Power Ranking the 10 Biggest Villains Who Disgraced the Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox sure know how to party, but they also know how to lose. We have been given a behind the scenes look at the BoSox 2011 season, and it was just shameful.

This is our chance to put names and faces to what went wrong with the Red Sox in 2011. The season that was supposed to be magical ended in the worst collapse in recent memory.

And to think that most pundits had this team steamrolling through the division with their star-studded roster. There was simply no way they could lose, and then they did.

I blame apathy. I call out nonchalance and entitlement. I also have a good mind to shake my finger at chicken and beer for infusing this team with tasty delights that filled them with malaise.

The season is over for the Boston Red Sox, but the questions are only just beginning. We wondered what Terry Francona meant when he deemed this offseason was the perfect time to say goodbye.

Now we know it was because he lost control of the locker room. Partying has been a part of baseball for decades. I can only imagine that Babe Ruth would have fit in well with Boston's 2011 sensibilities.

However, the sultan of swilling beer got the job done. The 1986 Mets were renowned for their festivities off the field, but they won the World Series.

The biggest crime this team committed was losing. It's one thing to lose control, but another to let the city down when they counted on a much more concerted effort.

Now it's time to play the blame game. It's the only game left for Red Sox to play, and they will play it with fervor and passion.

The young genius general manager is gone, and so is Tito, but we will not let them off the hook. Nor will we allow other athletes and power players to get off easy.

Here are the 10 biggest villains from the epic collapse of the Boston Red Sox.

Honorable Mention: Ludacris

I guess I could also fault Wade Boggs, who famously had fried chicken peculiarities. But the Red Sox collapse begins with two things: chicken and beer.

No team has ever failed from an indulgence that is so delicious. Then came the 2011 Boston Red Sox. Let's delve into the villains that put a pall on Beantown.

10. Dan Shaughnessy

Wait, what? How can we blame Dan Shaughnessy? The guy doesn't even play.

Easy. The man jinxed a franchise that is only a few years removed from the biggest one in sports. Mr. Shaughnessy all but guaranteed that the Rays would not come back from a 7-0 deficit.

He told NESN's Heidi Watney that the Rays could not rally to win that game, and they did. A town that believes as much in the supernatural as any other was jinxed, plain and simple.

9. Jason Varitek, David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis

The Boston Globe report cited by ESPN also stated that Jason Varitek, David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis failed to be as hands on in their leadership as they once were.

The old guys that have seen everything just didn't care as much as they used to. It is safe to assume that the holdovers from the Cowboy Up ethos would have made their opinions known a few years ago.

It's sad to say, but the passion to lead may have left them in 2011.

8. Clay Buchholz

Mr. Guilty by association. It's hard to fault Clay Buchholz as much as the triumvirate of debauchery, but he is listed as a pitcher that also hung out to play video games at times.

The funny part is that other managers have a solution to this problem. A CBS report issues that Jack McKeon would lock his player out from the locker room during games.

How novel. To think that the season could have been saved with turn of the key. Buchholz worked to improve from an early season funk, but we can't give him a pass here.

7. Carl Crawford

There was general disgust by fans not in the Boston area when the Red Sox signed Carl Crawford to a behemoth deal before the season started.

Now that disgust is centered in and around Boston, shared by every fan wearing Red Sox paraphernalia. Carl Crawford was only half of the player he was in 2010.

His power number plummeted as he forgot how to hit in the matter of a season. Crawford was just a high-priced lawn ornament, and everyone noticed.

6. Josh Beckett

Josh Beckett was just one of the three amigos cited in a report that had him drinking beer and eating fried chicken during games they weren't starting.

His ERA in 2011 was respectable. What isn't is his September collapse that coincided with the team's overall effort.

Giving up 12 earned runs to the Baltimore Orioles to end the season is unacceptable. The Orioles sudden surge may have more to do with a hangover and tummy ache by Beckett than their renewed power.

5. Jon Lester

Jon Lester was shellacked in September. Another one of the Three Amigos saw his ERA rise from 2.93 on Sept. 6 to 3.47 to end the season.

Giving up 18 earned runs in four games has a way of inflating an ERA. Maybe less with the crushing beers and more with the stamina exercises.

4. John Lackey

John Lackey was just one of the three pitchers fingered in a report that had him carousing in the locker room with chicken, beer and video games.

While I am piqued with a sudden desire to eat and drink, I am appalled by his commitment to the team that was on the field playing.

I am also uneasy about his ERA that jumped more than two runs in 2011 to 6.41. Have your fun; just bring the effort when you are on the bump.

3. Theo Epstein

You can't really blame Theo Epstein for a collapse, can you? Au contraire, you can certainly point a finger in his direction. 

If the buck doesn't stop at Epstein's desk, it certainly falls somewhere near it. He failed to corral the team as much as Tito did.

Now his leaving the Red Sox for the Cubs is being seen by fans as the captain of a sinking ship taking the first life boat to safety.

2. John Henry

The buck literally stops here. John Henry has allowed Theo Epstein to leave when very well could have done more to keep the architect behind the team's two recent World Series titles.

The real issue may have been the team ethic he supported. The collapse of the Red Sox coincided with all of the players being given $300 headphones and inviting them to a night on his yacht.

This is like getting a promotion after you are caught looking at the Internet all day at work. If it doesn't work in the real world, what made Henry believe it would work here?

1. Terry Francona

You have just one job as manager: get your guys to play. That sometimes means getting the hot guy the ball, or the hot bat in the lineup.

But in this case, it meant getting his stars to perform on a consistent basis. He failed to control a locker room that was in disarray, and in effect said, "To hell with it."

The blame is not all on Francona, but he is the face of the team, so he has to own it. Whatever mess his players get into falls on him, and that's just the breaks of the job.

If you are looking for the king of blame, it's Tito. Forget alleged pill popping that reports assert, I care more about the lack of accountability on this team.