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Red Sox Welcome No. 44 Jason Bay To Team

BOSTON (WBZ) ― Jason Bay knows he'll be compared to Manny Ramirez when he replaces the former Red Sox slugger in left field.

But he said before his first game in a Boston uniform that he's not going to be another Ramirez, who was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday in a trade that brought Bay from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

"We lost one of the best hitters probably in the history of baseball yesterday but we gained a really good baseball player who is going to help us win," said Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein at a Friday afternoon news conference.

Bay said while the pickings were slim, he chose No. 44 to be his new number because it belonged to that of his childhood idol Eric Davis, who played for the Cincinnati Reds.

"The nice thing about Bay's makeup is that he knows who he is and he doesn't try to be more than that," Epstein said. "He's very comfortable with who he is as a person. He's not going to put on airs or change the way he plays the game or the way he acts just because he's in a different environment. We feel if anyone can come and step in and contribute to a winning club in this environment, Jason Bay has the opportunity to do that."

Bay was batting fifth in the lineup posted for Friday night's game against the Oakland Athletics with Mike Lowell moved up one spot to fourth behind David Ortiz.

Ramirez had hit fourth, and manager Terry Francona didn't say whether Bay would remain in the fifth spot the rest of the season.

Bay said he received a warm welcome to Boston when he arrived at Logan Airport, adding that several fans offered to help him with his bags.

"Everybody says Boston has the best fans, and I can't wait to be a part of that," Bay said.

Epstein said recent problems with Ramirez had been a major distraction and affected the entire Red Sox organization.

"There are 25 guys down there right now that feel like a team," general manager Theo Epstein said after the meeting. "It hasn't felt like that for a while and you have to feel like that in professional sports to perform at your best."

Boston hasn't been doing that.

The Red Sox had lost five of six heading into Friday night's matchup with the Oakland Athletics, their first game since changing left fielders just before Thursday's deadline for non-waiver trades.

That slide began last Friday night with a 1-0 loss to the New York Yankees and Joba Chamberlain. Ramirez's powerful bat was out of the lineup when he reported with what he said was a sore right knee. The team then sent him for MRIs on both knees which showed no problems, according to manager Terry Francona.

There had been growing sentiment over the past several weeks that Ramirez wasn't trying hard enough. He said the team didn't deserve him, and he and the club were tired of each other in his eighth season with Boston.

"It didn't seem like we were handling the challenge up to what we needed to," one reason for the meeting, Francona said. "It's an exciting time to stand in front of your players."

Bay tipped his cap when he received a standing ovation 15 minutes before the game as his name was announced in the fifth spot of the starting lineup. He waved as the crowd gave him another standing ovation when he came to the plate in the second inning for the first time in his No. 44 Red Sox uniform.

He walked on five pitches, took third on J.D. Drew's double and scored on Jed Lowrie's sacrifice fly.

Bay said comparisons to Ramirez will be "inevitable." Both play left field, bat right-handed and hit in the middle of the lineup.

The 29-year-old may not have Ramirez's power but he says all the right things.

"I'm not going to be Manny Ramirez," said Bay, whose father Dave is a "diehard" Red Sox fan who still has posters of former Boston left fielders Carl Yastrzemski and Jim Rice hanging in his home. "I'm going to try to do what I can do. I think I'm equipped to handle that."

Bay hit .282 with 22 homers and 64 RBIs for the Pirates. The 36-year-old Ramirez, in the last guaranteed season of an $160 million, eight-year contract, batted .299 with 20 homers and 68 RBIs for Boston.

"I don't think it's fair of me to sit here today and look back and comment on why Manny was unhappy. It's a question for Manny," Epstein said. "He had a remarkable run here. ... He's one of the best right-handed hitters in history."

Despite their recent slide, the Red Sox started the day in second in the AL East, three games behind Tampa Bay. For the first time, Bay finds himself in a pennant race -- and with the defending World Series champions.

"It hasn't really hit me," he said. "I don't think it's going to resonate that quick."

He feels he can adjust to the more intense atmosphere in Boston.

"If I was a free agent, I couldn't have picked a better place to go," he said.
Epstein hopes the addition of Bay and the subtraction of Ramirez will lead to a better atmosphere.

"We were having a difficult time and it wasn't any one person's fault," Epstein said. "There was doubt. There was even exhaustion on the part of some players and a pretty major distraction."

David Ortiz, who batted third in front of Ramirez, took a wait-and-see attitude.

"We'll see how it goes," he said. "Manny and I were friends. Of course I'm going to miss him."

Now he's gone and Epstein doesn't want to put too much pressure on Bay, just for him to play his normal game and not feel he has to carry the team.

"For Jason, we want what we want for the rest of the players, to have an atmosphere where good players want to do the right thing," Epstein said. "We're not asking him to fill (Ramirez's) shoes. We're asking him to be a contributing member of a winning baseball team, emphasis on the last word."

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