Deadspin: Josh Beckett

When Jack McKeon Managed Beer-And-Chicken-Lovin' Josh Beckett In Florida, He Locked The Clubhouse During Games

Jack Dickey — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 20:15:00 EDT

The Boston Globe story on the Red Sox's September collapse included a lot of semidamning revelations, among them that starters John Lackey, Josh Beckett, and Jon Lester ate fried chicken and drank beer while playing video games in the clubhouse during Sox games. Quelle dommage! Apparently Terry Francona lost control of the team because he was taking pain medication and fretting about his marriage. More »

Pitchers Hooked On Beer, Fried Chicken, And Video Games! Francona On Pills! The Boston Globe's Version Of The 2011 Red Sox Collapse

Jack Dickey — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 02:40:30 EDT

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It took two weeks, but the Boston Globe has produced the definitive grisly autopsy of the 2011 Boston Red Sox meltdown, and it's lurid, all right. (You'll recall that the team collapsed in epic fashion and missed the playoffs.) The Globe's story is full of drink and drugs and player grousing, but the story's existence and its tone tell us more, maybe, about why the Red Sox failed. Ownership and management are lashing out anonymously at the players and Terry Francona for one wretched month, and the Globe is their faithful stenographer. More »

A Ball From Josh Beckett Touches This Child Like Nothing Else Can

Barry Petchesky — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 16:00:20 EDT

Baseballs are the most important thing on earth. It's time we stopped pretending they aren't. More »

Josh Beckett Suspended Six Games

Dashiell Bennett — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 15:30:27 EDT

Josh Beckett has been suspended for being a jerk to the team that just lost a teammate in a horrible accident. And there was never another fight at a baseball game again. [AP] More »

Shatner's Short-Term Red Sox Memory, Sabathia And Manny Head Arbitration List, And Everyone Wants To Buy The Cubs

Rick Chandler — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 10:30:16 EST

• He's Also Not Very Good At Fractions. Come with us now as William Shatner is tested for Alzheimer's on an episode of Boston Legal. He does great when asked about the 1967 Red Sox, but he's a little confused at the question "Who is the best Red Sox pitcher this season?" To which he answers, "Josh Pecker." Or maybe it was intentional. He does know how to hold a grudge. With video goodness. [Surviving Grady] More »

Beckett, Lester Take Aim at Charity (and Pull Trigger)

Tuffy — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 14:05:19 EST

Josh Beckett, putative Red Sox ace, believes the best charity comes at the end of a shotgun. Therefore, he has gathered all his rowdy friends (including fellow hurler Jon Lester-Who-Once-Had-Cancer, comedian Bill Engvall, and singer Troy Gentry) to his ranch this weekend, where they will hold the first annual Rusty Baker and Josh Beckett Hunt for Charity with all food earmarked for food banks and all money raised from the charity tourney headed to other charities. More »

Josh Beckett Doesn't Appear To Have Been Taking Steroids In The Offseason

Leitch — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 14:20:55 EST

By now, you've might have seen this increasingly infamous picture of Red Sox postseason pitching hero Josh Beckett, at spring training earlier this week. More »

ESPN: We Don't Want No Trouble

rickchand — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 14:50:55 EDT

ESPN's new comment section, ESPN Conversation, has been an endless source of entertainment for us, and you as well, we suspect. Specifically the Featured Comment on their home page, which is possibly the blandest thing on the planet. In fact, I doubt that ESPN commenters are even human: Their comments are generated by computer, like the "check engine" light in your dashboard. Here's the one that was up early this morning: More »

He's Josh Beckett And You're Not

rickchand — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 10:00:59 EDT

What they're saying this fine morning about Boston's 7-1 win over Cleveland in the American League Championship Series ... More »

