WHY JOSH BECKETT'S EGO NEEDS TO TAKE A BACK SEAT

I’ve always believed baseball players were role models and this thinking goes back to my childhood. You know a positive role model when you see him, sometimes it's just by their presence on the field and if you get to be so lucky, in person when they shake your hand and you get the tell them that you’re a huge fan. I had that opportunity with Joe Torre and I see that with Derek Jeter...It sticks with you. Usually players understand the fan pay their salary and the fans are the ones you win for.

There are others besides Jeet too. Like Adrian Gonzalez, a Red Sock of all people, but my buddy who didn’t exactly know what to expect going to meet him, walked away with a new perspective. Gonzalez took the time to chat with baseball fans and it was genuine. My bud likes him now, and he's a huge Yankees fan. The point is fans pay the salary of these athletes and if you ever get a moment to meet one of these guys and are able to peel away their layers of security, it’s a nice moment, which brings me to Josh Beckett.

Now, full disclosure here…I am not a fan of Josh Beckett, but it has nothing to do with the Red Sox and everything to do with the fact that he’s a good pitcher and he beat us in 2003 when he was with the Marlins. But that being said, something needs to be said about respecting the fan. He has no respect. Fans pay his inflated salary and when he was asked Sunday about the Sox “beer and chicken” scandal that "could have" or "may have not" contributed to the Sox demise in 2011, he was quoted as saying that “mistakes” were made but he doesn’t need to apologize for a “lapses in judgement.” Read HERE. That puzzled me.

Lapse means a temporary failure of concentration, memory or judgement. "Lapses" is plural, meaning more than 1 time. If it’s done more than once, then that’s exactly why you SHOULD apologize to the fans that spend their hard earned money in a recession to see you play baseball. This not only shocked me, but it disappointed me. Why? Because Jon Lester just gained my respect tenfold, when addressing the mess, he said "I take complete responsibility for it." Wow, that's nice, but Beckett was with you and so was John Lackey. So, my question is... Who the hell does Josh Beckett think he is? Reports are he was one of the worst offenders of the whole mess. If that's true, but he still wants to diss his fans, it's a shame.

What's even more hilarious is Bobby V, who Sunday said “Attitude filters down... When you see Josh Beckett and Jon Lester here (in camp early), they are at the top of the pyramid as far as pitchers are concerned. They’ve been showing fantastic attitude.” My take on that is simple... you're not fooling anyone Bobby, they're supposed to be there, it's that Pitchers & Catchers time of year. They've already been with the Sox organization for 6 years each. If Lester and Beckett don't know by now they're role models and need to be at Spring Training "early" as you say, I think we have bigger problems.

My point is if Josh Beckett wants to be a leader, than be a leader, don’t sit there like you’re the victim of the media. That's not acceptable and for the record, this goes for every athlete. Do you think if Derek Jeter was involved in a situation like this he wouldn’t come out and take the heat? He would... That’s leadership, not this though, Sox fans should be alittle disappointed.

Now, some will suggest that if Beckett comes out in 2012 and wins 18 game, all is forgotten. I get that because I’m a fan of this great game, but my take on this is simple… you want to be a leader in the clubhouse and you were involved with what many are connecting to the collapse of the Red Sox missed playoff run, then you need to come out and take responsibility... then we move on…plain and simple. The fans deserve it, they pay you to win and it’s exactly what you didn’t do. In my eyes, Jon Lester gets a pass... but not Josh Beckett, not if I'm a Sox fan, no way.

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