Price is right

Al Zarilla

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Didn’t Kimbrel cross up Vazquez once? Deked his own catcher? Threw a pitch in the middle of the plate about knee high that Vaz couldn’t corral. All’s well that ends well.
 

dhappy42

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Didn’t Kimbrel cross up Vazquez once? Deked his own catcher? Threw a pitch in the middle of the plate about knee high that Vaz couldn’t corral. All’s well that ends well.
If it’s the one I remember it was right down the middle... and called a ball.
 

soxhop411

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Price has earned every penny of his contract and then some. Thankfully he didn’t opt out after last season.
 

Mueller's Twin Grannies

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Welp. Price went off on Eck today during a press conference (after Eck brought up the price spat in the globe interview)

Threads with his comments
https://weei.radio.com/blogs/ryan-hannable/david-price-dennis-eckersley-drama-red-sox-pitcher-blasts-nesn-broadcaster
The organization needs to step in at this point and tell both parties to cut the shit. Have a sit down with team officials present so they can hammer out their differences. I realize Eckerlsey works for NESN and not the Red Sox but seeing as how NESN depends on the Red Sox to be a successful regional cable sports network, I can't see them balking at a chance to bury this and not have it carrying over any longer. If Eck refuses to meet, he should be told to stifle it on any talk about Price not pertaining to his performance in games. Likewise, Price needs to be told to stop talking about Eckersley when prompted by reporters. It's silly that two years later this is coming back up and it's time for all involved to put it to bed.
 

pedro1918

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This is all on Eck at this point and he looks bad IMO, not Price.
I was with you until this quote from Price:

"I saw his special on MLB Network. It was cool. One thing that stood out to me is he had zero former teammates in that interview. Not one talking about him. It was him talking about himself. If anybody ever does a special about me after baseball, I won’t need to go on that interview. I will have former teammates, former coaches, they can all vouch for me. He didn’t have that. To me, that’s all you need to know. That tells the entire story right there. My teammates will vouch for me, my coaches will vouch for me. He doesn’t have that, so he has to vouch for himself."

Eck should have met with him. If he was asked about the incident, Price should have kept it about the incident. He should shut up about Eck's personal life.
 

cornwalls@6

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A pox on both of their houses for this idiocy still lingering 2 years later. They should have met about 5 minutes after it happened, and cleared the air then. I love Eck, but he has little credibility still being butt hurt about this, given what a self-admitted mouthy d-bag he was a player. His refusal to meet with Price, and his recent tsk-tsking of Stroman are pretty tone deaf. And Price needs to drop the radar ears, and stop thinking he has to have the last word on every fucking thing. If they can’t do the adult thing and meet for a few minutes and patch things up, then at least take the 5th and bury it.
 

lexrageorge

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This happened 2 years ago and should be dead and buried. "Both sides" is an accurate take on this one.
 

canderson

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Eck probably gets canned for this eventually, my guess. Can’t have a color analyst trashing a player routinely. Easier to jettison Eck over Price.

They both look incredibly petty and immature.
 

Average Reds

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This happened 2 years ago and should be dead and buried. "Both sides" is an accurate take on this one.
If Eck pulled a no show for a meeting that was planned for an in-person apology, said he wants to move on and keeps bringing it up, this isn’t a “both sides” issue.

Not a good look for Eck.
 

riboflav

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Funny how no one had this take on Eck yesterday before Price one-upped him today by deviating outside the scope of the original incident and getting personal. Price started the whole thing and escalated it today in a pretty mean-spirited fashion. It's not Eck's responsibility to show up to hear an apology (IF that was even going to happen) if he doesn't want to. Eck didn't commit the original sin.
 

Average Reds

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Funny how no one had this take on Eck yesterday before Price one-upped him today by deviating outside the scope of the original incident and getting personal. Price started the whole thing and escalated it today in a pretty mean-spirited fashion. It's not Eck's responsibility to show up to hear an apology (IF that was even going to happen) if he doesn't want to. Eck didn't commit the original sin.
That’s a bit of a straw man, no?

No one is arguing that Eck needed to show up for the apology. But if his message to Price was “move on” and he’s the one who keeps bringing it up ...

Look, no one is arguing that Price didn’t fuck up. I just don’t get what Eck gets out of it by continuing to talk about it.
 
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McDrew

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Surprised no one has quoted what Eckersley said.

“I don’t plan on saying a word to him, I don’t plan on seeing him, never. I don’t really give a [expletive] one way or another. I don’t think he really cares one way or the other.’’
I don't see this as Eck trying to stir anything up. I think he's acknowledging that they have differing opinions and both don't plan to resolve it. I think the possible skipped meeting does make Eck look bad however.

