The Fan Hub

After the disaster that was the final month of the 2011 Boston Red Sox season, the atmosphere in Beantown as the Sox get ready to begin the 2012 Spring Training is wary, to say the least. The heart of the team’s collapse was identified as an attitude problem among several of the veterans, exemplified by the fried chicken and beer controversy, and Josh Beckett was at the forefront of those discussions.

Not only is Beckett the highest paid starter, he is also the de facto leader of the staff. So when you combine that with his expanding belt size, it makes perfect sense for him to be the poster boy for the team’s collapse. On top of that, Beckett is reportedly among those Boston players who is most opposed to the hire of Bobby Valentine, which only exacerbates the notion that he is/was a major part of the problem dating back to last season.

Of course, as Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald writes, there’s a simple way for Beckett to be part of the solution: “This is the time for fans to hear certain players not only take responsibility for what they did, but also to apologize for it. It's what adults do, even adults who are playing a game played by kids for a living.”

And as long as we’re making to-do lists for Beckett’s Spring Training arrival, he might want to add “show up in shape” as well.