Inside the Red Sox meltdown

It drives me nuts when I hear Tito, because Tito is his dad.

DD, to me the fried chicken and beer during the game is a bigger red flag because it shows the depth of chaos in that house. You can still be a scumbag owner, but you also know how to run your house.

Hell, George III and Winfield shows you can still act like an ass and still win down the road.

 

This debate could go on and on in circular fashion. Yeah, there is probably a strong connection between Beckett's fitness habits and the fact that his August and September ERAs were well higher than the first four months, including a grotesque 5.48 in September. On the other hand, David Wells is considered a "gamer," and for him that off-day regimen would be seen as cutting back.

Schur loses me at the argument that if one game in April and one game in September work out differently, then none of this is written. That is of course the sabermetric argument, that you shouldn't look at individual results as much as the overall trends. But Beckett's last two outings gave the Sox no chance whatsoever to win at times when they desperately needed to win. They were his two worst outings of the season. That isn't random chance, that's a guy not giving a shit and showing that he doesn't give a shit.

 

Found this pretty funny. While Beckett was with the Marlins, Jack McKeon had to give out hall passes to go to the bathroom because Beckett and Brad Penny were spending too much time in the clubhouse:

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2011/10/clubhouse_issue.html?camp=obnetwork

 

Why not?

 

I've got two words for all this "not in shape pitcher" shit.

David. Wells.

 

What works for one pitcher doesn't work for everyone. And David Wells is like the one exception to nearly every other pitcher, akin to John Daley in professional golf.

 

A) You're the one who keeps screaming about the internship w/Werner. Why don't you tell me the years, which you must surely know, and I'd be glad to do the research.

B.) Same year as the links above. Is this one of the years his daughter was interning for Werner? Or no? Shaughnessy levels ownership for killing the Sox' free TV package. http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2006/01/29/for_unlucky_ones_sox_out_of_sight/

C.) For a guy with no following, you do a bangup job of obsessing over everything Shaughnessy writes. If you think you have it bad in Boston with him, come to New York and read Lupica and his conflicting agendas for a week.

 

BYH - you are the one who jumped in and felt the need to defend Shaughnessy but you did so in a way that truncated what I said about him. Why don't you at least answer the question of why the Globe allowed him to take his shots at NESN without at least an editor noting that Shaughnessy is a highly paid contributor to Comcast?

Shaughnessy was treated roughly one day by WEEI and because of that the Globe set a no WEEI / NESN policy for their writers (speaking of something Lupica would have pulled). The NESN restrictions have been relaxed but that selfish attitude also explains why he would take a shot at the free TV thing.

I do have to laugh at the image of you digging around for anything to support your argument and coming up with a link you don't even know how to post.

 

I didn't jump in and defend Shaughnessy. I merely said the guy skewers everybody, including, most certainly, the Red Sox.

Shaughnessy went on WEEI after Gorillagate. Maybe I can link this correctly! http://www.survivinggrady.com/2005/11/we-interrupt-this-controversy.html

The Globe set a no WEEI policy because Ron Borges used an ethnic slur to describe Hideki Irabu. Will I link this correctly? http://www.bostonmagazine.com/arts_entertainment/articles/mr_popularity/

I don't know why Shaughnessy's editors didn't put anything in about his association with Comcast. It must be because he's the only person in the world who double dips and has conflicting agendas. Shaughnessy is far from perfect and again, I'm not defending him. I'm just, again, noting he takes on everyone as the #1 bad guy in Boston sports media. It's hilarious watching you get all lathered up though and go into pounce mode whenever someone dares to disagree just a smidge with you.

Still waiting for the dates of the internship Shaughnessy's daughter enjoyed with Werner. Cute, though, is your flimsy rationale for the free TV column. I guess whatever works for you. But hey I mistakenly left off a bracket in a URL. You really got me.

 

BYH - Gorillagate is actually proof of Shank being a tool for Lucchino if anything. Nothing but a hit job on Theo that made ownership look like they had clean hands. You would know that if you actually linked to something of use instead of some crap that has nothing to do with the conversation from Surviving Grady.

I'm lathered up because I view Terry Francona as a good person who is being smeared by people of your ilk.

The Globe smears Francona and thus does damage to his reputation that will never be fully repaired and then puts the guy who wrote the story in cold storage. The same week the Globe outs the anonymous source who identified Whitey Bulger and thus maybe puts the woman in danger. Yet the VERY same clowns who remain silent at the actions of the Globe are the first to take shots at people like the Big Lead.

Fucking hypocrites. You bet I'm lathered up about this. If you had any ethics you would be too.

 

This whole episode was disgusting. Tito is one of the truly great guys in baseball. But who doesn't Red Sox ownership/upper management trash on the way out the door? The toxicity isn't in the clubhouse as much as the executive suite ... and I have a pretty good (though unsubstantiated) hunch as to who the cowardly "source" was, too.

 

My ilk? What the fuck are you talking about? There haven't been many more people more passionate in defense of Francona since all this started than me. But since I don't like The Big Lead I approve of hatchet jobs? Is that what you're saying? You're the one who turned this into a referendum on Shaughnessy, who, last I knew, didn't write the piece from earlier this week.

The link to Surviving Grady was merely to point out Shaughnessy appeared on WEEI. I'm sorry if this brief Google search to confirm what I already knew didn't meet your high standards. I think it's very cute you're declaring I know nothing about this other than what I read on Surviving Grady, and that you are somehow educating a neophyte on this. Trust me. You're not. And you know you're not. I know what you're trying to do here, and I'm not taking the bait.

Dates of the employment of Shaughnessy's daughter under Werner, please?

And don't you fucking ever infer a lack of ethics on my part. Ever.