01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Edgar Renteria, happy again in the National League after a rocky season in Boston, admits the booing he received from Red Sox fans last year affected his play.

"I don't know what the [Boston] fans were thinking, or what they were looking for from me," Renteria told the Boston Herald before Sunday's series finale between his new team, the Atlanta Braves, and the Sox. "I don't know if they were looking for 30 homers, like [Nomar] Garciaparra in the past did, but it was crazy. It was crazy because I never had been booed in my career."

Renteria, a lifetime .289 hitter with the Marlins and Cardinals from 1996-2004, batted only .276 in 2005 with Boston, with the second-highest number of strikeouts (100) in his career. Worse, the former Gold Glove shortstop committed 30 errors -- a staggering 19-error increase over his 11-error performance in St. Louis in 2004.

Looking to cut their losses on what they felt was a bad move, the Sox traded Renteria to Atlanta for third-base prospect Andy Marte. Marte was subsequently shipped to Cleveland in the deal that brought Coco Crisp to Boston.

"Nobody wants to have a bad year," said Renteria. "'If you work hard and play hard, it's bad if the fans boo you. But I guess that's life.

"But they don't know me. I wish they knew I worked hard for that team every day to get better. The second week of the season, they booed players who won the World Series for them. So I knew I had to do better. So I put more pressure on myself. I tried to do more than what I could do."

The early season booing of reliever Keith Foulke and second baseman Mark Bellhorn -- postseason heroes for the Sox in 2004 -- rattled Renteria.

"I don't think those fans have any confidence in their players," he said. "That's why they didn't win the World Series before."

It was far different from the treatment he received in St. Louis, where the fans rarely boo and are overly supportive of the players.

"Fans in St. Louis, they know what you can do. They'd give you a chance," Renteria said. "They wouldn't boo you the second week in the season. They know me and what I could do."

When Renteria signed as a free agent with the Red Sox, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa warned that Renteria was very sensitive and might not fare well in the pressurized atmosphere of East Coast baseball. The fact that Renteria's bounced back so well in laid-back Atlanta -- he's hitting .315, with as many homers (8) as he had all last year, and is on pace to commit only 19 errors -- supports La Russa's contention.

"I'm glad to be in Atlanta," said Renteria. "These fans give you confidence, and if you give confidence to players, they'll do good in the field.

"I'm more comfortable, more happy. When you're happy, you can do a lot of things."