Felger & Mazz: Josh Beckett Insulting Fans, Teammates Alike
Felger and Massarotti opened the day discussing the Boston Red Sox, their 8-3 loss to the Cleveland Indians last night, and of course, Josh Beckett's horrible outing.
After being scratched from Saturday's start last Tuesday and golfing on Thursday, Beckett took the mound last night and got slapped around by the Indians. Beckett pitched 2 1/3 innings, giving up 7 hits and 7 earned runs on 56 pitches.
Tony Massarotti said he's seen something like this before.
"Why is this guy still here? Why has it not yet dawned on the Red Sox what has dawned on everyone else," Mazz said. " This kind of stuff that is going on with Beckett right now -- this is not going to end well. There's no way it can end well. I feel like in some ways we're living the [Roger] Clemens thing all over again. This is eventually going to end up with an ugly breakup between Beckett and the Red Sox, and this is all sort of just wasting time now in between."
Marc Bertrand said he was more surprised by Beckett's postgame words than he was with his on-field performance, but Mike Felger felt just the opposite.
"You never know when he's going to pitch well or pitch poorly, but the afterwards is what to me was more predictable than an NBA playoff game," Felger said. "Are you kidding me? Of course this A-hole is not going to take any accountability. Zero point zero."
Mazz said he feels Beckett's behavior is bad enough for the fans, but what about his teammates?
"This has got to end," Mazz said. "It is insulting now -- and it's not just insulting to the fans, who pay Beckett's salary by the way, or to the owners or the manager ... it's insulting to the other players. Really, you can't have a guy like this on your team. You can't do it."
And when it came to Beckett saying he only gets 18 days off per year and deserves to have some time to himself?
"Oh my goodness," Mazz said. "I hear a line like that ... and I think, that is Roger Clemens all over again, saying, 'We have to carry our bags through the airport.' Eighteen off days a year? Are you kidding me?"
