The Red Sox have started the 2012 season 4-10. Their pitching has been abysmal. They haven’t been able to get the timely hit. They even blew a 9-0 lead to the New York Yankees last Saturday in one of the biggest single game collapses in recent memory.

Although the 2011 Red Sox started their season 2-10, this start may be even worse.

Going deeper into the numbers, the pitching staff’s ERA of 6.68 is the worst in the majors by more than a run and a half. The Red Sox’ bullpen ERA is a dreadful 8.44, which ranks worst in major league baseball.

Their closer going into spring training, Andrew Bailey, whom the team traded for in the offseason, had thumb surgery before the season began and isn’t expected to return until after the All-Star break.

Mark Melancon, who was supposed to be the set-up man, is now in Triple AAA Pawtucket after allowing 11 runs, and five home runs in just two full innings of work this season.

Kevin Youkilis, has started the season hitting .190, with just one home run and 13 strikeouts, and their starting center fielder, Jacoby Ellsbury, was injured in the first week of the season and is expected to miss 4-6 weeks with a separated shoulder.

With all of the struggles on the field, who has taken the most criticism this season? Not any of the players, not the general manager, instead it has been the manager, Bobby Valentine.

Every time he goes out to make a pitching change, the boo’s echo all around Fenway Park. Late in Friday’s game there were even chants of “We want Tito.”

Criticism of the team is all well and good and certainly deserved, but Bobby V? Sure, he’s made some questionable decisions regarding keeping pitchers in too long, or who to bring in from the bullpen in certain situations, but when your bullpen can’t get 12 outs with a nine run lead, that is not the managers fault, it is the players.

Where has the player accountability been during the 4-10 start?

The players are the ones who have gave up 26 home runs in 14 games. The players are the ones who have failed to get the timely hit in certain games this year. The players are the ones losing games, not the manager.

With all the heat their manager has taken the past week, why haven’t any of the players come out and taken responsibility? Why hasn’t someone spoken up and say the players are the ones that deserve the blame, not the manager?

How about even speaking to the media at all…

After Saturday’s debacle with the Yankees all of the star players, and so called “leaders” didn’t even speak to the media.

David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Adrian Gonzalez, the list goes on and on, they all declined to comment, or bolted out of the clubhouse before the media was allowed in.

They left it up to role players, such as Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Mike Aviles, and pitchers Felix Doubront and Matt Albers to explain to the Boston media what just happened, and their 4-10 start.

None of the four players had been with the team prior to last season; they shouldn’t be the ones having to speak after a loss such as Saturday’s. That should be left to the veterans and key players.

All of this adds up to a sign that Bobby V has lost his clubhouse.

Imagine if this were last year and Terry Francona were the manager, and he was hearing the same boo’s and the same criticism that Bobby V is now.

Don’t you think a player like Pedoria or Jason Varitek would have come to the defense of their manager, and say how the players deserve the blame, not the manager?

There has been none of that this season. The only time the team has spoken out about their manager was when they were responding to Bobby V’s comments that Youkilis has “not been as into the game” as much as past years.

Pedroia and Youkilis questioned their own manager and his style saying it might work in Japan, but not America. This forced Bobby V to issue an over the top apology through the media to Youkilis, essentially taking back the comments he had made.

The bottom line is this… The Red Sox are a mess right now, both on the field and off, but the season is only eight percent completed. They are only 4.5 games back in the AL East. There is still plenty of time to come back.

With all the signs pointing to Bobby V losing his clubhouse, only one thing can fix that… winning.

After all winning solves everything, doesn’t it?

Thoughts? Questions? Comments? Feel free to email me at ryanhannable@gmail.com. Follow me on Twitter @hannable84.

Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

58 thoughts on “Where is the Red Sox player accountability during the 4-10 start?”

  1. This article is so true and so disgusting at the same time. A bunch of fat cats working for a clueless GM who works for fat cat owners. Wow, I can’t wait until it gets really hot around here. Bobby V. may not be the best manager but he seems to be someone who truly cares and he doesn’t deserve this mess.

