Padilla Accuses Teixeira Of Being Racist, Threatening Violence
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Yankees left town Sunday night, but the bad blood between Vicente Padilla and Mark Teixeira won't be going away any time soon.
The Yankees' first baseman slugged a two-run triple off Padilla on Friday night, adding another chapter to the longstanding rivalry between the two players. It began in 2005, when Teixeira hit two homers off Padilla, who then threw at Teixeira in his next at-bat. When the two were teammates the next year in Texas, Teixeira said he didn't like Padilla's penchant for hitting batters, because Teixeira ended up getting hit in retaliation.
In all, Padilla has hit Teixeira three times in 18 plate appearances, but his biggest shot fired came over the weekend.
"[Teixeira] has a little trouble with Latinos, because it was just me when we were in the team," Padilla told ESPNDeportes.com in Spanish. "We played the same ball and if [Latinos] are here, I think we can [play baseball] and we should not use color."
Teixeira denied such accusations, calling them "completely erroneous," according to MLB.com.
"That's crazy," Teixeira said, "but I wouldn't expect anything else really."
Padilla also said that Teixeira once threatened him with a bat.
"The problem is he talks about all the wrong things that others have done, but the things he's done -- against the Latinos [on the Rangers] -- he doesn't open his mouth about," Padilla told NESN.com. "He once threatened me and said he was going to hit me with a bat, and that's when we were playing on the same team. And then, he also had problems with Frank Francisco, our closer back then. But he doesn't talk about that, does he? Then, of course, he goes on and makes those comments about me."
MLB.com cited another player from that Texas team who confirmed that Teixeira did indeed threaten Padilla with a bat, though that unnamed player said he did not notice racial bias from Teixeira and perceived no problems between Teixeira and Francisco.
On Friday night, after his triple, Teixeira spoke at length about his problems with Padilla.
"In the NFL, he would probably be suspended by Roger Goodell eight games or a whole season," Teixeira said of Padilla. "Almost every at-bat, he tries to throw at your head or throw behind you or something screwy. ... There is only one guy in baseball," Teixeira said of Padilla. "No one else does this. That is the thing that is unbelievable to me. No one else in baseball does this. ... He doesn't have a lot of friends in the game."
Padilla responded to those comments by saying that Teixeira cries too often and should play women's sports.
"In this sport, as competitive ball players, we get pretty fired up," Padilla told NESN.com. "So I think, maybe, [Teixeira] picked the wrong profession. I think he'd be better off playing a women's sport."
A day later, Padilla didn't retract those comments but rather reiterated them.
"I think [he should play a women's sport] because he's always crying," Padilla told NESN.com. "If he's batting, he's crying. If he's not batting, he's crying. Shoot, I don't think women cry that much. If you get a hit, just take your base with the triple. I don't know if he's just trying to keep the controversy going."
