Sox Pitchers Drank Beer in the Dugout During Games--WHDH TV

[Muggah]

Breaking news from WHDH here in Boston.

 

Sox pitchers drank beer in dugout during games

 

 

BOSTON -- 7News Sources said: Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and John Lackey drank beer in the Red Sox dugout during games, according to two Red Sox employees who witnessed the drinking on multiple occasions at Fenway Park.

On nights when they were not pitching, Beckett, Lester and Lackey would exit the dugout as early as the 6th inning, walk back to the clubhouse, and fill cups with Bud Light beer. They would then return to the dugout with cups of beer and drink while watching the game. It didn’t make a difference whether the Red Sox were winning or losing at the time and the practice became more frequent later in the 2011 season. One Red Sox employee said Beckett, Lester and Lackey appeared “bored on nights they weren’t pitching and this is how they entertained themselves.”

 

Another Red Sox employee described the routine like this: “Beckett would come down the stairs from the dugout, walking through the corridor to the clubhouse and say ‘it’s about that time’. Becket was the instigator but Lester and Lackey were right behind him.

 

It was blatant and hard not to notice what was going on with all three guys leaving at once.”

 

Both Red Sox employees said it was exclusively those three pitchers, (Beckett, Lester and Lackey) who were drinking in the dugout during games.

 

(Copyright © 2011 Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

 

 

Read more: http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/sports/12005666762091/sox-pitchers-drank-beer-in-dugout-during-games/#ixzz1bAfsIwjE

[BigPapiEnFuego]

I don't even care anymore

[FredLynn]

Breaking news from WHDH here in Boston.

 

Sox pitchers drank beer in dugout during games

 

 

BOSTON -- 7News Sources said: Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and John Lackey drank beer in the Red Sox dugout during games, according to two Red Sox employees who witnessed the drinking on multiple occasions at Fenway Park.

On nights when they were not pitching, Beckett, Lester and Lackey would exit the dugout as early as the 6th inning, walk back to the clubhouse, and fill cups with Bud Light beer. They would then return to the dugout with cups of beer and drink while watching the game. It didn’t make a difference whether the Red Sox were winning or losing at the time and the practice became more frequent later in the 2011 season. One Red Sox employee said Beckett, Lester and Lackey appeared “bored on nights they weren’t pitching and this is how they entertained themselves.”

 

Another Red Sox employee described the routine like this: “Beckett would come down the stairs from the dugout, walking through the corridor to the clubhouse and say ‘it’s about that time’. Becket was the instigator but Lester and Lackey were right behind him.

 

It was blatant and hard not to notice what was going on with all three guys leaving at once.”

 

Both Red Sox employees said it was exclusively those three pitchers, (Beckett, Lester and Lackey) who were drinking in the dugout during games.

 

(Copyright © 2011 Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

 

 

Read more: http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/sports/12005666762091/sox-pitchers-drank-beer-in-dugout-during-games/#ixzz1bAfsIwjE

 

Do you hear that flushing sound? Thats the sound of the Boston Red Sox cleaning house. None of this would have happened had we made the playoffs.

Thank you Tampa Bay Rays.

[jung]

I have nothing to say that has not already been said about this stuff. Again I will say I wish all of these clowns would stop talking to the media. I wish the team would issue a gag order and go to formal press releases as the only franchise authorized comments made to media and I would have made it clear that jobs were at stake.

 

Lester really forced this to a new level with his comments the other day...more comments that never should have been made as he confirmed but put barriers around the behavior which of course made those barriers fair game for the media to explore.

 

I wonder how much of this new stuff is coming from Theo guys that are trying to press the Sox to take what the Cubs are offering if only to close down one of the leak outlets and get these guys out of town ASAP.

[Palodios]

Breaking news from WHDH here in Boston.

 

Sox pitchers drank beer in dugout during games

 

 

BOSTON -- 7News Sources said: Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and John Lackey drank beer in the Red Sox dugout during games, according to two Red Sox employees who witnessed the drinking on multiple occasions at Fenway Park.

On nights when they were not pitching, Beckett, Lester and Lackey would exit the dugout as early as the 6th inning, walk back to the clubhouse, and fill cups with Bud Light beer. They would then return to the dugout with cups of beer and drink while watching the game. It didn’t make a difference whether the Red Sox were winning or losing at the time and the practice became more frequent later in the 2011 season. One Red Sox employee said Beckett, Lester and Lackey appeared “bored on nights they weren’t pitching and this is how they entertained themselves.”

