If you ask Alex Bregman, he was just stating the obvious.
The Astros third baseman admitted recently there's "no other city" he'd like to beat this year than Boston, whose Red Sox eliminated Houston in last year's American League Championship Series.
Bregman's comments spread surprisingly fast thanks in part to MLB's official Twitter account, which posted his quote Wednesday.
Bregman was asked about his remarks Thursday and seemed surprised they had gained so much traction.
"I’d say 99.9 percent of people playing competitive sports want to beat the team that beat them," Bregman said, via the Houston Chronicle's Chandler Rome. "I don’t think that’s anything out of the ordinary. Crazy how you say stuff now and it gets blown up, especially when you say it on a comedy podcast."
We can sympathize with Bregman to an extent. Of course he's taking aim at the defending World Series champions, who not only knocked the Astros out of the playoffs last year but are their primary competition to reach the 2019 World Series. And the 24-year-old's words probably wouldn't have "blown up" if MLB's Twitter account hadn't brought them to the forefront.
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But did put the spotlight on himself during last year's ALCS with his Instagram shot at Red Sox pitcher Nathan Eovaldi.
In any case, Bregman's comments are nothing to shy away from. Healthy rivalries are good for baseball, and both the Red Sox and Astros want to beat each other this season. What's the harm in that?
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