    The blame for this starts lies clearly with the players. The blame for this team lies clearly with the owners, the GM and the former Trust Fund GM now in Chicago running the other worst team in baseball.

    The Red Sox players wanted Tito out and they got their wish. What they’re doing now is utterly disgusting. Thank god for the fans that the Bruins won yesterday, the Celtics should make for an interesting playoff run and the NFL Draft is this week.

    We can still ignore the pungent odor coming from Yawkey Way for a little while. But The Lipstick on the Pig ballpark and it’s birthday “celebration” can only go so far.

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  2. Not sure how the NYDN got this before ESPN or a Boston paper,

    “And this doesn’t include the near player revolt he had on his hands the
    very first week of spring training when, the Daily News has learned, he
    got all over shortstop Mike Aviles
    in what sources described as “a very ugly scene” during infield drills.
    After a group of Red Sox players confronted him with outrage, Valentine
    had to apologize to Aviles.”

    Read more here:

    http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/boston-v-villain-bobby-valentine-managing-a-short-stay-red-sox-article-1.1065385

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    1. The beat writers for the Red Sox are quite cozy with the players. Don’t expect anything from Bradford or McAdam that will upset anyone in uni.

      Btw I find it rather hard to believe that no media witnessed an “ugly scene” going on in broad daylight in the middle of the infield during spring training. I like Bill Madden a lot but I’ve got some questions about the accuracy of the info he got with this story. You’re telling me among the entire Boston media, the very same media who’ve been obsessing over and dumping on Bobby V for months, knew nothing about this but someone drops a dime to Bill Madden?
      Call me skeptical.

      PS – hope the Dustin Pedroia is a team leader myth has finally been dispelled.  

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      1.  I was listening to “The Baseball Show” that Dale does on WEEI Sunday morning and a caller claimed the same thing about the media being in bed with the Sox and not calling this out. He replied, “You’re telling me that if a good reporter like Buck, (named a few others), if they heard about the beer/chicken/videogames thing would not have wrote about it?” — so I wonder the same myself.

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        1. The chicken and beer deal was different because that was going on in the clubhouse during games.
          The media not knowing that was going on at the time is quite understandable becuase that was behind closed doors.

          This “ugly scene” that Madden wrote about supposedly happened on the field in broad daylight while a white hot media spotlight was shining on this manager and these players during spring training. Hmmmm…….

            

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          1. Just to clarify, I don’t think the media is in bed with the Sox. Just the opposite. I think the media goes out of its’ way to take shots at them that none of the other franchises in Boston are subject to.
            But I do think the beat writers are in bed with the Sox players.
            Snakes Shaughnessy and Borges were both slithering around spring training for quite awhile. They would have wrote about this “ugly scene” in 1 second had they known about it/heard about it.
            I have my doubts about the Madden story.  

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          2. Tim, the Media are quite clearly in Bed with the Sox.  The Globe owns 17% of the team, NESN is owned by the Fenway Sports Group and WEEI pays a fortune for the radio broadcast rights.  The  beat writers have protected the players on this team for 100 years because they are with them every day.  Compare the coverage the Sox get to that of the Patriots.  Its night and day.

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          3. I don’t know what media you’re talking about but the media in Boston has been highly critical of this Sox ownership and this manager.
            WEEI is all anti-Bobby V all the time. It’s actually embarrassing. Felger and Mazz has been the only show on either station who’ve held the players accountable. The Gobe’s Dan Shaughnessy and Bob Ryan are with the Sox?? 
            Come on. Do you even read these papers and listen to these stations??
            Anyone remotely fair on this issue can see how over the top the criticism as been.
            The Patriots are treated with kid gloves in this town so I’m not sure what your issue is there.

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          4.  Tim, Cafardo and Abraham are so in love with Valentine that he could ask for a reach-around in the mornings and both guys would be there to provide. It’s disgusting.

