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.
The story of
Boston’s lost September unfolds in part as an indictment of the three
prized starters. But the epic flop of 2011 had many faces: a lame-duck
manager, coping with personal issues, whose team partly tuned him out;
stars who failed to lead; players who turned lackluster and
self-interested; a general manager responsible for fruitless roster
decisions; owners who approved unrewarding free agent spending and
missed some warning signs that their $161 million club was
deteriorating.
Full Story
And I thought my Braves were in for a bad off-season. Either this story is completely inaccurate or there is something really wrong with that club. I have never heard of any pro athlete drinking beer during a game. Now obviously they weren't pitching the same games as they were drinking, but that's a little absurd either way. You would think that most professional athletes wouldn't be drinking during their season at all, much less when they are fighting for a playoff spot. "A lame-duck
manager, coping with personal issues, whose team partly tuned him out." I would have to say that they completely tuned him out if they were boozing it up in the clubhouse during games. Slugging the old Das BOOT, and getting the DAS BOOT right out of the playoffs.
