Sniper Fire

I find myself in the sudden and unexpected awkward position of having to defend myself from comments one of my teammates said over the weekend. It feels very high school-ish to have to go to another source to express my feelings. It's like when I was a kid and I wanted to ask out a girl, I'd have my friend do it for me. I'm glad I'm 39 and not 14. Some change can be good.

Back on point, Cory Belle said this to the AP on Saturday when asked about his assessment of our 2008 squad:

"I can't worry about what other guys are doing and saying - or not saying. All I can do is focus on myself. It's easy to get caught up in all sorts of things, but let's just say I'm not going to be spending the next 4 weeks writing about it."

That's a little dig but not worthy of a major response. I get it. At this juncture in the article, Cory Belle is still an honorable man working on his own agenda for 2008.

But then he said this:

"I will be on that field opening day and I will be busting to win every game possible. I can't say the same for everyone else. And you can directly quote me on that."

Cory Belle is a smart guy. He's a good player. Yes, he had an off-year in 2007, but we all did. He was out there every day, playing hurt - we all do over a 162 game season - and doing his best. The team ultimately won 74 games, about 18 fewer than we had hoped for, and Cory, as well as everyone else in the organization, was frustrated. We've since gotten a new manager and new GM. We outbid and then signed Japan's Kai Goto for whatever many millions it came to. We traded for Lyman Gaye, which will help Cory in the lineup. And I'll be ready to throw off a mound on March 1. I don't expect to pitch with the team when we open the year in Philadelphia on April 1, but I should be ready within 2 to 3 weeks after that. We WILL be a better team in 2008.

I just answered the question asked of Cory by the AP reporter without hurting anyone's feelings. See? It's easy. Sure it would have been easy to do so and criticize this or that person, but it wouldn't help us win games. That's the bottom line for us: To Win Games.

Unfortunately, Cory wants to start up something else and win that too.

It's no secret he and I aren't the best of friend off the field. That's okay. I don't "hang" out with any of my teammates off the field, especially in the off season. I didn't at all last year because I was home crying because my arm hurt. So why did Cory feel he had to say what he did and hurt my feelings?

I called him to ask. Rather than get into a whole tiff that is resulting, I wanted to make sure he really said that stuff and let him know I'm working hard and we can count on each other in 2008. Here's the full excerpt from our call:

Cory: Hello.
Me: Cory, it's Jimmy.
Cory: Jimmy who?
Me: Jimmy Scott?
Cory: What you want?
Me: Did you really say that stuff?
Cory: Yup.

Then he ended the call. But like the good reporter I am, I went to the source and confirmed what it - he - said. He didn't want to talk about it with me, obviously. So I'm going to respond with a semi-prepared statement right here:

"My teammate, Cory Belle, made some unfortunate statements about me on January 19th that need to be addressed. He implied that I'm focusing more on my personal life than on the team. He also made fun of me for writing this blog instead of talking to the press.

"I am happy Mr. Belle is my teammate and hope he has an incredible 2008 season. I also hope he learns some discretion in 2008 and, if he has problems with teammates or others within the organization, he brings it up with them directly rather than going to third parties first.

That is the end of my statement. I'd like to add how proud I am of myself for the maturity and leadership I have chosen to employ during this difficult period.

I give the media full permission to quote any lines in this post. While Cory and I won't be going to the senior prom together this year, I think you can expect us both to share the dance floor without any problems.

As long as he stays away from my date.