Red Sox Soap Opera

    A story written in the Boston Globe by Bob Hohler, read here, depicts some "high school" type drama taking place in the Red Sox clubhouse the past year or so.  Some of the key highlights of the story depict pitchers such as John Lackey, Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, and others, drinking beers, eating fried chicken, and playing video games while games were still going on.  There was division within the clubhouse with Jacoby Ellsbury keeping mainly to himself as he felt betrayed by Youkilis' comments the year prior.  There are also allegations that Terry Francona and use of painkillers throughout the past few years affected his performance.  According to him he went and saw the necessary people about taking painkillers and it has never been an issue.
    Another key aspect of the article talks about the circumstances surrounding Hurricane Irene in late August.  In order to avoid the brunt of the storm, ownership and management persuaded the players to play a day-night double header on Saturday.  Players weren't happy about time scheduling of this and supposedly held a grudge the rest of the way.  That double-header turned out to be the last time the Sox won two games in a row.  John Henry, in an attempt to mend their relationship, bought each player $300 headphones and invited the team for a "players only" night aboard his 165 ft. yacht.  This gesture didn't help things.
    There is so much drama coming out about the Red Sox it's disgusting.  All of these rich, spoiled players acting like rebelling teenagers.  It wasn't everybody on the team, but just about everyone's reputation has taken a hit.  Even the captain Jason Varitek was accused of giving up and not being a leader anymore.  Buchholz was listed as one of the guys joining in on the video games and beer consumption.  Kevin Youkilis is accused of being divisive and disruptive.  Adrian Gonzalez came out and said this was the most physically demanding year for him.  He complained of playing too many night games and having to travel at 4 a.m. at times.  He clearly contributed to the players sentiment about the scheduling of games which seemed to last to the bitter end.  There are even reports saying that ownership did not initially agree with the signing of Carl Crawford, who they thought was too similar to Jacoby Ellsbury. 
    It's a shame that it has to end this way but hopefully it is for the better.  Clearly the players lost all respect for Tito as the clubhouse was more of a country club than anything.  Now Tito is gone and it looks like Theo will be leaving to take the Cubs position.  They both worked extremely hard to bring Boston two titles and we will be forever thankful.  It's just too bad that we will be left with this sour taste in our mouths.  Years down the road we will be reminded of the collapse of 2011 and the pompous attitudes of the players that year.  As of today we have no clue who will be managing our ballclub and who will be our replacement for Theo if, and when, he leaves.  There are so many underlying issues surrounding the Red Sox it's hard to wrap your head around everything.  I suggest you read the Boston Globe article and stay tuned for what follows.  Hopefully the Red Sox will have a tremendous rebound year in 2012 and can help mend this mess of a situation.  We can only hope.