Shank aka CHB calls out David Price calling out Eck

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nothumb

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Interesting--I went the opposite direction. Basically, I feel like this whole thing could have been quashed with a well timed, "Hey, knock it off." That that didn't and hasn't happened suggests a bad vibe to me, and quashing bad vibes might well be the manager's most important job.

If this happened after a loss, Farrell should have pulled out the, "Is losing fun?" speech from Moneyball when he heard the applause.

I totally agree that Farrell could have handled it better, I just think the article does a lousy job of articulating why.

I also think it's inherently self serving for the media to blame Farrell for the issue "lingering," when it's only back in the media because Shank sat on a hit piece for a month, waiting for Price to lay an egg.
 

Reverend

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I totally agree that Farrell could have handled it better, I just think the article does a lousy job of articulating why.
Ah. Fair enough. I generally try to ignore that stuff completely and divorce the data I need from the take.
 

RedOctober3829

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I totally agree that Farrell could have handled it better, I just think the article does a lousy job of articulating why.

I also think it's inherently self serving for the media to blame Farrell for the issue "lingering," when it's only back in the media because Shank sat on a hit piece for a month, waiting for Price to lay an egg.
Actually, this statement is dead wrong. Did you read the column? Dan specifically said that he spoke to people during the Angels series.

"While in California, I spoke with six people who witnessed the Price-Eckersley incident and another handful of folks close to the situation. Few would agree to be quoted — Eckersley and Price would not comment — but here’s the narrative of what went down:"
 

nothumb

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Actually, this statement is dead wrong. Did you read the column? Dan specifically said that he spoke to people during the Angels series.

"While in California, I spoke with six people who witnessed the Price-Eckersley incident and another handful of folks close to the situation. Few would agree to be quoted — Eckersley and Price would not comment — but here’s the narrative of what went down:"
That's a sleight of hand. He spoke to people during the Angels series. Doesn't mean he didn't also speak to them three weeks ago and write the piece then.

Whether he literally sat on the piece or just dragged up a weeks old issue for the hell of it, the point stands regarding the timing of the article. Media can't blame Sox for letting it linger when media are the ones bringing it back up after all parties have moved on.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Farrell was on WEEI and did not dispute any of Shank's column so the notion that this is a hit piece is nonsense.
"Hit piece" does not imply the story is false, though. The story can be 100% true and the article can still be a hit piece in the sense that its purpose is to open a sore that doesn't need to be exposed, or has already healed.

The incident is weeks old at this point. Forgotten about to a great extent. Now it has renewed life, but to what end? For all we know, Price and Eck declined to comment on it because to them, it's over and done with and everyone's moved on. Except Shaughnessy didn't want it over. He wanted to rip the bandaid off again and pour a little salt. Probably for the clicks and to pick up a few extra gift cards as compensation for radio appearances.
 

chawson

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If Price had asked Eck what he was trying to accomplish by saying that about Rodriguez, if Price said he and his teammates are sick of Eck's on-air criticisms, or if Price had explained why Eck's comment was unfair, I think it would have been in the Globe's report. But according to the story, Price did not actually mention Eck's specific comment and refused to have an actual discussion (or argument).
You're so close to having a breakthrough here.
 

GlucoDoc

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To the points made recently, unless I am missing something, we really do not actually know what Eck intended by saying "Yuck." He is not talking. It seemingly was an exclamation, uttered, clearly, without much thought, and apparently a response to hearing of a bad performance by ERod. Very much in character for him and his approach to commentary.

There is an assumption that Eck was implying that ERod was significantly defective as pitcher? Really?

I have used that word, or ones like it, when I hear about a bad thing happening to someone I care about. How do we know that his knee-jerk response was that he had hope for ERod and his return to form, and a bad performance was disappointing and he felt bad for ERod? It could have been a "Sympathy Yuck." Without any further explanation from Eck, I am not sure we know what he was thinking. Of course, the player response was likely based on feelings beyond just that Yuck and go to the issue of his on-air criticisms, as has been noted. Yuck is probably an excuse. But I suspect there is a lot of jumping to conclusions here. Yuck.
 

barbed wire Bob

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Jen McCaffrey‏Verified account @jcmccaffrey 2h2 hours ago
Not an uncommon occurrence but just something to note, Farrell called Price into his office and closed the door. Were in there about 10 mins

Jason Mastrodonato‏Verified account @JMastrodonato 11m11 minutes ago
Farrell did not offer any details from his meeting with Price today.
Jen McCaffrey @jcmccaffrey·2h

Nope. Price walked out calmly and headed back to the clubhouse.
King23 @TL504Replying to @jcmccaffreyAny yelling?

Jen McCaffrey @jcmccaffrey·1h

Farrell said his meeting with Price was nothing out of the ordinary.
 

