Well, that didn’t take long.
For a short while this week, the attention of Red Sox fans was focused on something other than this soulless team and its embarrassing, abysmal season. Unfortunately, the current Sox faded into the background because of the death of a Boston icon, Swampscott’s Johnny Pesky.
Pesky was praised far and wide for his love of the game, the Red Sox and his teammates. Even Derek Jeter of the hated New York Yankees had kind words for Mr. Red Sox. “He was always so nice to me throughout the years,” Jeter said of Pesky. “Every time I’d see him, he would come over and say, ‘I hope you get four hits today, and the guy behind you hits into four double plays.’ I’ve always enjoyed having the opportunity to talk to him.”
Compare Pesky and Jeter, two class acts, with the current stench coming from the Red Sox clubhouse. The last few days have been rife with reports of a behind-the-scenes player revolt against manager Bobby Valentine. Once exposed, the players are less concerned about answering for their own poor performance than finding out who told the media they were unhappy. An ugly season just gets uglier, and when it comes on the heels of last September’s historic fried-chicken-and-beer-fueled collapse, one can’t help but think that Pesky would have been embarrassed to be mentioned in the same sentence as these guys.