Had David responded most recently with "he's right, I don't care," I don't think anyone would be still talking about this.

Edit: I English good.
 
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sean1562

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At this point, it just seems like 2 guys that work together/in the same organization dont like each other. I barely care about office gossip/drama at my own job. I dont see why anyone should care about it at someone else's job.
 

Auger34

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Surprised no one has quoted what Eckersley said.



I don't see this as Eck trying to stir anything up. I think he's acknowledging that they have differing opinions and both don't plan to resolve it. I think the possible skipped meeting does make Eck look bad however.

Had David responded most recently with "he's right, I don't care," I don't think anyone would be still talking about this.

Edit: I English good.
Completely agree with this. Eck got asked a question about it and effectively said “I don’t care. Don’t think he cares either”

Price should have said “I don’t care.”, “I don’t want this to be brought up anymore”, “No comment”. Instead he tweets about it and then calls reporters over to talk about Eck and effectively said Eck was a shitty teammate who people didn’t like.
Price basically took a small fire that could have been easily put out and instead poured gasoline all over it
 

barbed wire Bob

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This is the full quote from the article for context .
Players sometimes take umbrage. Red Sox pitcher David Price, whom Eckersley has criticized for his deliberate pitching style, in 2017 overheard the broadcaster utter on-air a one-word comment — “Yuck” — at the stat line of pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez after a minor league injury rehabilitation start. Price decided the team plane, with a captive audience, was the appropriate time to let Eckersley know how he felt. This is how Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy described the scene:

Price was standing near the middle of the team aircraft, surrounded by fellow players, waiting for Eckersley. When Eckersley approached, on his way to the back of the plane (Sox broadcasters traditionally sit in the rear of the aircraft), a grandstanding Price stood in front of Eckersley and shouted, “Here he is — the greatest pitcher who ever lived! This game is easy for him!” When a stunned Eckersley tried to speak, Price shot back with, “Get the [expletive] out of here!”

It was an ambush, tactless and calculated, and it still bothers Eckersley. “I didn’t know how to deal with that. I don’t plan on saying a word to him, I don’t plan on seeing him, never. [Broadcasters now board the plane before players.] I don’t really give a [expletive] one way or another. I don’t think he really cares one way or the other.”

When asked about the incident the day after it happened, Price said, “Some people just don’t understand how hard this game is.” It has to be in the running as the most ignorant sentence ever uttered about Dennis Eckersley.

“No one can ever say the game was easy for him,” says Caron. “He battled through everything. He gave up the Gibson home run.”
I don’t think what Eck said was that bad and I don’t understand Price’s reaction except to say it shows how incredibly thin skinned he is.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2019/07/16/got-lucky-man-dennis-eckersley-surviving-his-tough-times/q8qhQTRkfeasx3Uebbih7I/story.html
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Eck probably gets canned for this eventually, my guess. Can’t have a color analyst trashing a player routinely. Easier to jettison Eck over Price.

They both look incredibly petty and immature.
Routinely? There was the initial run-in, and then two years later, a reporter re-hashed it. I'm not sure that's "trashing a player routinely" at all.

Both men come out looking stupid in this, but so does the media for continuing to pick at the scab. Honestly, was anyone still worried about the Price-Eck relationship before yesterday?
 

FormerLurker

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Surprised no one has quoted what Eckersley said.



I don't see this as Eck trying to stir anything up. I think he's acknowledging that they have differing opinions and both don't plan to resolve it. I think the possible skipped meeting does make Eck look bad however.

Had David responded most recently with "he's right, I don't care," I don't think anyone would be still talking about this.

Edit: I English good.
I think Eckersley self-sabotaged himself a bit with his usual florid style. He should have said, "I don't care," and he basically did say that, but he said it in his colorful Eck way, and that was enough to inflame Price once again. I don't think anyone (including Finn) looks particularly good here, but I think Price looks the most thin-skinned.
 

jayhoz

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As is usually the case, no one covered themselves in glory here (not sure why anyone takes issue with @Chad Finn asking the question. He would be derelict in his duties if he hadn't). Instead of brushing the question aside, Eck chose to respond in his typical flamboyant and verbose style. That being said, Eck didn't bring the issue up and there isn't anything in his words that is particularly controversial or inflammatory.

“I didn’t know how to deal with that. I don’t plan on saying a word to him, I don’t plan on seeing him, never. I don’t really give a [expletive] one way or another. I don’t think he really cares one way or the other.”
David Price on the other hand took to social media to try to get the hype machine whipped into a frenzy and to attack Eck.