Byrdbrain

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Bradford was on EEI today and shared audio he had of an interview he had with Sale last week.
This was a day that Price pitched which means that Price owned the music. During the typical time that the media hangs around the clubhouse and talks to players Price turned up some awful techno music to ridiculously high levels and according to those who were there did it for the sole reason of making the reporters job impossible to do. Bradfo stated that the volume of the music was absolutely unprecedented for that time of day and the only time it ever was nearly that loud was after a big win.
As I said Bradford shared the audio and you could barely hear a word that was spoken even though he stated he had the recorder right in Sale's face.

I hope Price throws shutouts every time he pitches for the team I root for but the guy simply seems like a thin skinned dick.
 

grimshaw

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Bradford was on EEI today and shared audio he had of an interview he had with Sale last week.
This was a day that Price pitched which means that Price owned the music. During the typical time that the media hangs around the clubhouse and talks to players Price turned up some awful techno music to ridiculously high levels and according to those who were there did it for the sole reason of making the reporters job impossible to do. Bradfo stated that the volume of the music was absolutely unprecedented for that time of day and the only time it ever was nearly that loud was after a big win.
As I said Bradford shared the audio and you could barely hear a word that was spoken even though he stated he had the recorder right in Sale's face.

I hope Price throws shutouts every time he pitches for the team I root for but the guy simply seems like a thin skinned dick.
I heard that too, but wasn't positive it was done purposefully so didn't mention it.
Plus it would admit I listened to Rob Bradford.

He is the least likeable well paid pitcher since Lackey.
 

chawson

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I heard that too, but wasn't positive it was done purposefully so didn't mention it.
Plus it would admit I listened to Rob Bradford.

He is the least likeable well paid pitcher since Lackey.
Probably true, but ridiculous. John Lackey divorced his wife while she was recovering from breast cancer.

What's the worst thing David Price has done? Give up a 325-foot homer to Lonnie Chisenhall?
 

grimshaw

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Probably true, but ridiculous. John Lackey divorced his wife while she was recovering from breast cancer.

What's the worst thing David Price has done? Give up a 325-foot homer to Lonnie Chisenhall?
I had forgotten about that Lackey thing.
 

curly2

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I don't know if this is just who Timlin is, or if there is some order from on high, but he's been brutal to watch.

The Sox have lost four straight, they're playing like dogshit and Timlin is praising every player for every thing they do.

Give me Eck anytime.
 

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6-12 in their last 18, including a brutal walk-off loss last night in extras.

If the team thought they could bond together in some sort of solidarity against Eck's comments....they were wrong. They're playing like dogshit and they're coming across as petty insecure assholes with this Eck thing.
 

Humphrey

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Of course Shank writes a follow up article...shouldn't be surprised, as much as this incident proves just who Price is....it also proves who Shank is too.
 

Green Monster

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Trying to figure out what deep rooted resentment Farrell might have with Eck......I don't know where/how to go about trying to find anything, but does anyone recall Eckersley making any comments about Farrell's alleged affair with Jessica Moran?
 

drbretto

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Trying to figure out what deep rooted resentment Farrell might have with Eck......
Take this FWIW, which is nothing, but the best scenario I can come up with here. I take it like someone heard about Eck saying "Yuck" and assumed it was a judgement of EdRo, not just a basic reaction to the numbers that popped up (unless this happened more than once, I saw this when it happened and it was clear in context. He saw the numbers and said "yuck!" because the numbers were bad numbers. And that was literally it)

But, someone, let's say Price just for the hell of it, hears about it second-hand and relays it without context. Now it's running through the clubhouse like a wildfire and they use it for motivation, even though it really wasn't a thing in the first place. So, that's sitting there under the surface the whole time, until Price loses his cool on the plane.

IMO, that's some Buck Showalter shit.
 

HriniakPosterChild

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To me, this is more an issue of the status of commentators with respect to the team than anything else. They want to travel with the team and be one of the guys, but also be able to be able to honestly assess the players' performance; I just think that's a tightrope that's far too thin to walk in the long-term.
The broadcasters travel with the team because their management tells them to. Their management tells them to because it is the easiest way to ensure that they arrive at the next game in time to broadcast it.

All 30 MLB teams do it this way.
 

MyDaughterLovesTomGordon

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Wow - that Buckley column was pretty savage of Farrell. Buck has a lot of credibility (at least with me) and he went after him hard. Seemed like Buck himself feels bullied.
 

InsideTheParker

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Wow - that Buckley column was pretty savage of Farrell. Buck has a lot of credibility (at least with me) and he went after him hard. Seemed like Buck himself feels bullied.
The YE$ guys were referring to this, and particularly saying the Sox have not apologized to Eck, as I thought I'd read they did. Leiter says that Eck is "devastated."
I didn't hear this myself, got report from spouse watching the game. I bet they are loving this... crocodile years and all...
 

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Pretty terrible article, and that's coming from someone who would have loved to agree with it.