            Your assertion that the Pats are treated with kid gloves here is pretty clearly an indication of an untreated head wound on your part. Seek medical attention immediately.

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          5. If you think the Patriots are treated with kid gloves then I am not sure we can have a discussion. One of the primary reasons Bruce started this website was to look at and shine a light on the biased coverage against the Patriots. I could write volumes on how slanted the coverage is against the Patriots is by the Boston media. When the FSG illegally took public roads/land to enhance the Fenway experience no one in the media said boo. When the Patriots paid $300 mill for their own stadium the Boston media was dead set again it.
            The media being critical of the Sox is relatively new…as in just this year. It only happened after the Globe published the obvious insider hit piece on the popular Tito Francona from Bob Hohler. At that point the light seemed to come on at some outlets, 98.5, a some at the Herald. The Globe has still been protecting the Sox…minimizing the attacks on the owners and Larry Lucchino while focusing the comments on Bobby V. I believe that was why he was hired in the first place on a two year contract and not something longer. NESN and WEEI still protect the Sox. Look at all the PR pieces they reported on as news during the 100th birthday of Fenway. Look at the lack of accountability they hold Ownership. Heck Larry Johnson was on the air Saturday again professing his love of Larry Lucchino.
            98.5 and in particular Felger have been critical of the Sox, and the BBWA which Tony defends regularly for their lack of a critical eye looking at this team. Felger might be the only one in town smart enough to realize that the media was the real loser in the chicken and beer story because they did not report it. Now they have a credibility problem when covering this team and some are trying to be more objective. As much as I like Sean McAdam he suffers in my mind for missing the boat…ditto Nick Cafardo who is still writing pieces defending the off season moves of this team. Or Michael Holley and Glen Ordway who do all they can to support/insulate John Henry. I don’t understand how you can’t see that.

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    2. I don’t get what was “ugly” about calling out a crappy player? Did he insult his mother or use a racial slur? What? Kind of bogus to just throw that out there without further explanation.

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  3. We really can’t blame the players for not accepting responsibility can we?

    We really can’t blame the fans for their reaction right now can we?

    Look at the 24/7 media coverage of this team since spring training.

    The media in Boston has done nothing but obsess over and dump on Bobby V and ownership since February.
    Never seen anything like it.

    Talk about a poisonous agenda.

    The Bruins are headed for a 7th game and yet this morning Dennis and Callahan are 4 solid hours of Bobby V…. how he managed this game, playing sound bites from his press conferences, etc
    14 games into a 162 game schedule and their talking about probability of firing Bobby V.

    It’s bizarre, it’s agenda driven, it’s every show on WEEI, most on 98.5 and just about all the print media.

    Felger and Mazz have been the only radio show demanding accountability from the players.

    Nick Cafardo wrote an excellent piece this morning.
      
    Mike Lupica in the NY Daily News wrote a good piece yesterday about Theo’s role here. For some reason local boy Theo goes untouched with the local media.  Have to go to NY to get some honesty.

    Pathetic.

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    1.  Nick Cafardo has never written an excellent piece on anything.

      Unless maybe it was on a piece of pie.

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    3. Theo goes untouched because those are the marching orders from grandpa Gammons. If you cross Theo you make an instant enemy of Gammons and none of the baseball writers want that. These overgrown boys as well as some of the manchilds on here want to continue suckling at the teat of Gammons.

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  4. Why should have the position players been forced to defend themselves after the game on Saturday? They scored 9 bleepin runs. The offense has been fine. I have no problem WHATSOEVER with them not staying. I would have been sooo pissed off about our pitchers losing that lead that I would have bolted the clubhouse too, afraid I’d say something I’d regret. The only people who should have had to explain themselves after that game are Bobby, Padilla, Aceves, Albers, Morales, and Thomas. Period.

