BOSTON – Julio Lugo has one of Manny Ramirez’s baseball cards hanging by his locker, only there’s something out of place: The slugger is wearing a Cleveland Indians uniform.
It’s Ramirez, all right, the same guy now batting cleanup for Boston. He played his first six years for the Indians before signing with the Red Sox in 2000.
He’s not the only one who wore a Cleveland uniform before putting on a hat with the traditional B. Fact is, there’s a lot of crossover going into their AL championship series matchup starting Friday night at Fenway Park.
Boston center fielder Coco Crisp made his major league debut for the Indians and played his first two seasons with them. Julian Tavarez spent parts of four seasons in Cleveland. Alex Cora spent half a season there.
Red Sox manager Terry Francona and pitching coach John Farrell were teammates on the Indians in 1988 and went on to work in the front office.
“Believe me when I say this: I don’t want them to beat us. I think that’s stating the obvious,” Francona said. “But there are some people over there that I am really close to. … There’s nothing wrong with going up against people that you really have a lot of respect for. Sometimes it makes you want to win more.”
Even though the two teams don’t have the long-seething rivalry of the Red Sox and Yankees, they are plenty familiar with each other.
