Drew's hot start pacifies Boston fans

~ The former Cardinals player takes shot at St. Louis fans.

BOSTON -- J.D. Drew came to the Boston Red Sox as a talented outfielder with a history of injuries and a laid-back demeanor.

So far, so good.

Drew is hitting .393 after starting the year with an eight-game hitting streak, making him the only Red Sox regular hitting over .280. He has a home run and five RBIs, and he delivered the lone Boston hit in Wednesday's 3-0 loss to the Seattle Mariners and Felix Hernandez.

The 31-year-old called his good start critical and remembered his frustration after going hitless in his first 25 at-bats for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2005.

"You want to make a good impression on your new teammates and the city you're playing for," he said. "To get a good start under your belt, it's kind of a comfort level. You kind of fall into place and you can give yourself a good positive attitude going into every game."

Drew opted out of the last three years of a $55 million, five-year deal with the Dodgers and signed a $70 million, five-year contract with Boston. He's been plagued with injuries throughout his career, but after offseason shoulder surgery played a career-high 146 games for Los Angeles in 2006, batting .283 with 20 home runs and 100 RBIs.

Drew said his good start began during the offseason, when he didn't have any surgery recovery to worry about.

"I was just coming in, trying to have a good spring, a positive attitude, you know, a nice, easy approach," he said. "It's worked out well."

Drew said Boston's passion for baseball seems similar to that in St. Louis, where he played six years. His early impression is that Boston fans won't distribute cheers to the opposing team as liberally as they did in St. Louis.

"It was like, c'mon man, this is supposed to be the home-field advantage," he said. "I think that what's going to be the big difference here in Boston is that they're pulling so hard for us that they don't want the other team to succeed, and do well and make good plays."

Boston can also be hard on high-priced free agents, but Red Sox manager Terry Francona said he doesn't think even a bad start would have much effect on Drew.

"This may shock you, but I don't think J.D. is going to rush to see what you write about him," he said. "I don't think he cares. I don't think he turns on the radio to see how he's going to be perceived. ... I think he has a pretty good feel for what he is as a player and kind of an inner confidence of what he can do."

Francona said he'll give Drew a day off every 10 days or so to give him a break mentally and try to help him avoid injuries. He planned to sit him for Thursday's game with Seattle, which was postponed by rain.

But Francona isn't going to carry the plan too far with his hottest hitter. Asked if Drew would sit today after Thursday's postponement, Francona quickly answered, "He got his day off."