Inside the Red Sox meltdown

The most comical part in this whole thing is Jim Rice calling out Red Sox players for a "spa"-type atmosphere, the same guy who personified 25 cabs, 25 players in the '70s and '80s.

 

Here's my take on the Red Sox situation:

1. This has been festering for quite some time. Francona was operating on the last year of his contract which in itself showed a lack of support from the ownership group and which undercut his authority right from spring training. The ownership should have at least exercised the 2012 option just as a thank you for years of good service.
2. The leadership dearth stems from the ownership shortsighted penny-wise pound-foolish approach. Francona, David Ortiz, and Jason Varitek were all operating without a contract for 2012 and they are expected to be the ones to take stands in the clubhouse?
3. This is no coincidence that the article comes out the same day as Theo leaving for the Cubs. This was a preemptive PR stunt from the Red Sox. They paint Francona as a man pre-occupied with marital issues and pill-popping because Francona is still too well liked in Boston for the ownership's liking. The bit about the Crawford signing is pure cover your ass by Lucchino or whoever was the gutless anonymous source.
4. The treatment of Francona in this manner is disgusting. I don't recall John Henry's divorce being newspaper fodder even though it had the potential to harm the club much more than anything Francona was going through (just ask the Dodgers). Also maybe if John Henry took a pain killer he could have made that press conference instead of taking the easy way out.
5. The Red Sox other than Pedroia and Ellsbury are not very likable at this point. Look for ratings on NESN to tank next year. Fans are getting fed up. Also look for road attendance and national TV appearences to be reduced next year. As you sow so shall you reap. Nobody wants to watch a bunch of pricks.

 

Great hatchet job by the Globe, enabled by Sox management. Another shining day for scribes everywhere.

 

I remember when the New York Mets had their epic fail in 2007 losing 12 of their last 17 games - the big joke was about how bad their team physicians were. A player would stub a toe and people would automatically guess that he'd be soon on the 60-day DL. How come the Red Sox health and healthcare isn't given the same scrutiny? Did Hohler even mention injuries in his hit piece?

In the fall of 2004 Dr. Bill Morgan was hailed as a hero in New England. The man who made it possible for Curt Schilling's bloody sock to go down in baseball history. The next year Dr. Morgan was gone - replaced by Dr. Thomas Gill which was rumored to be part of a package deal with Massachusetts General Hospital. Supposedly it was a marketing deal / partnership which had nothing to do with on the field performance and absolutely something Terry Francona had no control over. Could Francona be paying the price for that partnership today? I'm guessing Dr. Bill Morgan wouldn't be anonymously talking about a patient's prescriptions but this new group of "medical professionals" seemingly have no such compunctions.

Of course this is speculation and I'm not a doctor but as a fan I have to wonder why Dustin Pedroia and Clay Buchholz were allowed to play hurt. Pedroia ended up having his knee scoped in June and was immediately a different player. What if that healthy Pedroia started the season? Would that have been worth an extra win or two? Two more wins and the Red Sox are still playing. What about Clay Buchholz? When did he really get hurt and why did the rehab seemingly take so damn long?

Remember how badly misdiagnosed Jacoby Ellsbury was last season? I guess that's Terry Francona's fault too.

Boston is supposed to have some of the best hospitals and doctors in the world. You would never know that looking at the health of the Red Sox these past few seasons. If I were a Red Sox player I would get a second opinion on anything the Red Sox medical staff said.

 

Kicking dirt on Francona on his way out the door is pathetic, and the more I think about it, the Globe carrying someone's water on the prescription pills thing makes me totally uncomfortable. It's sort of sad the way some things always remain true about Boston. As Gee said, when you leave, it can never be just because it's time for a change, it has to be because you're a bad person, according to management/ownership (and it doesn't seem to matter who management/ownership is). The way the Sox constantly obsess over spinning their fanbase is bizarre.

 

I don't know about now, but it's happened for years. Heck, in Game 6 of the '86 World Series, Hernandez was sitting in Davey Johnson's office for the 10th inning, getting plastered because he was so depressed. And Kevin Mitchell was already undressed when they called on him to pinch-hit. He had to throw his uniform back on.

The other thing that I found funny about the story was how Sox management gave the players $300 headphones and a night out on Henry's yacht. Like the majority of those millionaries can't afford $300 headphones.

 

In 2004, on a road trip to the Coast, Derek Lowe was driven off the mound in Anaheim in like the fourth inning, one in a string of horseshit performances. When we reporters got to the clubhouse after the game, Lowe was more than slightly drunk. That's a guy who was IN a damn game.

 

Boy, do you get it.

 

But he could not re-enter the game once he was taken out. To me there is a big difference, even though neither is kosher.

 

Which has nothing to do with the Red Sox.

 

93, that's true enough. I forgot to add that Lowe went from the Highway to Hell to one of the heroes of the team's first World Series win in 86 years and has been a well-paid and reasonably productive player ever since (sucked this year). It's all retroactive morality. The '04 Sox win, everybody's a hero. The '11 Sox lose, they're all degenerates. It's nonsense. Ballplayers are really insecure yet egomaniacal people locked in a claustrophobic world for months on end under severe stress. Winning or losing, they all act out. You only hear about the losers doing it.

 

This dates back even to Sox management's treatment of Roger Clemens and Mo Vaughn when they left town. Particularly Vaughn, who was still pretty popular, so management had to pump out the tales of food and strip clubs.
They're definitely going Jerry Bruckheimer here. I don't expect to recognize this club next spring. I would not be shocked to see Beckett and/or even Lester dealt to reload the farm system, particularly since Anthony Ranaudo won't be ready for the rotation until at least '13.
If I accept this story at face value, I would not blame Ellsbury a bit for leaving. Since nobody came out and supported him last year when he was under fire, I don't blame him for not wanting to take part in the ass-kissing.
The record sellout streak ends Tuesday, May 1, against Oakland (the first homestand is Rays, Rangers and Yankees).
As far as misbehavior, the marital (and extramarital) track record of the '04 Sox merits a look.