Red Sox Rumors: Constant Allegations Prove Sox Hungry for Non-Stop Attention

Just to be clear, the two teams playing for the World Series are the Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals. The Boston Red Sox haven't been relevant since being eliminated from playoff contention on September 28.

In reality, this should have been the last time we heard from the Red Sox in a serious way, at least as the 2011 season is concerned.

But that just wouldn't be the Boston way.

Here, ESPN Boston's Gordon Edes details reports that Red Sox starting pitchers were drinking in the clubhouse, and possibly in the dugout, during games that they were not pitching.

Here, ESPN Chicago's Bruce Levine goes over the Red Sox' soon-to-be former general manager Theo Epstein's move to the Cubs, to take the same role.

As if that wasn't enough, this Sports Illustrated article details personal problems of former manager Terry Francona, and speculates on whether or not they might have contributed to the September decline of the Red Sox.

All three of these reports have been published since the Red Sox were eliminated from the playoffs. But do you know what else has happened since that day? The division series, the championship series and now, the first game of the World Series. All of those have one thing in common: They did not include the Boston Red Sox.

It's amazing how quickly the Red Sox forget that they were once on the wrong end of this. Does anyone remember the 2007 World Series? The Red Sox swept the Rockies. Late in the fourth game, Alex Rodriguez announced that he was opting out of his contract with the Yankees.

As was detailed here, Bob DuPuy, who was then the COO of Major League Baseball, was not happy with Rodriguez's timing.

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"We were very disappointed that Scott Boras would try to upstage our premier baseball event of the season with his announcement."

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The criticism drew this response from Rodriguez, which came from the same article as DuPuy's comments:

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"I apologize to the Boston Red Sox and Colorado Rockies and their players, Major League Baseball and its players, and baseball fans everywhere for that interference...The teams and players involved deserved to be the focus of the evening and honored with the utmost respect. The unfortunate result was not my intent, but is solely my fault. I could have handled this situation better, and for that I am truly sorry."

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So, how is what the Red Sox are doing now any different? Well, there are a few differences.

For one, that was one man exercising one moment of bad timing, which put the spotlight on him, and not the players and teams that deserved it.

This is one organization doing that for an entire month, several times over. No, we don't know where the reports are coming from, but this is happening far too often.

During the playoffs and World Series, the focus needs to be on the teams that are competing for a championship. Despite the loaded roster that Boston has, the Red Sox are simply not one of those teams.

For the record, I am not a Red Sox hater. I'm not really a Yankee hater either. Personally, I am a fan of a West Coast, National League team.

While I wish my team was competing for the World Series this year, I know that they are not. They don't deserve to be getting more attention than either of the two teams that are.

We'll have an entire offseason to focus on the Red Sox. I am sure that the free-agency period will give them more than enough spotlight. But for right now, these "leaks" and reports need to stop.

The only thing in the baseball world that matters right now is this: The Cardinals lead the Rangers 1-0 in the 2011 World Series.

When and where the Boston pitchers decided to drink beer just doesn't matter.