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At the ballpark David was asked about the be lit comment and he told the reporter to wait till the rest of the press was there (I don't have a link, but heard this mentioned several times on 98.5 yesterday and today). Again, Price was looking for maximum exposure and to build hype. When the press arrived David had this to share (Chronology of the comments may be incorrect).

"Honestly, I just think it’s trash"
"We had a meeting set up in 2017 here at the field," "Got here early. An hour and a half, two hours after I got here, they came and told me he’s not coming. We had a meeting, he backed out. I was going to tell him, ‘I apologize. I didn’t handle it the right way.’ It continues to come up. There’s no reason for it."
He wants to move on, but he continues to go on the radio and do interviews about it" "If you want to move on, move on. We’re two grown men. We can meet. Nothing’s going to happen. I yelled at you. I’m sure everybody in here has been yelled at. It’s unfortunate that it happened. I wanted to tell him that face-to-face. He chose not to show up. That was that.
If David was going to apologize, kudos to him for trying to squelch this and shame on Eck for not showing up.

He had an unbelievable career and he’s a Hall of Famer,” “I saw his special on MLB Network. It was cool. The one thing that stood out to me was that he had zero former teammates in that interview. Not one talking about him. It was him talking about himself. “If anybody ever does a special on me after baseball, I won’t need to go on that interview. I will have former teammates. I will have former coaches. He didn’t have that. To me, that’s all you need to know. That tells the story right there.”
This has nothing to do with the issue between Eck and Price, it is a character assassination of Eck, it's self aggrandizing for Price, and patently false. Gammons said on 98.5 yesterday that he spoke to, I believe, the producer of the MLB Network piece who said that 100% of the former teammates/coaches they reached out to eagerly agreed to participate, appear in the piece, and had nothing but positive things to say about Eck. According to the producer the typical response rate is only around 80%.

So, Price's reaction to a largely benign response to a question was a day of maximizing exposure for the story he wishes would just go away and attacking Eck's character for things unrelated to their feud.

David Price is an ultra-thin skinned person who chooses to try to tear down people he disagrees with. He comes across as an attention seeking petulant child in all of this.
 
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Spelunker

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Actually from the I'd blame the EEI social media person who wrote a tweet making it seem like the was the point of the whole story.
 

jayhoz

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Too much of a burden for Price to click through to the actual story? Maybe he can't afford the Globe paywall?

Price also met with Cora about the issue prior to his conversation with the press. Plenty of opportunity for him to develop an opinion beyond his initial reaction to the EEI tweet.
 

Green Monster

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I don't pretend to be up to date with recent slang, but for those who are.......... is this some kind of reference to Eck's past drinking problem or does "Lit" have another meaning?


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terrynever

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I find it interesting that Chad Finn admits in today’s follow up column that his favorite team was the 1978 Red Sox, for whom Eck toiled. Finn treated Eck with great deference in his interview for the Sunday Magazine piece. Isn’t it time to call Eck out, especially after his hypocritical take on Marcus Stroman letting out a loud yell and staring at a Red Sox hitter last week? Eck called Stroman’s outburst “tired.” Stroman is enough of a baseball student to know Eck did the same thing over and over again during his HOF career.
Eck is a great color analyst but is he becoming too out of touch with today’s athletes?
 

sean1562

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hopefully we all stop talking about this after David's next start against the Orioles. I hadn't looked at his line recently, he is having a great year. Hopefully he can sustain this for the next few seasons.
 

chawson

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It’s amazing to me that this dude is being scapegoated with immaterial “know your place”-type scolding nine months after he saved our postseason and in the middle of a vintage if not career year.

To me, this is on Eckersley. I also wouldn’t doubt that Price was bothered by Eck publicly calling out Stroman, Price’s former teammate, a couple weeks ago. It’s a tricky line to walk since Stroman was pitching well against the Sox and I doubt Price will say it outright, but Eckersley really told on himself there. It’s quite the double standard for someone notorious for having been one of the most unreserved and loose-lipped shit-talkers in the game.
 

chrisfont9

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I find it interesting that Chad Finn admits in today’s follow up column that his favorite team was the 1978 Red Sox, for whom Eck toiled. Finn treated Eck with great deference in his interview for the Sunday Magazine piece. Isn’t it time to call Eck out, especially after his hypocritical take on Marcus Stroman letting out a loud yell and staring at a Red Sox hitter last week? Eck called Stroman’s outburst “tired.” Stroman is enough of a baseball student to know Eck did the same thing over and over again during his HOF career.
Eck is a great color analyst but is he becoming too out of touch with today’s athletes?
Not a great look. Price is obviously hinting at something with his comments about none of Eck's teammates being in the documentary. As usual, I probably don't want to know much about current or former sports stars beyond what they do for their job.
 

