FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Upon deciding last month to finally accept a nine-figure contract to hit in the middle of the Boston Red Sox batting order, J.D. Martinez called his sister in California. Although Mayra Bazavilvazo oozed with pride and gave an enthusiastic thumbs-up, she also had a few words of warning for her baby bro.
"Basically, I told him, 'You're not in Kansas anymore,'" Bazavilvazo recalled by phone. "Because it's a whole other ballgame there, no pun intended."
That's the reputation, at least. And if a periodontist from Newport Beach, California, believes Boston is a tough place to play, based on her observations from having gone to dental school in the city's South End, imagine what the athletes must think -- particularly lately.