intro

[avecvu]

Name: Ashley
Location: Cambridge, MA
Age: 24
Birthday: 11/15
Favorite team(s): Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox... so tonight is making me very happy.
Favorite players: Jacoby Ellsbury, AJ Pierzynski, Jason Bay, Carlos Quentin... I used to love Nick Swisher, and I was going to continue loving Nick Swisher even when he became a Yankee, but then it

Comments

[anjak_j]

Welcome to the community. =)

An enquiring mind wishes to know why Swisher is a jerk. I've heard a few people say such things and I'm intrigued...

[avecvu]

Thanks!

As for Swisher, he just burns bridges. When the Yanks went to Chicago, for instance, he was asked about Ricciardi and he made some backhanded remarks about Ozzie Guillen. (I can't find quotes right now.)

From what I understand, one of the big reasons he got traded was because White Sox brass just didn't like him...

[noshootingstars]

I don't think it's fair to judge Swisher's character on a bad year he spent with the White Sox.

He's always been personable and his commitment to charity goes above and beyond what is considered 'necessary' for an athlete to save face. Of course, no one can really know without knowing him, but he puts a lot of effort in sharing his time and money to help people for it to be the contrived actions of a jerk.

What's impressed me the most this year was Swisher's interaction with Polly Thompkins which you can read about here. Not only did he hang out with her & her family and friends but he sought her out after the game as well.

Not to mention, every single beat reporter for the Yankees reports that he is a major reason that the 2009 team is meshing so well and having fun off the field as well as on it. He treats them well and treats his teammates well. (And he's also remembered fondly by the A's, as he received a round of applause when the Yanks played in Oakland recently.)

[avecvu]

I'm not judging his character based on a bad year he spent with the White Sox... I didn't pay much attention to them until the end of the season last year, aside from keeping up with the standings. Like I said, I was a pretty casual fan until this year

[anjak_j]

=)

Fair enough. Everyone's entitled to an opinion.

I remember the Ozzie thing - this basically stemmed from when he said that Joe Girardi was the best manager he'd played for. I tend to feel that all the good stuff I hear about him outweighs what is basically a tit-for-tat bitching match between him and Ozzie. I have a lot of respect for Ozzie but he can be a real prick at times.

[avecvu]

Yes! That was what sort of set the seed of dislike for me, because it was just really bad PR... given that he was in Chicago.

I love Ozzie for many reasons, he is just so straight-forward about things, but he can also stick his foot in it. I do like that he never backpedals though.

Admittedly I have slight problems giving Swisher any leeway at all because while I am not horribly opposed to the Yankees, they are still the Yankees and I'm still a Sox fan. It's hard to fight that!

[anjak_j]

That's where it's tricky, since Nick is basically only acting like Ozzie does - he told his truth about the situation and depending on your view, stuck his foot in it. And he's not back-pedalled.

LOL. Bit like Jim Rice for me then. He's a former Red Sox player and his recent comments about Derek Jeter make me think he's an idiot. And no amount of backpedalling or apologising will ever make me have any respect for him as a HOFer.