BroodsSexton

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"Honestly, I just think it’s trash. He had an unbelievable career, 25 seasons. He’s a Hall of Famer. I saw his special on MLB Network. It was cool. One thing that stood out to me is he had zero former teammates in that interview. Not one talking about him. It was him talking about himself. If anybody ever does a special about me after baseball, I won’t need to go on that interview. I will have former teammates, former coaches, they can all vouch for me. He didn’t have that. To me, that’s all you need to know. That tells the entire story right there. My teammates will vouch for me, my coaches will vouch for me. He doesn’t have that, so he has to vouch for himself."
Say what you want, this is just Grade A shade. One thing Price knows is how to throw it.
 

amRadio

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I would also throw public shade at a grown man for bringing up a 2 year old dispute so callously in a well publicized article if my attempt at an apology were blown off. They both look like clowns, but one person brought this back into the limelight. It takes two to make it this ugly, but this did not need to come back and that isn't on Price.
 

terrynever

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Not a great look. Price is obviously hinting at something with his comments about none of Eck's teammates being in the documentary. As usual, I probably don't want to know much about current or former sports stars beyond what they do for their job.
Chad Finn pointed out in today’s follow up article that around five of Eck’s former teammates were quoted in the documentary that Price referenced.
Finn also explained why he felt he had to revisit the Price situation with Eck. It is still news to journalists. To regular people, maybe the attitude is let bygones be bygones.
One tenet of journalism is to cover all the bases in a story, including past history. Finn’s article was written for the Sunday Globe Magazine, where article length is triple the size of a daily newspaper story. In search of depth, Chad went back to a prior incident which stirred the pot again. Non-journalists will say Finn was looking for controversy but my sense is he just wanted to write a great story. You guys might find this hard to believe but writing the best story is the only agenda most scribes have.
Chad being a Red Sox fan away from work, he must feel bad about this as his article stirred things up.
 

uncannymanny

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It is still news to journalists.
Cool, they should put it in the newspaper that goes only to journalists then.

Usually a big fan of Chad, but the article would've been great without it and he inserts his own bias of the situation into the piece. Completely unnecessary.
 

lexrageorge

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Cool, they should put it in the newspaper that goes only to journalists then.

Usually a big fan of Chad, but the article would've been great without it and he inserts his own bias of the situation into the piece. Completely unnecessary.
The event when it happened was pretty big news. Chad Finn couldn't simply just ignore it altogether when putting together the article.

Eck should have said the incident is in the past and is now closed. Instead, he provoked Price, who, in turn, cranked it up to 11, instead of just saying he tried to apologize once before.
 

uncannymanny

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But he didn’t just “not ignore” the incident, he managed to spend quite a bit of words on it and criticize Price himself, again. Is this incident really that important in The scheme of Eck’s life?

IMO Chad knew exactly what would happen with this bit.
 

terrynever

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But he didn’t just “not ignore” the incident, he managed to spend quite a bit of words on it and criticize Price himself, again. Is this incident really that important in The scheme of Eck’s life?

IMO Chad knew exactly what would happen with this bit.
Yes, when a reporter gets a dynamite quote, he knows it. And yet, this aspect was just a minor part of a lengthy story on Eck’s post-player life.
 

Gdiguy

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I think Eckersley self-sabotaged himself a bit with his usual florid style. He should have said, "I don't care," and he basically did say that, but he said it in his colorful Eck way, and that was enough to inflame Price once again. I don't think anyone (including Finn) looks particularly good here, but I think Price looks the most thin-skinned.
I dunno, I found that Eck statement pretty passive-aggressive.

The thing is - if this was two players, I'd be fine with saying Price is more thin-skinned. But there's a power imbalance here, where Eck is really more of 'management' (especially with the Red Sox ownership ties to NESN) - so Eck really needs to be more of an adult here. You know Price is thin-skinned, so rather than get into a fight with a player who you're supposed to be covering, just say 'it's over, we've moved on' and be done with it; don't make passive aggressive swipes at people who you're being paid on TV to cover.
 

terrynever

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Cool, they should put it in the newspaper that goes only to journalists then.

Usually a big fan of Chad, but the article would've been great without it and he inserts his own bias of the situation into the piece. Completely unnecessary.
You’re right on this, of course. This happens a lot in regular news stories. Someone with a past history breaks a law and his whole history is repeated in the back end of the story. Most of the time, it is related to the most recent incident. But not always.
The bias thing is interesting. Sports scribes hang out with broadcasters in the press box and in the lunch room. Access to players is very limited. So the real friendships are among the people who cover the games. And they usually have each other’s backs.