Dear Mr Beckett,
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| 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