 

Another Red Sox employee described the routine like this: “Beckett would come down the stairs from the dugout, walking through the corridor to the clubhouse and say ‘it’s about that time’. Becket was the instigator but Lester and Lackey were right behind him.

 

It was blatant and hard not to notice what was going on with all three guys leaving at once.”

 

Both Red Sox employees said it was exclusively those three pitchers, (Beckett, Lester and Lackey) who were drinking in the dugout during games.

 

(Copyright © 2011 Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

 

 

Read more: http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/sports/12005666762091/sox-pitchers-drank-beer-in-dugout-during-games/#ixzz1bAfsIwjE

 

Whoever these "unnamed sources" are should be fired. Or lynched. Or simply shot and killed. This is turning into nonsense now, and mudflinging. Us fans are angry. We know that these guys have messed up. But do these stories really contribute to anything?

[Palodios]

Seriously, JH and LL should go Big Brother on this team's asses. Tap the phones, scan the mail, do whatever it takes to find these "sources" and put their names and addresses out there for all of Boston to see.

[Muggah]

Whoever these "unnamed sources" are should be fired. Or lynched. Or simply shot and killed. This is turning into nonsense now' date=' and mudflinging. Us fans are angry. We know that these guys have messed up. But do these stories really contribute to anything?[/quote']

 

 

 

You can't really say that about these 'sources' right now, because everything they've said to date been verified--- by the parties involved no less. If we start getting accusations that are proven to be false i'll gladly join you, but for now--truth is on their side.

[Elktonnick]

You can't really say that about these 'sources' right now' date=' because everything they've said to date been verified--- by the parties involved no less. If we start getting accusations that are proven to be false i'll gladly join you, but for now--truth is on their side.[/quote']

 

CSNE's Lou Merloni just said on air that there are plenty of people wanting to talk. Implication is this isn't over yet and the next player who speaks better come clean. Got the feeling that there are a lot of lower level clubhouse people who are really PO'd at Beckett, Lackey et al.

[a700hitter]

After reading Lester's latest comments, he might have a strained relationship with him next Spring. He should have clammed up after the first interview.

[iortiz]

As I said, Unbelievable!

[Mr Tibbs]

Do you hear that flushing sound? Thats the sound of the Boston Red Sox cleaning house. None of this would have happened had we made the playoffs.

Thank you Tampa Bay Rays.

 

Don't put this on the Rays. Fact of the matter is the Rays did not win, WE LOST!!! It was ours to lose and that's just what we did. Rays, O's, hell even the Skankees have nothing to do with this.

[FredLynn]

CSNE's Lou Merloni just said on air that there are plenty of people wanting to talk. Implication is this isn't over yet and the next player who speaks better come clean. Got the feeling that there are a lot of lower level clubhouse people who are really PO'd at Beckett' date=' Lackey et al.[/quote']

 

Honestly, I think this is a very good thing, and that when it is all over and everything is out in the open, the team will be a much more professional franchise, a stronger franchise. In order to get competitive again, the country club atmosphere HAD to end. When all the destroying and taking down is complete, rebuilding will be fun to watch.

[FredLynn]

Don't put this on the Rays. Fact of the matter is the Rays did not win' date=' WE LOST!!! It was ours to lose and that's just what we did. Rays, O's, hell even the Skankees have nothing to do with this.[/quote']

 

For us to blow it, the Rays had to play very good baseball at the end of the year. They didn't do it alone-we helped a lot-but the Rays certainly did their part in helping this franchise clean house.

[Spitball]

Meh. I don't see any bigger deal than what has already been reported. If they are drinking, I would rather they be watching the competition in the dugout than seperating themselves in the clubhouse.

 

It seems the media is loving the chance to report dirt. We are in the reality tv era, and this crap sells. To me, boys will be boys and beer will be consumed. It happens. The same pitchers were surely drinking beer when the Sox were in first place. It was when the losing began that the search for scapegoats began.

 

I grew up near Salem and the witch hunts seem to be a Massachusetts tradition.

[SoxSport]

Looks like those "unnamed sources" were clubhouse guys. It figures.

Lots of equipment guys hangin' around Hohler could target.

 

Do you think Luchino, Henry or Werner would know what happens in the clubhouse?

Henry was pretty indignant about the Globe's efforts to blame the ownership on clubhouse antics.

 

Francona should have known, but I guess he was too busy spitting out pumpkin seeds.

