Photo: David Goldman / AP
With the start of spring training (finally! *tosses confetti*), I’m so ready to move on from the horrors of last season’s complete melt down. From here on out, I vow to never mention the clubhouse chicken eating or beer drinking ever again. Like many of the players, I want a fresh start. I want to look forward to the season ahead rather than dwell on the collapse of 2011. Maybe that will get me out of my mid-winter funk.
Judging by early interviews out of Fort Meyers, it looks like I’m not the only one looking for a new beginning. I’m sure every one of the members of last year’s team would like nothing more than to never speak of last September again.
In a recent interview with the Boston Globe, Jon Lester said, ”I don’t think there’s anything else to talk about with it. The biggest thing is, myself, I’m ready to move on from it. I’ve learned from it. It’s something that I’m not proud of. The biggest thing is, especially from last year, is that you learn from your mistakes. I’m looking forward to starting new this year and trying to be that leader we were just talking about.”
Sounds like Jon has a long list of “biggest things” that went wrong with last year. That’s good. I do too! Maybe we can compare notes. I bet mine’s longer.
Josh Beckett, the supposed ring leader of the clubhouse shenanigans, also regrets mistakes made in 2011. He admits to not pitching well in his last two starts and blames a lapse in judgement as the reason. Huh? A lapse in judgement? Is that what you’re calling “drinking in the clubhouse” now?
He doesn’t blame the fans for being pissed off. In his interview with the Globe, Josh actually acknowledges the fans, something I never expected him to do.
“Absolutely, I’ve been a fan of things too. We were the best team in baseball for about five months. We’re just as let down as they are. That doesn’t make it right. We were very let down as well.”
“Yeah, absolutely we need to earn that trust back. I think they are the best fans in baseball. There’s some good and bad but they’re the best fans. We definitely have to win their trust back and the only way to do that is to go about our business as we did in previous years and win ballgames. I think that’s the best thing,” Beckett said.
On some level, these comments make me feel a little warm and fuzzy inside but we’ll see when Opening Day rolls around. I have high hopes for this season and I’m not quite sure why. While I don’t expect them to win it all, I do expect them to be a more cohesive team and I’m hoping Bobby Valentine is just the glue they need to get their heads out of their, ahem, rear ends (to put it politely)!