At Least Two More Days Of Life In The ALCS

Leitch — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 09:15:57 EDT

We find it telling that, the day after Josh Beckett once again saved the proverbial Red Sox hide, everyone was still talking about Manny Ramirez. It's amusing to watch reaction to Manny; people treat him like he's a normal human being rather than, you know, an alien. The trick is not to be mad that he didn't slide into home; the trick is to be impressed he didn't just go from third base straight into the dugout. More »

See, Now This Is Just Being Mean

Leitch — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 11:10:40 EDT

Imagine you're facing one of the most important moments of your career, a moment in which you must be on top of your game and perform at your peak capacity. Everyone is counting on you; the whole world is watching. Concentration is paramount. And then, when the moment of truth comes, and you're ready to go ... someone trots out one of your exes. Yipes: Good luck keeping your cool now. More »

The Red Sox Are Feeling Awfully Good About Themselves

Leitch — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 10:00:08 EDT

SI's Tom Verducci has an excellent rundown of just how dominant Josh Beckett was yesterday, and he was probably the biggest story yesterday: He made the Sox look like they were going to dominate the Angels like they did three years ago. That team has some swagger now. And that's all Red Sox fans need: More swagger. More »

Bend It Like Beckett

rickchand — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 09:15:08 EDT

Notes from a day in baseball: More »

Lucky Number Slevin

rickchand — Wed, 09 May 2007 10:15:47 EDT

Notes on a day in baseball: More »

The Closer: Mr. Met Will Crush You All

Rick Chandler — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 10:15:10 EDT

Notes from a day of baseball: • 1. Now Appearing In A Limited Engagement: The First-Place Mets. Say an alien (legal or otherwise) arrives on our shores for the first time, and ambles up to you to ask a question in his quaint, broken English. "Which team," he asks, "is the best baseball team in all of America?" Imagine your chagrin when you realize that the next words to leave your mouth will be "New York Mets." Yes, the Mets are 9-2, the best start in franchise history, following their 9-3 win over the Brewers on Sunday. Now the cynics out there may point out that five of those wins have come against the Nationals, and the others over the Marlins and Brewers. To those people we say, do not bother us with your "logic" and your "facts." Xavier Nady is hitting .366, a hundred points higher than his career average, with three homers. And that pace will continue. Anyone who says differently is JUST WRONG. • 2. For His Next Trick, He'll Walk On Water. Here's something that makes more sense than the Easter Bunny: worshipping Albert Pujols. The Cardinals' slugger yanked three out of the yard on Sunday, including a 441-foot walk-off homer in the ninth to give St. Louis an 8-7 win over the Reds. We're not worthy! He had five RBI and four runs scored as the Cards ended a 4-2 homestand, their first at new Busch Stadium. • 3. The Adventures Of Robinson Cano. Apparently, since Jason Giambi came clean to steroid investigators, he figures he can keep taking them. The Big G had two homers on Sunday and Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez had one each to lead New York to a 9-3 win over Minnesota and climb out of last place in the A.L. East. Personally, we'd rather loathe the Yankees than pity them, so we hope it's only one of many wins to come.• 4. The Josh Beckett Drinking Game. Speaking of trends we'd like to see continue, we just can't get enough of Boston's Josh Beckett. Remember, this is a guy who went nuts when a hitter took a step toward first base on a pitch he thought was ball four. That's Julian Tavarez loco, if you ask us. But unlike Tavarez, Beckett has a 3-0 record and a 1.29 ERA after Sunday's 3-2 win over the Mariners. We propose a new drinking game: a shot for every Beckett fist pump. Even Curt Schilling is saying "Now, that guy's intense."• 5. Los Tigres Son Muy Macho. Hey Barry: This is how it's done. Chris Shelton has eight home runs this season, the latest giving Detroit a 1-0 win over Cleveland on Sunday. The eight homers over his team's first 12 games is a feat that not even Babe Ruth accomplished; Shelton's the first to do it in A.L. history, actually. Mike Maroth (2-0) scattered three hits over seven innings and struck out five for the win, as the Tigers moved into a three-way tie for first in the A.L. Central. More »