Report: Were Boston Red Sox Pitchers Drinking Beer During Games?

Quick squawk, as I breathe a sigh of relief that Freddy Garcia, not A.J. Burnett, is the Yankees' Game 3 starter: I read this in today's Boston Herald: "According to multiple sources, more than one pitcher drank beer in the clubhouse during games on the days he didn’t pitch." If this report is true, are you flipping kidding me? Geez, is it too much to expect your players to say sober when they are in uniform during games? And what the heck was Terry Francona doing when some members of his rotation may have been treating game time as Miller Time?

Good grief. Maybe I'm naive, but other than the famous Jack Daniels shot in the Sox clubhouse before Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS, I haven't heard many stories of players drinking beer in uniform during games. Even David Wells, for all his partying ways, was never accused of boozing it up during a game. Whether or not it was a game a player was pitching in is irrelevant. Crazy times!

I listened to the Terry Francona/Theo Epstein presser yesterday, and while they didn't give explicit details, they did acknowledge that there was some clubhouse turmoil and a bad atmosphere, so much so that Francona had to call a team meeting after a 14-0 win! Terry admitted that "We were spending too much energy on things that weren’t putting our best foot forward toward winning." Interesting!

The thing that got me with that press conference was that they both acknowledged problems in the clubhouse, as well as players not being in good physical condition. Hmmmm, isn't that the manager's job? To keep the players working together, and make sure they are ready to play?

(The other thing that amazed me in the presser was Theo Epstein suggesting that John Lackey just couldn't help it when he rolled his eyes at his teammates and his manager. What, is he suffering from Sarcasm Syndrome or something, where he just can't help but show his disdain to others?)

Anyhow, I'm not exactly going out on a limb here, but my guess is that Francona is going to "leave" today as Sox manager, but it really be a firing by the front office. Speaking of which, I got a link in my email yesterday from SaveTito.com. This Yankee fan completely agrees -- I think Tito ought to be Red Sox manager for life. Get your popcorn ready!


What do you think? Tell us about it!

On Rooting for the Orioles and the Rays, Disliking John Lackey, and Rookie Hazing

Yes, along with cheering for the Baltimore Orioles to beat the Boston Red Sox last night, I rooted for the Tampa Bay Rays to beat my beloved New York Yankees. And what of it? As Squawker reader Uncle Mike wrote yesterday, "Tibialia Rufus delenda est. The Red Sox must be destroyed." My brother says I should close every column with that phrase!

I want to see Red Sox fans wailing and gnashing their teeth over their team going down the tubes. I had great fun listening to bridge-jumping fans on WEEI last night. And I've been loving reading Boston fans killing Jacoby Ellsbury, only their team's MVP this year, because he dropped the ball and let in an inside-the-park homer last night.

And my Sox fan friends would feel the exact same way if the shoe were on the other foot, as my BoSox fan friend Sully Baseball and I discussed on his podcast last night (click here to listen.)

This Rays/Yankees series means zero to the Bombers, so why not cheer for Tampa to win, since it would help keep the Red Sox out of the playoffs. I don't want to see Boston rise from the dead, the way I feared they would after winning Sunday's game. I want them to go down in history as the worst September collapse ever. This isn't a matter of which team would be better for the Yanks in the postseason; this is a matter of extracting maximum humiliation. And if the Sox make the playoffs at all, the humiliation factor is not there.

Boston could still wake up over the last two games -- after 2004, I NEVER count them out. But here's hoping they continue their September swoon.

One other note on the Sox. Whenever I have pointed out that John Lackey, who I think is a colossal jerk, is actually having a worse season than A.J. Burnett, I've heard back from fans to not be so hard on Lackey, because his wife has breast cancer, and that's part of the reason for his terrible numbers. There's also been some holding back in the press on slamming Lackey due to that issue. And apparently, even the Sox's Bill James asked people to give Lackey a break because of this wife.

Now comes the news, courtesy of TMZ, that Lackey has filed for divorce from his cancer-stricken wife. Then he tried to make himself the victim here, being all outraged with the media Sunday, because some reporter dared to text him over the issue. Good grief.

I've seen a lot of outrage online over TMZ somehow invading Lackey's privacy by reporting a public filing. I wonder where all these Lackey lackeys were when the media ran story after story putting Alex Rodriguez's personal life on the front page, with zero newsworthiness other than it being a way to sell papers. When the press ran stories which were based on unsubstantiated rumors, like the centaur thing, his alleged behavior at strip joints, his tipping habits, and the supposed meltdown over being filmed at the Super Bowl, a meltdown that never actually happened. Not to mention the fact that MLB did a gambling investigation on A-Rod, based on a story from a scandal sheet, even though he could not possibly have been at one of the games in question because he was playing in the World Series.

At any rate, given the intense media attention that the Boston Red Sox's collapse has gotten, how Lackey thought that nobody in the media would write about him divorcing his wife when she has cancer is pretty astonishing. He ought to ask Newt Gingrich and John Edwards about the issue!