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  5. And the reason Bobby is getting the reception he is has only a little do with the the play on the field. Nobody I know liked that hire. I hate the guy, always have, he comes off as smug and stupid at times and he was going to have to do something to change my mind about him. So far he hasnt.

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  6. I thought Valentine was coming in on his white horse to restore law and order to the team. Remember Cafardo telling us everyday how refreshing he is? All those revolutionary spring training drills? He had A-Gon playing outfield, OMG! A brilliant genius. Unlike with Tito, these guys were winning some spring training games! But let’s just ignore that most of the baseball world who isn’t begging for a good quote has viewed Valentine as a know-it-all clown. There was a good reason he hadn’t been hired in almost 10 years. Sure, Valentine may be taking too much blame, but where was this defense of the manager when Tito was getting blamed for everything? They’ve been losing since September because the pitching has stunk. Valentine is just making it worse by creating an atmosphere where Ellsbury and other will not want to sign with the Sox. He’s also Lucchino’s puppet, so when I boo Valentine, I’m booing Lucchino too.

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      1. Last September, especially after the chicken and beer article. Read the comments under today’s Cafardo’s article and you’ll still see lots of people who blame Tito.

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  7. I keep saying Lipstick on a Pig to describe Bobby V. Obviously he didnt hire the players or have anything to do with the injuries.  That falls at the ownership and GM’s feet.  So perhaps Bobby V is the cork in the bottle meant to keep us from smelling the perverbial stink. The Ownership seems more interested in keeping the “pink hat-casual fan” crowd happy like no one ever pays attention to the product on the field.

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  8. I’d make them run all day, in the rain, until their legs fall off. They don’t like, they can quit and go home. 

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  9. Ryan…I totally understand your sentiment but I think you are wrong.  It is not an either/or situation rather both the players AND Bobby V along with Ben Cherington AND ownership all deserve blame and I think that is why there is so much anger towards this team at this time.  Here is how I see it:

    – The Players deserve blame.  The roster is being paid over $180 mill collectively this year and yet they are not only playing with no accountability or passion but I think Gerry Callahan correctly observed this morning that giving these players an excuse not to achieve (Bobby V and his clueless way of doing things) the players have seized on that excuse and are not achieving.  Their lack of professionalism is mind blowing.  Their sense of entitlement sickening.  You would think these guys could get it together for the sake of pride…but it does not appear that interests them.  Regarding captains or team leaders not talking after blowing a 9 run lead…these guys aren’t talking when they can’t manufacture more than 2 runs…so the context does not matter…they want to be able to point from a far and not take any ownership of the on field suckfest.

    – Bobby V.  So far 14 games and a rain out into the season shows this guy is either in over his head or a snake oil salesman.  To me they are one in the same.  I have no clue where his reputation for being a baseball genius came from…his management of the pitching staff has been horrendous.  I know he can only play the players he has available to him still he has to be able to do better.  I will speak with some heresy…I am not sure the starting pitching has been as horrid as the numbers. Other than Saturday, the team has not scored runs early.  There is more wrong with this team than the bull pen and it is incumbent on the manager to fix things.  I am also in the minority because I think it is fair to compare Bobby V to tito.  Last year Tito’s team started this poorly and he got them fixed.  It will be interesting to see if Bobby V can do the same. Having said all of that…the biggest fear the media raised this offseason with hiring Bobby V is that the team’s performance would be all about Bobby V.  Well, if they are sucking and it is all about him, the logical conclusion to me is he has to go.  Yes I know it is early but like Pete Carroll when he was with the Patriots, I don’t need to see this guy manage or coach for 2 or 3 years to know he is not getting through to the players.  The Sox need to admit they made a mistake and move on.  They won’t…because they will argue he deserves a chance to right the ship…but with just a 2 year contract, I don’t see how they have given him the tools or leverage to be able to force change.  He is a lame duck already.

