Friday, May 11, 2012

Dear Mr. Beckett


Dear Mr Beckett,

Photo Credit: Getty Images

I would first like to thank you for all that you have done for Boston Red Sox baseball. Your performance in game 1 of the 2007 World Series was a prime example of the catalyst type player and leader of men that you can be.

I write this letter as I feel that you might be feeling a little down right about now, and may feel that the Red Sox Nation has turned its back on you. These past 6 months has been unlike anything you have experienced in Boston before, and even  the most dedicated of professionals would have some difficulty in knowing how to react. But Red Sox Nation have not turned their backs on you and we still support our Sox! We just feel like certain things have been misunderstood. I will try to explain.

Allow me to congratulate you on the birth of your daughter.  When you stated that your priorities had changed, and baseball was no longer the most important thing in your life, every American empathized with you. I am not sure that I know anyone whose work is more important than providing for their family. However, perhaps it might have been better left unsaid. For Red Sox Nation, who at the end of the day are the ones who pay to watch you pitch, buy the merchandise that features your name, and whichever way you look at it contribute to your salary, we did not need to hear you relegate your commitment to baseball. 

Last September was heart breaking, for both of us I am sure. From my perspective, my Red Sox suffered the biggest collapse in baseball history, and needed just one more win in a month where the team went 7 – 20. You seem to be a pitcher that thrives on the big stage, and with this collapse, you were unable to pitch in the 2011 post season.  This culminated in the eventual firing of Terry Francona amidst the “chicken and beer” scandal that you were reported to be a part of. Red Sox Nation loved Francona, as I am sure you did, and we were all sad to see him go, especially in the way that the ball club handled the situation. Yet you seemed to be more upset by the fact that there was a rat in the club house and someone from within the organization was talking to the media. The Red Sox Nation really wanted to hear from the pitching staff who were alleged to be involved in “chicken and beer” and hear them at the very least acknowledge that they need to do better. This did not need to be an admission that “chicken and beer” was accurate reporting, just that as a pitching staff, you take some responsibility to how the team played in September. We did not need to hear that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

Then Bobby Valentine gets the job as Manager of the Red Sox. The same Bobby Valentine who had been an ESPN analyst and had publically criticized the amount you take between pitches. This must have been very tough for you, but I really don’t think that the Red Sox Nation would care if you take 90 seconds between each pitch if you guide us to October baseball each year.
 
Following the September collapse, Francona exit, GM Theo Epstein exit, “chicken and beer” scandal, Valentines hiring and of course the birth of your daughter, you have certainly gone through a lot of changes in a short space of time. I would imagine that this would have been challenging to deal with, yet you did have 4 months during the off season to compartmentalize all of these changes as they happened. All Red Sox Nation wanted was to see the old Josh Beckett return and come to spring training ready to play, and help lead their young starting pitching staff as the experienced elder. All we wanted to see was Josh Beckett do his job.

And now we find the Red Sox struggling (see my last blog post “Support Your Sox”) to start the 2012 season, and the starting pitching has been the biggest reason for that struggle. You yourself have pitched a couple of games where you admitted you sucked. The Red Sox fans appreciate it when you have the guts to come out after a tough start and tell it like it is, but please understand that this should be a rarity and not the norm.

You even found yourself recently involved in “golf-gate”, which has now been blown way out of proportion. I am sure you will blame the media for this scandal, but I think you could have handled the situation with a little more professionalism. You informed the medical staff at the ball club about your sore right lat muscle, and as a result of this, combined with some roster issues with Aaron Cook, your start against the Orioles was skipped. The fans interpreted this as you being injured, and rightfully so. You were then spotted playing golf with another one of the Red Sox starting pitchers, who currently has the highest ERA amongst all starting pitchers in the major leagues, Clay Buchholz. But we all thought you were injured, so Red Sox Nation were naturally confused. Then, you make your start last night against Cleveland, and in your own words you pitched like shit. Please forgive us for putting these three situations together and coming up with the following timeline of events:

1.       You injure you right lat muscle which means you miss your start against Baltimore
2.       Then on your scheduled off day, you play golf with Clay Buchholz – a game that requires use of the lat muscle
3.       Then on your next start, you struggle and get pulled before the end of the 3rd inning.

The three things are clearly linked, and when asked about it during the post-game press conference, you come across as a petulant child “my off days are my off days and I can do what I want”. Well Mr Beckett, you are a professional baseball player, a member of the greatest baseball team in the world, The Boston Red Sox, and you get 4 months off during the year. Would it be acceptable it a teacher came to school on a Monday morning hungover from drinking on Sunday night (a scheduled off day)? As a parent, I am sure you will answer no to that question. Well Red Sox Nation feel this way about you playing golf with a sore right lat muscle, and to boot you took a young pitcher, who is on pace for a John  Lackey-esque type year, and brought him into this controversy. Red Sox Nation are looking to you to lead this pitching staff, and help them to help you add to the 2 World Series rings that you already own.

We want you to have a better understanding of the way we think as fans, so please read this letter. Try not to get offended, as everything is said to show you how we as supporters of the Red Sox are feeling, and how much we want you to succeed.
 
