Former Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins opened up to Fox Sports insider Ken Rosenthal today in an extensive interview that covered a variety of topics. Rosenthal did not hesitate to ask Rollins tough questions: did he fail to run out every ground ball? But, Rollins answered all, mostly in a manner that would make Phillies fans happy.
Here are some highlights:
Philly is"not conducive" to a superstar lifestyle like L.A.:
The general area, the city [of Philadelphia] being blue-collar, it’s not conducive for a superstar. You can be good, but you’ve got to be blue-collar along the way, keep your mouth shut, just go and work. Where obviously, this is LA. It’s almost like it’s OK to be more flamboyant. You kind of appreciate that the more you’re out there. Because LA loves a star.
So in that sense, I feel free. If I want to “show out” a little bit — from the outside looking in, people might say, “You’re in Hollywood.” But no, in some places you couldn’t do that.
Whether Philly is a tough city to play:
It’s always a tough place to play. I think the East Coast, in general, you get the Big Three — Boston, New York and Philly. Tough. Not impossible. But if you’re scared, you’re not secure, you don’t know yourself, yeah, you’ll get beat up. But if you can stand strong, believe in yourself, be confident and handle the pressure … there are different pressures on the East Coast than on the West Coast, that’s just the way it is. But if you can handle those pressures, you’ll be fine.
Everything I’ve done over there helped me along the way to deal with things. The times I got in trouble: How are you going to deal with it? The camera is on you. The media is on you. I’m not going to cause any waves. I’m going to go out there. It’s my fault. I messed up. We had rules. Go sit down on the bench and support my team the same way. You can’t cause any rifts when you mess up.
Those are the lessons I learned. You don’t make an excuse.
Rollins loved playing in Philly:
I loved playing there. There is no doubt about that. It made me who I am. Playing there — I don’t know — but it prepared me for this. This is so loose in comparison to Philly. I know how to go about my business. I know the boundaries. I won’t cross ‘em. I know what is on the other side isn’t good. But you like that feeling. I know what I can get away with. I know what I can’t get away with. Just because I can doesn’t mean I should. But I get to make that decision.
Rollins also had plenty more to say about his childhood watching the Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia, playing for the Phillies, and what life will be like be in Los Angeles. Check out Rosenthal's full interview here.