The ownership undoubtedly blamed him.

 

Epstein? He was guilty of a far lesser sin --of wasting $200+ million of Henry's hard earned dollars.

[a700hitter]

Lester denies the latest accusations.

 

http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/sports/red_sox/index.php/2011/10/18/jon-lester-channel-7s-report-of-drinking-in-dugout-completely-false/

 

The freakin press is going to make players look to avoid playing in Boston. The Boston Press is showing its true colors. JH had better make a few calls off the record and express his disappointment. Come the Spring there will be few Globe or Herald writers making appearances on NESN. Screw them. Give them no exposure.

[SoxSport]

For us to blow it' date=' the Rays had to play very good baseball at the end of the year. They didn't do it alone-we helped a lot-but the Rays certainly did their part in helping this franchise clean house.[/quote']

 

The same thing happened to the Cardinals. They sucked during the season, got hot in September and stole the wild card. They then beat the Phillies in a five game series. Carpenter sucked during the season--then gets hot in September. The Cardinals get to the World series, hitting .288 so far in the playoffs.

 

The Rays were in the same boat as the Cardinals, but didn't have the guns to beat the Rangers.

[SoxSport]

Lester denies the latest accusations.

 

http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/sports/red_sox/index.php/2011/10/18/jon-lester-channel-7s-report-of-drinking-in-dugout-completely-false/

 

The freakin press is going to make players look to avoid playing in Boston. The Boston Press is showing its true colors. JH had better make a few calls off the record and express his disappointment. Come the Spring there will be few Globe or Herald writers making appearances on NESN. Screw them. Give them no exposure.

 

Yeah, the Boston press likes to eat its own. Of the course, the way the Globe covers the Jets and the Yankees, you'd think they were owned by a New Yorker. They are, actually. The NY Times.

 

The Herald? Just keepin' up with the competition.

[BigPapiEnFuego]

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2011/10/red_sox_deny_re.html

 

looks like this was taken really seriously. all the pitchers, francona and the FO all released statements denying it.

[jung]

Well were they bringing beer back to he dugout, they would have had to have done it in covered and wrapped containers of some sort. You can't imagine open cups of beer in the dugout. Beer smells like beer and looks like beer for one thing.

 

I just hope the denials don't open the door to another set of clarifications for purpose of explanation. "Oh they kept the beer in a cubby off the walkway blah blah blah".

 

There seems to e a bottomless pit of vindictiveness here. Even if they were bringing beer back in some form or another why release that to the press and if false, man oh man that is vindictive to the point of being vengeful. I still don't wonder if this Theo thing dragging on is at the base of these more recent comments to the press. I really don't like the way this information keeps getting squeezed out a bit at a time with the next bit ready to go in this case right after Lester's earlier statement to the press.

 

I really fear whatever is coming next because this stuff followed Lester's comments which confirmed but tried to put barriers around the general allegation of beer drinking during games. Now we have direct contradictions of the "in the dugout" claim and I hope to God there is not video or photos just sitting there ready to go. It is so easy now to just have your phone available to use as a camera. It is no longer like somebody has to be sitting there with a Nikon to get pictures that you can take without even looking like you are trying. If there are photos would you be surprised if they had not been held back either to trap somebody in a denial or just to keep the story going day after day and week after week?

 

If i am not mistaken this is the first story broken by one of the local TV news sources and TV being a visual media I have got a real bad feeling about what is coming next.

[InfernoOrangeSS]

I don't even care anymore

 

Me either.

[SoxSport]

Hey, no more free booze and fried chicken for the press after games.

And no more drinking in the press box during games.

 

Is there any substance to any of these stories?

 

Are "unnamed sources" some clubhouse kid getting favors,

or maybe one of Epstein's assistant to his assistants?

 

Is the media trying to damage the Red Sox?

You can't say they don't deserve it , at this point.

They've been living a charmed life at Fenway for years--

pushing up ticket prices and playing Yankeeball.

[SoxSport]

Well were they bringing beer back to he dugout, they would have had to have done it in covered and wrapped containers of some sort. You can't imagine open cups of beer in the dugout. Beer smells like beer and looks like beer for one thing.

 

 

The beer in the dugout thing strikes me as BS.

I've seen a million TV games with shots in the Red Sox dugout, and never seen any hint of that. You don't see players drinking from paper cups on the bench. And the active players in the game, coaches, etc, would notice it. I can't imagine players coming into the dugout during a game drinking beer in front of everyone else. That doesn't make sense.

