With their team in peril and their manager losing his authority, three Red Sox pitchers last month were uniquely positioned to prevent the greatest September collapse in major league history. All the Sox needed was Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, and John Lackey to apply the skills and commitment that previously made them World Series champions.
Instead, Boston’s three elite starters went soft, their pitching as anemic as their work ethic. The indifference of Beckett, Lester, and Lackey in a time of crisis can be seen in what team sources say became their habit of drinking beer, eating fast-food fried chicken, and playing video games in the clubhouse during games while their teammates tried to salvage a once-promising season.
Revealing info reported on the Red Sox via the Boston Globe this morning.....
Um, wow! This can't be good......
Boston Red Sox - Red Sox unity, dedication dissolved during epic late-season collapse - The Boston Globe
For every player committed to the team’s conditioning program, there was a slacker. For every Sox regular who rose early on the road to take optional batting practice, there were others who never bothered. For every player who dedicated himself to the quest for a championship, there were too many distracted by petty personal issues.
Drinking beer in the Sox clubhouse is permissible. So is ordering take-out chicken and biscuits. Playing video games on one of the clubhouse’s flat-screen televisions is OK, too. But for the Sox pitching trio to do all three during games, rather than show solidarity with their teammates in the dugout, violated an unwritten rule that players support each other, especially in times of crisis.
Sources said Beckett, Lester, and Lackey, who were joined at times by Buchholz, began the practice late in 2010. The pitchers not only continued the routine this year, sources said, but they joined a number of teammates in cutting back on their exercise regimens despite appeals from the team’s strength and conditioning coach Dave Page.
More quotes from the article....
Hey! I just thought of a team slogan: 25 guys, 25 cabs.
I'm amazed at with all the veteran leadership in that locker room, there could be such disinterest and a lack of motivation that this article suggests.
It's almost like when when Sidney Wicks and Curtis Rowe wore Celtics uniforms and put shame on a once glorious franchise. Hopefully, John Henry hasn't morphed into John Y. Brown.
Dusty for Captain.
I c and p'd this from a poster from another site, but it nails my feelings quite nicely!
I enjoyed the Sidney Wicks era. I could arrive in Boston at around 5:00 PM, buy front row, 1st balcony tickets for $4 each, and then eat dinner before the game.t's almost like when when Sidney Wicks and Curtis Rowe wore Celtics uniforms and put shame on a once glorious franchise. Hopefully, John Henry hasn't morphed into John Y. Brown.
While I am not that disappointed to see Tito or Theo leave, the beginning of this article is nothing more than a hit piece on Tito. Obviously feed to the "official" newspaper of the Red Sox by Larry Luchino.
OR......25 bottles of beer on the wall, 25 bottles of beer.....take one down, pass it around, 24 bottles of beer on the wall......................
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