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Monday, July 24, 2017

Shank On That Price / Eckersley Brouhaha

Looks like the details have finally come out, and Shank pieces it together:
Sportswriters stopped flying with ballclubs a quarter-century ago, but 10 ancillary team employees (two WEEI broadcasters and eight members of NESN) still fly with the Red Sox. NESN’s longtime color commentator Jerry Remy is recovering from cancer surgery and has not been with the team since June 21. Steve Lyons typically fills in for Remy on the road, but he has curiously disappeared from all NESN broadcasts, citing a “personal situation.’’

Eckersley does not like to travel with the team. He’s a recovering alcoholic and seeks to avoid the trappings of the road. He’s also aware that many Sox players dislike his blunt, sometimes critical style. One would think that his Hall of Fame resume and 24 major league seasons (which included two divorces, getting released, career-threatening injuries, and being a stand-up guy after epic failures) would insulate him from the anger of today’s players. That would be incorrect.
...
For Price, the tipping point came when he learned Eckersley said “Yuck” when Eduardo Rodriguez’s poor stats were flashed on the NESN screen after a rehab start in Pawtucket June 29.

On the day of the episode, Price was standing near the middle of the team aircraft, surrounded by fellow players, waiting for Eckersley. When Eckersley approached, on his way to the back of the plane (Sox broadcasters traditionally sit in the rear of the aircraft), a grandstanding Price stood in front of Eckersley and shouted, “Here he is — the greatest pitcher who ever lived! This game is easy for him!’’

When a stunned Eckersley tried to speak, Price shot back with, “Get the [expletive] out of here!’’

Many players applauded.

Eckersley made his way to the back of the plane as players in the middle of the plane started their card games. In the middle of the short flight, Eckersley got up and walked toward the front where Sox boss Dave Dombrowski was seated. When Eckersley passed through the card-playing section in the middle, Price went at him again, shouting, “Get the [expletive] out of here!’’

When Price was asked about it the next day, he said only, “Some people just don’t understand how hard this game is.’’
I'm of two minds on this - the Boston sports media are generally a bunch of negative assholes. However, I have a hard time understanding just how offensive the word 'Yuck' is in terms of professional criticism, and it wasn't even directed at Price. David Price is the asshole here, not Eckersley.

4 comments:

Monkeesfan said...

Indeed. This act of self-entitled bullying by Price personifies the culture of laziness, entitlement, backstabbing, and ass-covering that has been evolved into the entire organization since the 2004 World Series. Price is now an unmistakable cancer in the Red Sox organization, coming after another cancer - Pablo "The Fat Ass Panda" Sandoval finally got shipped out of Boston.

Yet it is just another episode of lazy entitled dysfunction that under John Henry and company has become the norm for the Red Sox - with Patriots training camp opening up the contrast between the incompetent Red Sox and the Patriots - once the biggest joke in football, now the most efficient and powerful machine in sports - just got even more gross.

Anonymous said...

enjoy belichek as long as he is here

Anonymous said...

All of the accountability folks in the media are out with their knives sharpened.

Did David Price get arrested for a and b on a cop and than wet his pants allegedly?

No he did not.

Did David Price's broadcasting son get arrested for thinking Florian Hall had a drive thru window at 3 in the morning?

No he did not.

Did David Price's son get arrested for beating a woman and than end up with a security job with the 2004 Red Sox?

No he did not.

Did David Price's TV partner get accused of drugging and raping various women like an owner of a local ball club?

No he did not.

I cannot wait until Belichick gives them the first hearty "go get your shinebox" of training camp come Thursday afternoon.

Newspapers can't die fast enough.

Monkeesfan said...

To Anonymous -

The media isn't the problem here - it is David Price. "Did David Price cover up for his son for a drunk-driving crash" is lame excuse-making for a guy who is lazy, thin-skinned, and seeks out people to blame instead of being accountable. Price is costing the Red Sox in wasted money, costing them games directly with poor play, and costing them indirectly by feeding the culture of laziness and entitlement that has permeated the organization for over a decade.

BTW Belichick gave the media his first session of dismissal on Wednesday as veterans reported.