I await your response, which should come in form of you regaining the focus that has made you one of the best pitchers in recent memory and helping the Red Sox regain the form that the entire Red Sox Nation recognizes.

Kind Regards
Sports Are Mental blog
Red Sox Nation

Thursday, May 10, 2012

SUPPORT YOUR SOX


The Boston Red Sox are struggling right now. There is no other way to put it. The current standing have them in last place in the AL East, 7.5 games back from first place Tampa and 7 games back from second place Baltimore. That’s right, I said Baltimore.  Looking for a silver lining? The Yankees are in second to last, but the Red Sox are still 4 games back from them.

SUPPORT YOUR SOX
I know that it is May, and that we have yet to even have a quarter of a season, but as things stand right now, on May 10, The Red Sox are struggling.  The most apparent reason is pitching, and specifically starting pitching. The Red Sox best record pitcher is Clay Buchholz, who has a record of 3 – 1, however taking a look beyond his win-loss record shows that Buchholz has the worst ERA in all of baseball amongst starting pitchers with a 9.09 ERA. He is also receiving the best run support of all the Red Sox starting pitchers. The other 2 of the “big three”, Beckett and Lester have also struggled, but they have both struggled beyond just their statistics. Lester, who was given the start on opening day and as such earned the right to call himself the Ace of the staff, has been like a child on the mound, complaining to umpires about not getting calls, which is a sign of passion and desire, yet he then allows these perceived bad decision to affect his next pitch and often gets consumed with the decisions.

SUPPORT YOUR SOX
And then there is Josh Beckett, who before the season began was a hot topic, with his new manager criticizing the amount of time he takes between pitches when he was an analyst on ESPN. Then Beckett becomes the face of the chicken and beer scandal (only because John Lackey went to get Tommy Johns surgey), and even voiced his displeasure at the fact that someone in the club house spoke to the media, as if the notion of being a rat is worse than drinking beer and eating fried chicken. We should expect more from professional athletes whose team needed just 1 more win to get into the playoffs. But let’s move past everything that happened last season in September and even in the off season.  This season Becket has been up and down, but his last start, on April 29th against the Chicago White Sox, Beckett threw 126 pitches, and actually pitched pretty well allowing just three earned runs on six hits, walking three and striking out eight. With this stellar performance, his next start should have been one where he would be on fire, with momentum on his side and the Fenway faithful backing his every pitch.  This start should have been on May 5th at Fenway against the Baltimore Orioles, yet Aaron Cook made that start, got injured and the Sox went on to lose 8 – 0.
SUPPORT YOUR SOX
Beckett complained of a sore lat muscle, and was alleged to feel disgruntled about having to pitch 126 pitches again the White Sox. So he told the staff that he would be unable to make his last start. Then yesterday (May 9th) reports surface that Beckett was seen with Clay Buchholz playing golf on their off day. These reports have yet to be confirmed, but IF, and I repeat IF they are true, then the Red Sox need to look no further than this for reasons why the pitching staff are struggling. Player’s do not feel connected with the ball club, or they would have the respect and foresight to see that playing golf with a sore lat muscle is not the best use of down time to recover for a start just 2 days later.
SUPPORT YOUR SOX
Of course, the Red Sox have lots of other reasons as to why they are struggling. They have been missing Jacoby Ellsbury, Andrew Bailey and Carl Crawford for virtually all of this season through injury.  Their bullpen, which has been great out of necessity, took some time in figuring out who would be taking which role. Much debate was had over whether or not Daniel Bard should be moved back from the starting rotation to the bullpen, but it was to be just a onetime visit during a road trip in Minnesota.  Alfredo Aceves has become the closer, and surprisingly strong performances from unlikely pitchers Scott Atchinson and Clayton Mortensen has meant that when the starting pitchers only managed a 4 or 5 inning outing, there was often still a chance to win.
SUPPORT YOUR SOX
Then there is the problem of the bats. The Red Sox expects their big bats to deliver, and none have been more disappointing than Adrian Gonzales, highlighted by his 0 for 8 performance against the Baltimore Orioles in an 17 inning marathon that saw him strike out when facing Orioles designated hitter Chris Davis. Youkillis has also struggled with both a slow start and a subsequent stint on the DL. However there have been some bright sparks; Big Papi, the Red Sox DH, has been on fire, and the emergence of Will Middlebrooks has been a boost of young enthusiasm the likes of which are usually reserved for the captain elect Dustin Pedroia.
SUPPORT YOUR SOX
Boston is a tough sports town, and when the chips are down, Bostonians are not shy in voicing their opinions, which is a fantastic thing. However, from a psychology perspective, I am launching a new campaign – the “SUPPORT YOUR SOX” campaign. The Boston Red Sox, YOUR Boston Red Sox, MY Boston Red Sox are still a good baseball club, and still have some of the best talent in the Majors. We are in a rut, but we need to get behind our Sox.  So please, join me in tweeting #Supportyoursox, share this blog post to the Red Sox nations, and call into WEEI and tell them to Support Your Sox. We have a long way to go this season, but with support from the Red Sox Nation, the Red Sox can get back to doing what they do best – playing ball and winning games! SUPPORT YOUR SOX!
SUPPORT YOUR SOX