The evening prior to Franklin Morales allowing 3 first inning HR’s in the Bronx, Red Sox co-owner Larry Lucchino (above) attended his club’s 6-3 defeat of the Orioles Thursday night, taking a pregame shot at damage control in the wake of Jeff Passan’s explosive tale of clubhouse discord. ““We have to be sure we remember the cynical jaded media does not speak for .?.?. they don’t necessarily capture the voice of the fanbase,” mused Lucchino, who’d have you believe the dissatisfaction with Bobby Valentine is some sort of media creation. Or that “the fanbase” is somehow more forgiving than the Fourth Estate. “It’s a good diversionary tactic and befitting of his law degree,” wrote the Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham, “but Lucchino has to know that Red Sox fans are smarter than that.”
The media in Boston can be hyperbolic and in some cases, downright vapid. But nobody from the Globe, Herald, WEEI, Comcast or the other outlets threw a pitch this season or helped pick the roster, and fans know that.
If a professional athlete is somehow distracted into poor performances by the media, he shouldn’t be a professional athlete, or at least not a well-paid one. That is especially the case in the social media era.
If the media is such a problem, how are the Yankees 70-48? They have literally twice as many reporters following them. Don’t insult smart fans by making up excuses. John Henry is controlling the message by sending out e-mails (surely filtered through PR guru Dr. Charles Steinberg) to reporters whenever crisis strikes. But he would be wise to take unfettered questions at some point and let fans hear his answers. That hasn’t happened since spring training.