Jonny Gomes Has Advice For David Price About Playing For Boston Red Sox

How will David Price respond to pitching in Boston, where the media and fans can be relentless, especially when things aren’t going well for the Red Sox?

It’s a fair question about Price, who reportedly agreed to a seven-year, $217 million contract with the Red Sox earlier this week. And it’s a question WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford considered when chatting with Jonny Gomes, who fully embraced the pressure of playing in Boston during his season-plus with the Red Sox.

Gomes’ advice for Price: Be accountable.

“There’s no hiding,” Gomes told Bradford of playing in Boston. “If you have nothing to hide, it’s a cakewalk. If you let the ball go between your legs, roll out the golden sombrero (four strikeouts) or have a bad outing, you better be in front of your locker. I don’t think that’s breakthrough information.

“But, on the other side, other places you don’t have to. I’ve played in a lot of places where you let a ball go between your legs, roll out the golden sombrero or have a bad outing, you can shower and go home, no harm, no foul. That doesn’t fly there (in Boston).”

Price spent six-plus seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays before making stops with the Detroit Tigers and Toronto Blue Jays. Detroit is a World Series-starved city and Toronto underwent a baseball renaissance in 2015 with Price serving as a focal point, but neither destination holds a candle to Boston in terms of day-in, day-out pressure to succeed. It’s sink or swim in Beantown.

Perhaps Price will have a smooth transition. Maybe he’ll even relish the challenge. The 30-year-old has taken exception to social media critics in the past, though, so one can’t help but wonder how he’ll handle the extra Internet scrutiny he’ll inevitably face while pitching in a big market.

“Since the report came out he was coming to Boston, I’m sure his followers even went more sky high,” Gomes told Bradford. “Anything you do every single day, whether it’s your craft, whether it’s parenting, being a boyfriend or husband, you’re going to make mistakes. How big a mistake is it going to be? Can you fix it? And can you be accountable for it?”

Gomes knows Price, having played with the left-hander during the Rays’ American League championship season in 2008. He doesn’t see Price’s past feud with David Ortiz as being an issue in Boston, and he also has witnessed the pitcher make adjustments throughout his career.

But, as Gomes told Bradford, playing in Boston is a “different beast.” It’s up to him to embrace it.

“The positive side is if you shine there, you win there and you get a ring there, you get votes for mayor,” Gomes told Bradford. “You lose there, you don’t even have time to catch a flight. You have to get a helicopter ride to get out of there. But the pros extremely outweigh the cons.

“As for the off-the-field stuff with the media, to me, it was just accountability. You have to be accountable. You screw something up, what happens? I screwed it up. And then it’s done. When you start pointing fingers and not being accountable, that’s when you find yourself getting in a little bit of a trouble.”

Boston isn’t for everyone. We’ll soon see if it’s for Price.