Scary Scene at Tropicana Field

A scary scene unfolded at Tropicana Field on Wednesday as the Tampa Bay Rays hosted the Red Sox.  After being hit in the arm by a pitch, Rays Infielder Will Rhymes walked to first base, requested to come out of the game, and appeared to collapse.  Rhymes laid motionless for several minutes before sitting up, and eventually being carted off of the field.  X-Rays were negative and Rhymes is said to only have a bruised arm.

Josh Beckett Booed Off the Field at Fenway

Yesterday I posted a tidbit about Bobby Valentine not being all that happy with Josh Beckett playing a few rounds of golf.  Beckett was supposedly recovering from a lat-injury which caused him to miss Thursday's scheduled start.

Well last night Beckett's performance, a line of 2.1 innings, giving up seven runs, walking two and striking another two out, was far from decent. That line reads just as ugly as it was to type. Beckett was booed off the field by the Fenway faithful, NESN did a wonderful job of cutting away on his departure from the mound.

Not surprisingly the press asked him about the golf between starts despite the possibility of having a back injury. "I spend my off days the way I want to spend them," Beckett said. "My off day is my off day. We get 18 off days a year. I think we deserve a little bit of time to ourselves."

Beckett was then asked about being booed by the Fenway faithful. "It was directed at me. I pitched like shit. That's what happens. Smart fans."

Beckett was definitely defensive in his first response, and I'm not quite sure if I want to call his second quote about being booed sarcastic. Either way I believe this situation is more about being responsible and using common sense, not about off days and playing golf.

Considering what happened last season to the Red Sox, with much if not all of it involving Beckett, one would think he would make better decisions this time around.

Bobby V Not Does Not Approve of Josh Beckett Playing a Few Holes

And the circus in Boston continues to provide more content for people who like to nitpick things like myself. Apparently sports talk radio in Boston has been tossing around the situation of Josh Beckett missing his scheduled start last Saturday due to back stiffness. The reason for his back stiffness? Beckett went out for a round of golf just two days prior to missing that start. Here's the kicker, apparently he was already recovering from another injury. Real Smart Josh.

Valentine, who is a weekly guest on WEEI in Boston was asked about the situation with Beckett, and like always Valentine does not shy away from a general conservative answer. "It was less than the best thing to do," [if Beckett played golf]. Well Bobby V, Beckett did play golf, and yes you just publicly blasted another one of players.

Boston should have seen this coming when the signed Valentine. Every previous stint Valentine has had displayed that he was never one to shy away from publicly criticizing his players. Obviously the Red Sox needed a face lift considering the starting staff was slinging back beers, pounding that fried chicken, and playing X-Box during games on their scheduled off-days.

It will be interesting to see what the reaction from Beckett is, and whether or not any players come to his defense to simply stick it to Valentine. Beckett gets the start tonight and the Sox need a strong outing, considering how piss-poor they have been so far this season.

 The Red Sox are currently in last place in the AL East, sitting at 12-18, 7.5 games out of first, and 2-8 in their last 10 games. I think that seat under Bobby V is getting nice and toasty, they better turn it around soon or we would all have to suffer Valentine back as a commentator on ESPN, and not being able to look away at his horribly colored hair.