In the first inning of last night's ALCS game 4 with no outs and no score, in the first at bat of the game, Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia tried to slap the ball away from Victor Martinez with both hands. Picture here.

I never really got all of the nonsense about A-Rod's slap play. I mean, he's A-Rod and people are looking for a reason to bash him (and the Yankees), but it's just baseball. It was the 8th inning of game 6 of the ALCS with 1 out, trailing by 3 runs. You're trying to scratch, claw and fight for any break. Note, I'm not defending A-Rod's play. It was a bad play and he got called on it. I had wanted him to plow straight through Arrojo who would have partially been in the baseline. Just run straight to the baseline and hit Arrojo on the way - no hand movement. It would have started a fight, but that's life - part of his body was in the basepath. Alas, he didn't and he made an out. That's baseball, it happens, move on.

See, I'm not the type of fan who engages in nasty hostilities. I love the Yankees as much as anyone else, but I don't take that to the level of being nasty to fans of other teams or to loudly rooting against others. I'm friendly with some Red Sox fans. When we beat them in 2003, I didn't send them any messages. That was a bad time and, when you win, you win with class, I believe. So, I'm not going to dump on them when they're down. And I didn't. Similarly, I expected them to do the same when they beat us in 2004. And they did.

This A-Rod slap thing really got into the "nasty hostility" category and that is unfortunate. And now, we have this Pedroia "slap play". What to make of it? On the first at bat of the game, even? Pretty much the same that I made of the A-Rod play. It was a bad play, he got called on it, move on. There are certainly some Red Sox fans that could use a little reminding, but there are jerks on both sides. I get a little laugh from it, knowing how some treated A-Rod, but that's it. I'm not forwarding the picture to 500 people, posting it on every sports community online or IMing every Red Sox fan I know. It was a bad play, he got called on it, move on.