DHL Dan - LVII

You can tell it's summer when Shank starts mailing in columns every other week.

Picked-up pieces while waiting for Danny Ainge fireworks and wondering if Tom Brady and Kelly Olynyk are available for Gordon Hayward recruitment . . .

■ It’s disturbing to hear that David Price got into a verbal altercation with Dennis Eckersley on the Red Sox charter to Toronto after Thursday night’s win. This is a no-win venture for Price, who already has a bull’s-eye on his back because of his contract, his playoff failures, and his new layer of thin skin since coming to Boston. No Sox player is going to win a hissing contest with Eckersley, a Hall of Fame pitcher and the most refreshing color commentator in our market. Eck was a stand-up guy when he pitched and he’s been the same as an analyst. Boston fans love Eckersley. Price, who appears to be finding himself on the mound, increasingly looks like an unhappy camper who wants out of Boston. Not good. Price’s brief explanation of his confrontation with Eckersley was a true head-scratcher. When asked about the episode, Price told the Globe’s Nick Cafardo, “Some people just don’t understand how hard this game is.’’ What? Eckersley is the last guy you’d drop that on. Eckersley understands everything that can happen to a big league ballplayer. As a major leaguer, Eckersley survived career-threatening injuries, multiple trades, getting released, alcohol addiction, a brother in prison, and two failed marriages. He was part of the Red Sox’ collapse in 1978 and took every ounce of heat when he surrendered one of the most famous homers in history — the World Series walkoff by Kirk Gibson. With all that, Eck rightfully sailed into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot. The Sox are going to need David Price to get where they want to go this year. Now it looks like Price is being swallowed whole by the dreaded Boston Baseball Experience. Maybe he should have talked with his former teammate Carl Crawford before taking the money to play here.

It does look like the pressure exerted by local media on David Price finally caused him to crack. My only surprise is Shank's lack of participation in the whole thing.