    – Ben Cherington and the Baseball ops people.  The traded away two MLB starting shortstops this offseason, they traded for 1 hurt closer and a second set up guy/part time closer who has a reputation as someone that is too sensitive to play in a market like Boston or New York. They have several other arms in the bullpen that are failing miserably, and I thought only Theo was reliever clueless…turns out everyone he worked with is just as dumb.  They knew they needed to upgrade the 4th and 5th outfielder positions because they new Crawford would not be ready to start the season.  They didn’t.  They did upgrade right field.  But the single biggest mistake I think they made was not wheeling Josh Beckett out of town this offseason.  The second biggest mistake was bringing back David Ortiz who is just playing out the string.  Ryan lavernway could have been an equally as productive DH for $14 mill less.

    – Sr. Management larry lucchino.  By not letting Ben Cherington pick the manager LL neutered him.  Now this truly is Larry’s team…the problem is he has no accountability.  The perception that he is more interested in the event than the team is unfortunate, however if the players see the team president is more passionate about collecting a check (throwing a birthday party and selling throw back jerseys) than winning, why would the players be motivated to play for pride when they can play for a check?

    – Lastly, there is ownership.  By making sure the world knows the Red Sox are not their top priority, they have allowed players to echo that in their approach to the game.  Josh Beckett says his family comes first.  David Ortiz worries about his personal stats.  Jacoby Ellsbury counts down the days to free agency.  Daniel Bard wanting to become a starter because starters are paid better than relievers.  Acevetes being upset he is closing rather than starting for the same reason.  The players get this attitude from watching John Henry passionlessly administer the Sox as just another property in his portfolio.  Monkey see, monkey do…or in this case do do.

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      1. Thanks for the input. It’s always good to know that a post was too long for you and that you didn’t read it. Another quality job by you tl:DB!

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    2. I agree that there is blame to go around, but your Unibomber-like screed above is mostly devoid of logic and reason.

      The 2nd biggest mistake was to bring back Ortiz?!  His OPS last year was over .950 and so far this year it is 1.125.  He is crushing the ball despite having very little protection from Youk or Gonzalez.  Lavarnway would replace that production?  He was just ok in a small sample size last year. If you like him that much you must have loved Dwayne Hosey.

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      1. You miss my point and I might not have made it as clearly as it is in my mind. I am not questioning Ortiz’s production. What I am suggesting is if the team was that worried about value and dollars spent to achieve it that they traded away both starting short stops to pick up a middle reliever and dump cash, then it was illogical to bring back Ortiz at $14 mill when they projected Lavernway could produce 75-80% of the same production.
        let me put it another way. This past offseason they had few chances to change the make up of this team and get younger. Ortiz has not been the happy go lucky Big Popi in about 3 years. To me his production, in the context of my very articulate and well thought argument, was kind of irrelevant when determining if he was worth $14 mill. They had their chance to walk away and didn’t.

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        1. In baseball, more than any other sport, what matters is production, especially for a DH.  That’s not to say it is completely about the statistics, but I also don’t think he is a clubhouse problem at all.
          There are plenty of problems with this roster (the bullpen, infield defense on the left side, most of the starting rotation) but Papi making $14m for one year is not one of them.

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  10. The fact that none of the relievers have been booed tells us that when the Boo-birds target Bobby V., they are NOT also symbolically including mssrs. Cherington, Lucchino and Epstein….

    Frankly it’s bizarre.

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  11. I was sitting in section 8 on Saturday watching what appeared to be a blowout 9-0 win for the RedSox. Then it became 9-1 and everything was good. The Yankees then took the lead 11 or 10-9. What came next, the pink hats in our entire section proceeded to start Yankees Suck chants, followed by the wave. I cannot believe how many idiots were getting mad at other people because they weren’t doing the wave. There was more anger shown at the lack of “wave response” as opposed to directing that anger on the field at the Sox who just blew the game. The fans that go are mostly a joke. Me and and friend left early before I probably would’ve got tossed for attacking the “wave-starters.”