 

Trouble with the media is they just can't quit while they're ahead.

They have to overkill.

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

Bingo anyone?

 

http://i1208.photobucket.com/albums/cc374/MichaelGrace305/2a67bb86.jpg

[BornToRun]

I laughed really f***ing hard at that, thank you bro.

 

Favorites are Beckett kicking puppies and the Phil Collins reference at the bottom right corner.

 

I believe the one about Wake falling asleep on the mound, though.

[Palodios]

Bingo anyone?

 

http://i1208.photobucket.com/albums/cc374/MichaelGrace305/2a67bb86.jpg

 

My favorite: 'One source told us that Jason Varitek made Ryan Lavarnyway cry after destroying a macaroni painting Lavarnway made of the two of them'

 

 

Oh, and....

 

'David Ortiz once blinded my with all his bling and I was out for 3 days' accused one unnamed teammate

 

Why keep that one unnamed? We can all figure out that that was JD Drew!

[SoxSport]

Best bingo game I've seen.

 

I don't like country music , either, Salty. But that country kid who sang the National Anthem

last night in St Louis sounded good to me.

 

Watching Napoli and Beltre, you wonder where Theo's head was at last pre-season--with his love affairs for Salty and AdGon and CC. Doesn't this guy have a wife?

[Gringo]

Best bingo game I've seen.

 

I don't like country music , either, Salty. But that country kid who sang the National Anthem

last night in St Louis sounded good to me.

 

Watching Napoli and Beltre, you wonder where Theo's head was at last pre-season--with his love affairs for Salty and AdGon and CC. Doesn't this guy have a wife?

 

What were the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in Greater Orange County Southern California thinking when they let Napoli go?

 

He looks like a beast

[jung]

I suppose the Sox could have tried to make a run at keeping Beltri. The Rangers offered him $14M per so it would have taken some number better than that to keep him. If they kept Beltri they could have moved Youk to first base which given his propensity to break down might be a better spot for him than 3rd. If they had Youk at first and Beltri at 3rd, that would have been another right handed bat in the line up.

 

Suppose they had kept VMart as well and had passed on AGons and Crawford. Crawford was still something of a surprise deal at the end. Whether with or without Crawford it would have been interesting to see how the Sox would have faired with Youk at 1st, Beltri at 3rd, no Agons and VMart as DH doing some catching.

 

It certainly seems that would have been a better "team". VMart is widely regarded as really good in the clubhouse, a real team guy. Hindsight is 20/20 but I do wonder how much Theo's love affair with getting AGons here drove decisions to not make serious runs at Beltri and VMart. AGons is certainly a better glove guy at 1st than Youk is.

 

I definitely wanted VMart here. The water gets a little muddier when trying to compare having Beltri and Youk instead of AGons and Youk.

[SoxSport]

I suppose the Sox could have tried to make a run at keeping Beltri. The Rangers offered him $14M per so it would have taken some number better than that to keep him. If they kept Beltri they could have moved Youk to first base which given his propensity to break down might be a better spot for him than 3rd. If they had Youk at first and Beltri at 3rd, that would have been another right handed bat in the line up.

 

Suppose they had kept VMart as well and had passed on AGons and Crawford. Crawford was still something of a surprise deal at the end. Whether with or without Crawford it would have been interesting to see how the Sox would have faired with Youk at 1st, Beltri at 3rd, no Agons and VMart as DH doing some catching.

 

It certainly seems that would have been a better "team". VMart is widely regarded as really good in the clubhouse, a real team guy. Hindsight is 20/20 but I do wonder how much Theo's love affair with getting AGons here drove decisions to not make serious runs at Beltri and VMart. AGons is certainly a better glove guy at 1st than Youk is.

 

I definitely wanted VMart here. The water gets a little muddier when trying to compare having Beltri and Youk instead of AGons and Youk.

 

Youks is a converted 3rd baseman, and a better fielder than AdGon. He's bound to have better range. They gave away a lot in infield defense this year vs last year. VMart could have split DH, catching and 1B with Salty and Youks.

 

They'd have been better off keeping VMart and Beltre, and not picking up Ortiz' option.

And keeping those prospects they traded AdGon for. And, of course, not signing CC, who is a square peg in a round hole on this team. They would have had a better all-around team, even without Ortiz' offensive comeback.

 

There are some good reasons why they let Theo go. I just listed some possibilities. plus Lackey.