Price: Boston media, fans don't care about me as a person

Despite winning 17 games, and leading the major leagues in innings pitched, Boston Red Sox left-hander David Price knows he disappointed fans last season after signing a seven-year, $217-million contract.

The 31-year-old starter recently discussed his first season with the Red Sox during an interview with Stan Grossfield of the Boston Globe, claiming baseball fans in Beantown don't care about him as a person, and only about how he performs on the hill.

"People in Boston don't know anything about me. The only thing I have to do is pitch good. People don't care about what I do or the type of person that I am. That doesn't matter," Price said.

"It doesn't matter to these people in Boston. I've got to go out there and earn respect by pitching well. Period. That's the only thing that's going to turn the page for me in Boston. I've got to go out there and dominate. People don't care what I do off the field."

Price said fans and media didn't take the time to learn about his charitable work, and who he is as a person.

"I have a foundation, Project One Four," Price said of the youth charity he started in his hometown of Tennessee. "That's one of the things that honestly chafed me about being in Boston - with the reporters, not one time did anybody take the time to get to know me or my foundation or anything I do away from the field?"

Price pitched to his highest ERA (3.99) since 2009 during his first season in Boston, so if he can fix that and prove he's still worthy of one of the most lucrative contracts in baseball, he may be able to change people's feelings, although he has no plans to change who he is.

"I'm going to continue to be a good person on a day-to-day basis," he said. "I'm going to continue to treat people the way I expect to be treated. I'm going to respect people. I have fun on Twitter; Boston is not going to change that. I don't care. I'm not going to change to come here and change to please people in Boston. No chance, man."