    I just want these pink-hats to go away. It’s not a surprise they simply boo Valentine and not the players. The people in the stands have no clue.

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    2.  You want then Pink Hats to go away…Okay, then kiss the money they bring to the park goodbye and good luck signing any good players when your payroll goes down as a result.

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      1. What do you suggest then genius? You are the most miserable person on this site. I’d rather have pink-hats than have you continue to post on the site. Bring something to the table, rather than useless blather.

        The stadium will still fill-up without Pink Hats. Don’t you remember that it really didn’t become pink-hat nation until the 2nd World Series. Oh wait, you hadn’t started following the team yet… FRAUD!

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        1.  So instead of debating my post on it’s actual content, you decide to attack me.  Most other fanbases would die to have fringe fans (aka “Pink Hats”) supporting their team.  There’s no reason to think that being an older fan makes you some kind of better fan.

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          1. Your posts never have content so there’s nothing to debate. It’s either a sarcastic comment or tl;dr.

            I’m not claiming to be better, just more knowledgable. If that makes me a jerk than fine. You can stand in the bleachers, getting mad at other fans for not doing the wave with you! You can scream at Bobby V, when his teams quits on him. I’ll still be there mocking your actions! Enjoy!

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      2. That’s crap. They had 20 million a year for Manny and 17 for Pedro before the pink hats jumped on board. 
        It’s like having a license to print money when you own the Sox no matter what era. 
        How do you explain the lack of signings this season? Or trading away Scuturo’s salary? Your argument holds no weight.

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        1. For the record, Scutaro is hitting .222, .300 OBP and slugging a robust .259 … sounds like dead weight to me

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    3. Winning…save the money..buy a big screen tv and watch the game at home.  Then you also have the luxury of the off button and the immediate availability of the liquor cabinet…both of which will be in heave rotation this summer if the Sox don’t get this figured out.

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      1. ltd,

        $8.25 nyquil cups of watered-down beer won’t do it for you? I think you need to buy a Redsox CD and a Brick!
        I’ve also now seen Fenway 100 bats being advertised along with Fenway 100 $35 sweatshirts and $35 hats on the home shopping network.

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        1. right after I pay $50 to park and then “tip” the guy another $10 to make sure I don’t get blocked in so I can leave in the 7th once the bull pen implodes.

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    4.  I don’t understand why everyone always rails against female fans (Pink Hats). I like that there are women at Fenway and its not a pure sausage fest. And the Sox have plenty of female fans who are diehard and knowledgeable – and you can’t tell a bandwagon female fan from a diehard based on the color of her hat….

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      1.  It has nothing to do with female fans. The two bozos worried about the wave, in this particular instance were men likely 21-30. They wouldn’t know David Ortiz from David Aardsma.

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        1.  But the only people who wear Pink Hats are women and girls…some real fans and some bandwagon.

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          1.  If you want to interpret the term Pink hat literally then you are in fact right. In most cases, the term “Pink hat” is used to refer to anyone joining the band wagon and does not know who our starting catcher or shortstop is.

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      2. I think you haven’t looked up or heard what the definition of a pinkhat is, it has nothing to do with gender at all. 

        Roughly, a pinkhat is a casual fan who shows up to be cool and update their facebook/twitter profile pic with that “hey look im so cool that im at fenway!!!” They can careless if the team on the field (the product) is garbage. They’re the fan singing “So good! So good!” in the 8th after the Sox just surrendered 15 runs in the past two innings. They’re doing the wave as the sox bullpen is imploding.

        If that does not clear it up, google the term and you’ll find some better descriptions.

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        1.  I guess that’s what it means now, but the term obviously was linked with gender when it was first used – I have never seen a man with a pink hat at Fenway, even on the most bandwagon or effeminate guy.

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          2. Again, see what I’ve posted above. I have no clue of the historical context but understand why you might link “pink hat” to only a female. As of right now and what most people understand, the “pink hat” term has nothing to do with gender but the definition I put above and the comments on this part of the thread. 

