Jay Payton is a bum

When used to describe a baseball, the word "bum" is reserved for those players that you just don't like. For me, Jay Payton is one of them (also included on this list is Gary Shefield, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Arod, and when I was very little, Rich Gedman...not sure why but I just didn't like him).

In the bottom of the sixth Jay Payton made an attempt to deek Jason Bay into thinking he was going to catch a lined shot off the bat of Jed Lowrie. Instead, he deeked himself out. The ball ended up bouncing off the wall so hard that it got right by him and Bay scored easily. It's not plays like this that make liking Jay Payton difficult for me, it's the way he conducted himself and ultimately left Boston. As a 4th outfielder he was convinced he should be starting on the Red Sox and essentially forced the Sox to trade him. The selfish move took him away from a great, successful franchise and brought him to Oakland first and now the cellar-dwelling O's. Unable to accept his role as the 4th outfielder that could provide the Red Sox a spark off the bench, he pouted, whined and cried until he got his wish.....I'm pretty sure he stomped his feet and threatened to hold his breath forever.

Anyways, I'll get off my soapbox....the Sox are now up 4-3 (thanks to some timely hitting and solo shots from Tek and Bailey). Go Sox