| 19 October 2011
The latest chapter in The Ugliest Post-Season in Red Sox History began today with official statements from John Lackey, Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and Terry Francona... all denying that beer was consumed in the dugout during games.
You can get all the details at Extra Bases...
Personally, I've had enough of the "statements." Lackey, Beckett and Lester need to take a line from the Britney Spears: How to Recover from a Meltdown handbook and disappear for a few months. Shut up, hit the gym and show up in March ready to show off your six pack in a music video... and not ready to drink a six pack in a music video.
But instead, these guys keep talking to media, pointing fingers and digging themselves into deeper holes. And while I read the the latest from these knuckleheads this morning, a funny thought occurred to me: Carl Crawford has gotta be loving this.
Crawford signed 7-year, $142 million deal with Boston last winter. He collected a $6 million bonus, paid in $1 million incruments over the course of the season and finished the season with $14 million...
... and a .255 batting average.
In April, Crawford was whipping boy while the Red Sox lost their first six games and 10 of their first 12. On May 1st, the Sox were 12-15 and 5 games back in the AL East and Crawford was hitting .155, while bouncing around the lineup. He seemed to find his groove in May, hitting .304 though 119 at-bats, but he finished the rest of the season looking lost and frustrated... a far cry from the player we though we were getting.
So when the shit hit the fan in September, Crawford was already an after thought. John Lackey was killing out bullpen every 5th day, Josh Beckett's belly and cheeks were growing as fast as his ERA and Jon "The Golden Boy" Lester was falling apart when we needed him most.
When the Sox finally blew it in that final game in Baltimore, it was the pitching staff that took the heat... and then the wheels came off. Crawford said all the right things after that game while Adrian Gonzalez blamed ESPN and the schedule at the locker next to him. Then the front office axed Francona and the media jumped at the chance to air his dirty laundry. Mixed in with that laundry were reports of a clubhouse turned Animal House, starring Lackey, Beckett and Lester and the awkward resignation of GM Theo Epstein.
Andy just like that... nobody is talking about Carl Crawford and his 142 million dollars.
Bottom Line: Crawford obviously read Britney's handbook. He admitted to under-performing in 2011 and vouched to play better in 2012. Then he went home. Now we're learning that Carl walked into a shit storm so big that even David Ortiz wants out of Boston... and that has many fans sympathizing with Crawford.
And that must have C.C. smiling... just a little bit.
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