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  12. “With all the signs pointing to Bobby V losing his clubhouse, only one thing can fix that… winning.”

    No, the only thing that can fix that is sh*tcanning his worthless, blabbermouthed ESPN-talking azz and hiring a real baseball man, not a smarmy carnival-barker like they’ve got now. The players don’t respect him because he is an utter clown.

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    1. What does that say about the players professionalism? Reading you’re statement above it is clear that you think the players aren’t playing well because of Bobby. If that were the case then how do you explain THE GREATEST COLLPASE IN THE HISTORY last year? Under the greatly respected “greatest manager in Red Sox history” Tito Francona? Huh? Can you please explain how that was possible? I’ll make it easy for and steal an old political rallying cry for this purpose…IT’S THE PLAYERS, STUPID!
      You can’t say it’s the manager when the same disaster happened last year.

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  13. I thought we took care of the problem by dropping Terri Francona, who obviously(according to the front office/management) was the problem-my bad………………

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  14. Nice Cafardo impression. I especially treasured the perfectly executed sportswriter “nyah nyah” conclusion, which appears to ready to bring the piece to a final analytic point, but then just drops trou:

    With all the signs pointing to Bobby V losing his clubhouse, only one thing can fix that… winning.

    After all winning solves everything, doesn’t it?

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  16. The “Boston Red Sox ownership is a bunch of losers” argument is idiotic. Talking heads need to think before they go popping off about how terrible Henry et al are to Red Sox fans. My family owned season tickets for 38 years so I grew up going to the games and I will tell you that the glory days of the Red Sox were after Henry bought the team. Fenway Park used to be a toilet and when we went down to Spring Training games in Winter Haven to Ft Meyers and they were dumps too. Now the Sox Complex in FLA is a state of the art, second to nobody training complex. Fenway is much nicer to watch a game than it ever has been and most importantly the team went from a team of lovable losers that you expected to break your heart (Wait Till Next Year!) to a team that you expect to compete and excel every year. The Sox are a well run organisation that invests heavily back into their infrastructure and put a damn good product on the field every year. Whenever I hear Michael Felger (outsider) and Massarotti scream that the Henry group should sell the team right away, I cringe knowing rich guys akin to Peter Angelos or Frank McCourt types could buy them. It’s comforting to know that there isn’t a FA the Sox couldn’t go after and sign. I remember the days when the Yankees would just get any player they want because nobody else could hang with the NY checkbook. Whats happening now to this team is an aberration. Losing a GM and long-time manager within weeks of each other will shock the system but I expect these guys to figure it out and make it right. The argument that buying Roush Racing and Liverpool is diluting funds and resources is ridiculous. Call Henry whatever you want but don’t call him a stupid businessman. The guy (worth $1.1B)  knows how to make money and he’s not going to rape his crown jewel Red Sox (paid $380M – estimated worth as high as $2.5 billion after Dodgers sold for $2B). I expect the Sox to bounce back. Henry’s management style is to delegate then evaporate. If people want to blame anyone they could blame Theo. He has set this team back on its heals with a few poor mega-buck signings but it’s easier to blame someone who is still in Boston like the owners. My fear is that John Henry just might say to hell with all this nonsense and cash out. Then we’d all long for the days when the Henry group owned the Red Sox. These are the good old days and some people don’t even know it.  

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  17. Plenty of good comments here, but I want to change the subject just a little bit.  With regards to Francona, does anyone find it strange that after Bob Hohler’s tell-all Globe article last October that he would be so willing to sit down and write a book with one of Bob’s Globe colleagues?  Something doesn’t add up to me. 

    I understand Francona is angrier at the party who supplied the information than the journalist who put it in print, but I would think it would be awkward for him to turn around and write a book with another Globe writer.  And was all the info on Francona in Hohler’s article accurate?  If it wasn’t, why hasn’t Tito tried to fight back?  And if it is, I again reference the awkwardness.

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