* * *

I was wondering when the Yankees were going to do the rookie hazing thing. They did it last night, having the kids dress up as 80s music stars -- Prince, Madonna, George Michael, Milli Vanilli, Slash, and MC Hammer. Aside from the fact that it made me feel old to see some of the big names of my younger days being a nostalgia thing, I noticed a few other things:

* Other than the Madonna costume, and maybe the George Michael one, the "hazing" was nonexistent, particularly in the Slash costume, which actually looked really cool. And the Hammer pants didn't really look like Hammer Time. Plus, most of the players wore sunglasses with their outfits, which helped hide whatever "embarrassment" there was even more. It made the event fun, not a humiliation. I'm sure that's intentional, giving all the issues these days with bullying. Keeping this good-natured was a good thing.

* As a teenager in the 80s, I was completely obsessed with music, and know that decade's music better than any others. So I think there were some really glaring omissions there in this group. Where is Michael Jackson, only the biggest star of the decade? Or Bruce Springsteen? Or Bono? And there are also no alternative rock representatives. Wouldn't it be funny to see a Yankee rookie dressed as Robert Smith of the Cure or as Morrissey? Or the Flock of Seagulls guy?

What's the Deal With the Yankees and Bugs?

My jaw dropped when I heard that a moth flew into Phil Hughes' eye when he was trying to make a critical pitch in last night's game. What's the deal with young Yankee pitchers and insects? First Joba and the midges; now Hughes with the moths! Good grief.

I don't think Hughes should lose his spot in the rotation, thought -- A.J. Burnett ought to have that honor, even though Hughes' overall ERA this year is higher. Hughes, at times, has shown something ever since returning from the DL. All Burnett has shown as of late is the ability to give Yankee fans agita.

Speaking of which, The Michael Kay Show was giving me agita yesterday, with the twisted logic about how it was okay for David Ortiz to flip his bat when hitting a homer, but Francisco Cervelli -- aka the Yankee Clapper -- was committing the crime of the century by clapping his hands. Um, which unwritten rule is this, again? Ridiculous.

The other thing that bugged me was that Kay painted anybody defending Cervelli as being pro-Yankee. But a lot of Red Sox fans, including some of my Sox fan friends, thought John Lackey (who, BTW, has arguably worse numbers than Burnett this year) was out of line, especially since he ended up costing the Sox a run with his hissy fit. Too bad Kay et al couldn't bother to show the other side of the story.

One other thing: Boston Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia suggested that Francisco Cervelli was acting that way because he is Latino. Never mind that Cervelli is also of Italian descent, and that the comment itself is pretty offensive.

Then Salty backtracked, complaining about these kids today acting out. Which is pretty funny, given that Saltalamacchia is all of 26 years old himself. You don't get to complain about these kids today until you're at least 30. It's one of those unwritten rules thingies!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

What the Mets offseason so far has in common with 1969

After the Mets won 73 games in 1968, their biggest offseason move was acquiring Wayne Garrett in the Rule 5 draft. Then again, 1969 was a miracle.

It's going to take a lot more than Henry Blanco to turn the 70-win 2009 Mets into contenders next year. But it is too early to call this offseason a failure. If the Mets end up with Jason Bay, Bengie Molina, a half-decent, not-too-pricey starter and the return to health of all the injured stars, 2010 will look a lot better than it does now.

That is, of course, a lot of ifs.

I really wanted John Lackey on the Mets, but I can understand balking at a five-year deal for a pitcher who is over 30 and has been injured at the start of the last two seasons.

ESPN's Buster Olney has a chart of the 16 starters since 1990 who signed free agent contracts of at least five years. The list has a lot more busts (Mike Hampton, Barry Zito, Chan Ho Park, Kei Igawa, Darren Dreifort, Denny Neagle) than big successes (Greg Maddux, Mike Mussina and maybe Kevin Brown).

Olney adds that it is too early to judge CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Daisuke Matsuzaka's contracts.

The list does not include non-free agents who signed contract extensions, such as Johan Santana.

Even after reading the list, I still wish Lackey were a Met, but if the Mets end up with Jason Bay instead, at least it will be easier to justify giving a position player a five year deal if it comes down to that.

The most difficult thing to justify would be giving Molina, who turns 36 next season, a third year.

I also have a bad feeling about giving Joel Pineiro a big contract, just as I'm glad it was not the Mets who gave Randy Wolf almost $30M for three years.

But I don't think the Phillies' getting Roy Halladay drastically improves them, not when they had to give up Cliff Lee. Of course, the Phillies were already a good deal better than the Mets.

But with the Dodgers in disarray because of the ownership issue and the Cardinals possibly losing Matt Holliday, it is not clear how many other NL teams are a good deal better than the Mets.

There is still reason to be hopeful for 2010.