Rolen hoping to shed misconceptions in Toronto
"You think about it," Rolen says, "it's not an unfair question to ask. It happened. Two different managers, same player. I'm a realist; that's the situation. I would like to believe that I'm not a difficult person to get along with. I'm sure that can be disputed."
Cardinals manager Tony La Russa surely would dispute it, even if he doesn't admit it publicly. But former Phillies manager Larry Bowa, now the Dodgers' third-base coach, endorsed the idea of his new team acquiring Rolen during the off-season.
"I was hoping he would come to the Dodgers, I really was," Bowa says. "I told them I've got no problems with Scott Rolen."
Blue Jays manager John Gibbons probably will not experience problems with his new third baseman, either. If anything, the two seem made for each other.
"I hear what you see is what you get, that he's a pretty straight-up guy," Rolen says. "That's all you can ask for, really."
Gibbons, who had well-publicized confrontations with pitcher Ted Lilly and infielder Shea Hillenbrand in 2006, says, "I get along with everybody. It might not always seem that way, but I do. I try to treat everybody like men."
The Jays are a possible sleeper team in the American League. Gibbons, entering the final year of his contract, needs to win. Rolen, who has three years left on his current deal, knows his reputation would be irreparably damaged if he squabbled with another manager.
In truth, Rolen's issues with the Phillies were more with the organization than with Bowa. La Russa, meanwhile, follows his own code — a code that, at times, only he can decipher. Rolen says "we're different people with different morals," and leaves it at that.
Dwelling on the past will accomplish nothing. Rolen, who turns 33 on April 4, prefers to compete against his opponents, not his manager.
"Last season, at times I felt like, 'This isn't what I signed up for,'" Rolen says. "I love competing. I love the game. That's where you focus all your energy, all your desire.
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| Scott Rolen could find Toronto more to his liking. (Dilip Vishwanat / Getty Images) |
"When it starts going elsewhere, going in different directions, it's not a positive thing. It's not good on your family. It's not good on your team. You're not who you want to be as a person as well as a professional."
Sound of mind and body, Rolen seems poised to become his old self again.
He said he is healthier than he has been since 2005, when he first suffered a left-shoulder injury that required two surgeries. His past and present teammate, shortstop David Eckstein, says, "He definitely looks happy, and that's the big thing."
After only a few days, Gibbons already is adjusting his pre-conceived notions of Rolen.
"I've always admired the way he plays, but I didn't know his personality," Gibbons says. "I tell you, he's a funny guy. To be honest, that's not what I expected, not with the intensity with which he approaches the game."
Or, Gibbons might have added, not after all that he read about Rolen vs. La Russa. Rolen senses that others are apprehensive about how he will get along with Gibbons. He understands the concern, but views it as misplaced.
"One of the first things people tell me is, 'Gibby's great,"' Rolen says, "I'm like, 'Wait a minute. I'm OK with the manager. I'm OK with managers. I'm not sure I have the authority complex that I'm spelled out to have. There's a lot more to all those stories, two sides to all those stories that don't always come out."
Rolen, though, never engaged in a public exchange with La Russa, not even after the manager all but called him out at the winter meetings, saying, "If he plays hard and plays as well as he can, he plays. And if he doesn't, he can sit. If he doesn't like it, he can quit."
Rolen said then that he would not "dignify" La Russa's remarks. He maintains, "St. Louis deserves better than two people airing their dirty laundry in a public forum."
The Rolen-La Russa feud stemmed in part from Rolen's shoulder issues, which compromised his play and led to him getting benched twice during the 2006 National League playoffs. Though the Cardinals won the World Series and Rolen shook La Russa's hand at the start of spring training in '07, their relationship never recovered.
Rolen wasn't entirely blameless, and he acknowledges, "You learn from everything, without a doubt. There's lessons to be learned all over the place, no question about that."
One thing is certain: Rolen's differences with La Russa were irreconcilable. As Eckstein puts it, "It's good that he got the opportunity to move on."
And what a move.
"To go from 11 years in the National League to the American League East, that's about as fresh a start as you can make in baseball. To go from the heartland in St. Louis, Missouri, to Toronto, Canada, that's fresh," Rolen says. "It's going to be a nice challenge for me to get my focus and my competitiveness and my desire and the love that I have right back out there."
No more La Russa. No more excuses.
Just how Rolen likes it.
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