So maybe a manager can't or won't make a stand .... but can players? Read the report on the team meeting. Is the better record merely a coincidence? Or were Beckett & Co. dragging it and had to be called out?
If the Red Sox rally to make the postseason, they might look back to a players-only meeting on May 11 as a turning point. <http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/page/Great-American-Race-yankees-red-sox-rays-tigers-angels-rangers-battle-for-supremacy-040412>GREAT AMERICAN RACE<http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/page/Great-American-Race-yankees-red-sox-rays-tigers-angels-rangers-battle-for-supremacy-040412>The Junior Circuit is poised for epic AL pennant chases<http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/page/Great-American-Race-yankees-red-sox-rays-tigers-angels-rangers-battle-for-supremacy-040412> this season. The night before, right-hander Josh Beckett<http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/player/josh-beckett/104633?q=josh-beckett> had allowed seven runs in 2 1/3 innings and the Sox had lost to the Indians at Fenway Park 8-3. Designated hitter David Ortiz<http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/player/david-ortiz/85214?q=david-ortiz>, the team's longest-tenured member, called the meeting, and apparently it was a doozy. "Heated," was the adjective one player used. The hitters challenged the pitchers to "step it up," according to two sources. The overall theme was that each player needed to take responsibility. The effect was immediate, and positive. The Red Sox won their next five games, and since the meeting have won seven of nine overall. <http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/lists/What-has-led-to-the-recent-troubles-the-Red-Sox-have-experienced-051112>RED ALERT<http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/lists/What-has-led-to-the-recent-troubles-the-Red-Sox-have-experienced-051112>The Boston Red Sox used to beMLB's lovable idiots<http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/lists/What-has-led-to-the-recent-troubles-the-Red-Sox-have-experienced-051112>, but fans are no longer amused. There is no way to know how the rest of their season will play out, whether the Sox will surge after their injured players return or whether manager Bobby Valentine, after a rocky first seven weeks, will find the right touch. But one criticism of the Sox toward the end of last season was that some of their players acted with a sense of entitlement. The fried-chicken-and-beer episode was the most vivid example of such behavior. On May 11, led by Ortiz, the players took a stand. Maybe it was a start. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Red Sox Citizens" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/redsoxcitizens?hl=en.
