Report: Valentine Privately Berated Beckett For Golf Incident
BOSTON (CBS) -- Remember back in May, when Josh Beckett created his own soap opera by golfing while injured, and manager Bobby Valentine came out publicly and said he's never heard of anyone getting hurt while golfing?
Well, it turns out that was just the manager putting on a happy face. Behind closed doors, it was reportedly a different story.
The Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo wrote a first-half recap of the Sox' 2012 season, and in it, he noted that Valentine was a little less understanding with Beckett in private.
"While Valentine let Beckett have it behind closed doors, he publicly had to bite his lip and defend the pitcher," Cafardo wrote.
At the time, Valentine dismissed the notion that Beckett's golf outing was a big deal, saying "I've never seen a pitcher get hurt playing golf."
Beckett had missed a start due to a tight lat and a sore shoulder, but it was reported that he had been golfing with Clay Buchholz during his time off. When he returned to the mound, he was shelled by the Indians, allowing seven earned runs in just 2 1/3 innings. Since then, Beckett's rebounded nicely, posting a 2.72 ERA in his last seven starts.
Cafardo wrote that while there was an initial culture shock when Valentine joined Boston, the players have come around.
"Valentine started to win over the players, one by one," Cafardo wrote. "For the most part, he got them united, knowing he would never get all of them. He just hoped the bad apples eventually would be weeded out and slowly but [surely] that has happened."
