Report outlines Red Sox problems

The Boston Red Sox had a host of problems this past season, including a trio of star pitchers who partied in the clubhouse while their teammates blew a big September lead, and a manager who could not regain control of the situation, the Boston Globe reported Wednesday.

A team source told the newspaper that Terry Francona was distracted by marital issues and his use of pain medication last season, allegations the former Red Sox manager has strongly denied.

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"It makes me angry that people say these things because I've busted my (butt) to be the best manager I can be," Francona said when the Globe presented him with its findings. "I wasn't terribly successful this year, but I worked harder and spent more time at the ballpark this year than I ever did."

ESPN MLB analyst John Kruk says he can't believe players on the Red Sox would allow teammates to drink beer, play video games and eat fried chicken during games.

Francona, married to his wife, Jacque, for almost 30 years, moved out of their house and lived in a hotel this past season, the newspaper reported.

According to the Globe, team sources also had concerns that Francona's performance may have been affected by his use of pain medication.

Francona -- who left the Red Sox in a mutual decision announced Sept. 30 -- has had nearly 20 surgeries on his knees, has used pain medication for many years. He told the newspaper he used painkillers after knee surgery in October 2010 and used them during the season after doctors drained blood from his knee at least five times.

Francona told the newspaper that he consulted with the team's internist, Dr. Larry Ronan, during spring training after one of his children expressed concern about a pill bottle in his hotel room.

"I went and saw the proper people and it was not an issue," Francona said. "It never became an issue, and anybody who knew what was going on knows that.''

Reached by ESPNBoston.com Wednesday, he said he would have no further comment.

Even though the Red Sox were in the midst of a free fall, pitchers Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and John Lackey drank beer, ate fried chicken and played video games in the clubhouse on days they did not start, team sources told the Globe.

If Boston had won one more game, and Tampa Bay had lost one, none of the talk of the Red Sox's clubhouse issues would have been brought up, ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney writes.

Drinking beer, ordering food and playing video games was permissable in the Red Sox clubhouse, and the trio -- who were sometimes joined by fellow pitcher Clay Buchholz -- started the practice in 2010 and continued it into this season, sources told the Globe.


According to sources, not showing solidarity with teammates was one thing, but the lack of focus filtered into the pitchers' conditioning programs. The pitchers cut back on their regimens, despite strength and conditioning coach Dave Page cajoling them to remain committed.

"It's hard for a guy making $80,000 to tell a $15 million pitcher he needs to get off his butt and do some work," one source told the Globe.

While the Red Sox went from leading the Tampa Bay Rays by nine games in the wild-card race to missing the playoffs, Beckett, Lester and Lackey went 2-7 with a 6.45 ERA.

The collapse featured pettiness, as well. With Hurricane Irene set to hit Boston and the Oakland A's in town, the Red Sox juggled the schedule to fit in a day-night doubleheader so as not to have to reschedule with a team on the opposite coast. But some Red Sox players angrily protested, according to the Globe.

The team swept the twin bill, but sources said resentment continued, to the point that Red Sox brass gave all of the players $300 headphones and invited them to a night on owner John Henry's yacht.

The gesture didn't stop the team from unraveling, however. Sources told the paper that Francona's closed-door team meeting Sept. 7 didn't change the deteriorating attitude.

Francona denied, though, that the fact he hadn't gotten a contract extension, that he had marital woes or even that he was distracted by worry over his son Nick and son-in-law, Michael Rice, serving in Afghanistan had an effect on the team.

"You never heard any of these complaints when we were going 80-41 because there was nothing there," Francona said, according to the newspaper. "But we absolutely stunk in the last month, so now we have to deal with a lot of this stuff because expectations were so high."

The Globe cited sources as saying that past Red Sox leaders Jason Varitek, David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis were not as active as they had been in the past about exerting leadership.

The pitchers in the story would not comment to the Globe on the allegations. All remain under contract to the Red Sox, while Francona is gone and general manager Theo Epstein is reportedly on the verge of leaving for the Chicago Cubs.

Only Dustin Pedroia escaped completely unscathed in the article, and he wasn't going to point any fingers.

"I just know that playing in Boston, you're required to play your tail off every day to try to win ballgames for this city," Pedroia said, according to the newspaper. "That's what hurt so much as a player, that we not only let each other down in the clubhouse but we let the city down."

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