Mark Teixeira continues to dig a deeper and deeper hole with Orioles fans. Tex sat down with Luke Broadwater at “B” to talk about his time growing up in Maryland and how he betrayed his home town team in 2009.
I’m a Baltimore guy. I’ve always loved Baltimore and always will love Baltimore, but baseball is baseball, and when you’re playing on the opposing team, you’re going to get booed. The day I stop getting booed in opposing parks, I’m probably on the bench and not playing that well. At the same time, it’s unfortunate that some Oriole fans take it personal that I didn’t sign with the Orioles. Of the five offers I received, the Orioles were by far the lowest offer and I don’t know if they were ever that serious about signing me. We had one meeting and that was it. I’m not sure if they were ever very interested.
Baltimore guys could never play for the Yankees, just saying. Tex’s comments greatly dispute numerous reports that stated the Orioles were offering seven years for $140 million. I guess it’s easy to forgot though…
When asked if he would ever play in Baltimore, the Baltimore guy responded with a “no.”
I’m going to end my career as a Yankee. I’m only in the third year of this contract. It’s an eight-year contract. I love being a Yankee and it’s hard not to. It’s a special place to play.
Tex is a politician, plain and simple. When he’s here he talks about “Cal and Eddie”, when he’s in NY, he talks about “Mattingly”. He plays both sides.
It is not just that fans did not appreciate him not coming to Baltimore, is was also the way he went about it. Saying that even in Maryland he was a Yankees fan and always wore New York gear to games is not going to go well with Orioles fans. Often times we can understand the actions, especially in baseball, but the way you go about it is important as well.