Red Sox Players Blowing Off Johnny Pesky's Funeral Should Be the Last Straw

Is virtually every issue with the 2012 Boston Red Sox blown up into an outrage of explosive proportions?

Yes, probably. Scrutiny surrounding the Red Sox was already oppressive, of course, and always has been.

But when Boston is disgusted with a 59-65 team that's 13 games behind the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East and 8.5 games out of a wild-card playoff spot, anything that's remotely disagreeable becomes toxic.

The latest example of this comes from a Boston Herald report that only four current Red Sox players attended the funeral of team legend Johnny Pesky on Monday (Aug. 20). Pesky was an institution with the Red Sox, associated with the team as a player, manager and broadcaster for 60 years.

If a player has a part of the ballpark named after you—as Pesky does with the right-field foul pole at Fenway Park—chances are he had an extraordinary career with that team. 

Even Bruce Springsteen paid tribute to Pesky by shining a spotlight on Pesky's pole when he performed at Fenway Park on Aug. 14. Would he have done so if Pesky hadn't just passed away? Maybe, maybe not.

The point is that Springsteen had a sense of where he was and what Pesky meant to the people of Boston. He didn't play for the Red Sox, he doesn't look at Pesky's pole 81 nights a year. 

Perhaps this is an antiquated notion, but I believe when a player puts on the uniform of a particular major league team, he's obligated in some fashion to learn and respect the tradition associated with that franchise.

It's really not asking a lot and it's certainly a way to ingratiate yourself with the fans of that team. It's the difference between establishing a rapport and legacy with a community rather than just being what amounts to a paid mercenary, taking a paycheck from whatever team will pay for his services. 

How about just showing some respect for a man that died? 

What so many members of the 2012 Boston Red Sox don't seem to understand is how powerful perception can be. How fans and media perceive certain actions matter.

When Josh Beckett misses a start because of a strained lat muscle but then goes out and plays golf, it looks bad. People have no idea what exactly Beckett was doing on the golf course and whether or not he risked aggravating that injury. But the perception is that if he can play golf, he can probably pitch for the team paying him a lot of money to do so. 

When last year's fried-chicken-and-beer follies created a portrait of a team that just didn't care about their collapsing season, it looks bad when John Lackey struts around the clubhouse with a Bud Light in each hand after a tough loss. 

When only four players from the Red Sox show up for the funeral of a legendary and beloved figure in team history and the surrounding community, it creates the perception that the current set of players wearing the Red Sox uniform simply don't care about something that matters deeply to the team and its fanbase. 

Is that completely fair? Well, there are two sides to every story.

As Red Sox president Larry Lucchino explained during a local radio interview (quotes via the Boston Herald), the players returned from New York at 4 a.m. after a Sunday night game televised on ESPN. Expecting them to be on buses leaving for the funeral at 11 a.m. might have been asking a bit much.

Yet the Red Sox also didn't have a game on Monday and most everyone on the team attended Beckett's charity bowling event later in the evening. 

Lucchino also defended Red Sox players by mentioning that they participated in a pregame, on-field ceremony for Pesky the following night at Fenway Park.

But how much credit do the players deserve for showing up to that event? To paraphrase Chris Rock, did they want a cookie for showing up when they were supposed to be there?

They already had to be at the ballpark for that night's game against the Los Angeles Angels. To skip those festivities while teammates, coaches, front office personnel and upper management were on the field would have been especially egregious. 

For those suffering from outrage fatigue, uproar over the poor player attendance at Pesky's funeral must induce eye-rolling.

Just how big a deal was this really? Unless the team mandated that players be there, should there be any surprise that most of them chose to get some rest or take time for themselves that morning? Isn't there already enough to be upset about regarding the team's on-field performance and clubhouse behavior?

However, the furor created by this seemingly small incident speaks to how important it is that the Red Sox front office and ownership need a new mix of players on the roster. This dates back to last season's collapse and the offseason scandal that followed. Ownership never addressed that matter properly, allowing players with bad attitudes to feel further entitled.

If team executives were upset that more players didn't attend Pesky's funeral, then they should have said so publicly instead of grumbling to Boston Herald gossip reporters. What's wrong with calling out some guys at this point rather than make excuses for them?

If players respond poorly to that and noticeably check out for the remaining six weeks of the season, that just makes it easier for management to pick out who needs to go. 

What's the worst that can happen? Are the Red Sox going to play worse than they already have?

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