’s a guy who won a gold glove. He won a batting title. This is good stuff. This isn’t like a big controversy in this clubhouse. I’m fine, I’m okay. As much as you guys want to see me blow up, last year, yeah you’re gonna see that. I didn’t think that was an upgrade. This is definitely a situation that makes our club better. I’m here to win. This isn’t about Kevin Millar and the selfishness. I’ve never been selfish. I’ve been here day one, I’ve given everything I got to my teammates, my clubhouse, this city, the media, this team. That’s one thing you guys can’t say. I’m here everyday. Sometimes the results aren’t what I want, or what the fans want but it’s not lack of effort. From day one, I’ve given you everything I have, and I’m still going to do that. This is definitely an upgrade to our team.

The open stance was obviously something that I’ve never done and it worked last year for a couple of weeks. It worked 6-7 weeks and it was great, but I’m going back to just hitting like I hit before. Hopefully it clicks in and it works. But I’m basically just making my stance regular old bob, little bit of a bat whiffle, a little bit of a leap with the front hip, hopefully launch over the green monster, but last year was something that I had to make an adjustment, it just worked and it went off. This year, it’s been tough to find that same thing and I think it’s just odd because I don’t hit open. I did last year for that short of time but all the way through the Florida days, and a couple of years in a row I hit .300, I didn’t hit open.