This reporter sounds like he thinks JF has the same obligation to be "tough" in defense of Eck as he would in defense of his players. Tons of false equicalencies throughout.
His point is that Farrell uses the "Need to be accountable" against reporters, for saying negative things, when defending Price, but when Price steps out of line that attitude disappears. He's hypocritical.

Being a "players manager" is one thing, but tolerating (never mind tacitly condoning) shitty behavior is another.
 

nothumb

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His point is that Farrell uses the "Need to be accountable" against reporters, for saying negative things, when defending Price, but when Price steps out of line that attitude disappears. He's hypocritical.
It's a false equivalency. What we expect of employees (and whether we communicate it in public) is not the same thing as what we ask for or expect from outside parties. Whatever request for treatment or ground rules JF gives to the press is just rhetoric. They don't work for him. The idea that he needs to treat them the same as he treats his employees (or the idea that he would publicly rebuke or redirect an employee as opposed to doing it in private) just doesn't hold water.

And again, I really don't like the guy, and I agree with the underlying idea that he doesn't seem to have a grip on the workplace culture or environment. But it's childish for this reporter to argue that Farrell has the same obligation to "protect" Eck as he does the players.
 

Leather

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And again, I really don't like the guy, and I agree with the underlying idea that he doesn't seem to have a grip on the workplace culture or environment. But it's childish for this reporter to argue that Farrell has the same obligation to "protect" Eck as he does the players.
Nobody is arguing that.

Farrell fed them a line of bullshit. The reporter is calling him out on it.
 

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nothumb

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Nobody is arguing that.

Farrell fed them a line of bullshit. The reporter is calling him out on it.
The last line of the piece says, "If a Dennis Eckersley can be hung out to dry and nobody does anything about it, is it all worth it?"

Which, first of all, is pretty melodramatic. But also, since the whole thing focuses on JF's allegedly inadequate actions as it relates to Eck, it clearly implies that JF has some kind of obligation to make it right, and that he hasn't done so.

And the "bullshit" that JF allegedly fed reporters, and the characterization that he gave lip service to respecting the press but also talked tough to them, is based totally on the author's telling, since the quotes are sentence fragments completely lacking context. I don't know if that conversation was on film or was reported more fully elsewhere, but it's certainly not sourced here in a way that lends credibility to the writer.

Ugh, I really hate feeling even a little bit like I'm defending Farrell. But I hate bad writing even more.
 

reggiecleveland

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You mean again?

The original article came out June 30. His next start Price pitched what was then his best game of the season, striking out nine rangers and walking none.

https://articles.masslive.com/redsox/index.ssf/2017/07/david_price_pitches_brilliantl.amp

Not sure anyone here "learned a bit about him" from that.
I disagree. It is different now, JF is being questioned, etc.

Yeah but at that time it seemed like it was being handled. I at least had an assumption the "internal" discussions would put an end to it. The more recent revelations certainly paint a worse picture of Price. You just need to look through the thread to see it seemed more like Price sticking up for Erod than an abusive attack.

The Sox are losing, the story has grown to include respected reporters questioning the manager. I expected a shrug and this is just CHB, but it has legs.
 

metacom

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Predictably. NESN is pretending that none of this happened. While every other station that says anything about the Red Sox is covering this, they say NOTHING. I loved Timlin as a player but as a color guy......yuck. Still can't believe that Price gets to be such a jerk and no one on the Red Sox tells him to knock it off and play baseball.
 

chawson

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I disagree. It is different now, JF is being questioned, etc.

Yeah but at that time it seemed like it was being handled. I at least had an assumption the "internal" discussions would put an end to it. The more recent revelations certainly paint a worse picture of Price. You just need to look through the thread to see it seemed more like Price sticking up for Erod than an abusive attack.

The Sox are losing, the story has grown to include respected reporters questioning the manager. I expected a shrug and this is just CHB, but it has legs.
An abusive attack? There's no credible reason to think this.

As we all know, there are several different degrees of saying "get the fuck outta here."

Here's how Axel Foley did it:
Here's George Carlin modeling another version:
Here's something more like how I imagine Price said it:
If it was an "abusive," top-of-the-lungs type (like Carlin's, but serious), I'm sure Shank would be the first one to say so. Instead, he simply printed the words, which look a lot more bilious on the page than they likely were said. The reason why Shank did this should be obvious.

I don't know how it went down. But this seems like the most reasonable, common sense version given the information that we have. The most vital piece being that MANY TEAMMATES APPLAUDED, which means that Price is supported in confronting Eck, which indicates there's something about how players feel about Eck that isn't being reported.

If it doesn't indicate that, you have a blind spot.
 
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charlieoscar

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Yuck versus Great -- Eckersley says Yuck when he saw Rodriguez's pitching line from a rehab start and Price strenuously "objecting" and now we have some people trying to turn this into a racist incident while others take the opposite side. We have people castigating the sportswriter involved while others do not.

Nobody mentioned Dave O'Brien when he said Porcello had a great game (this was after he took the loss and gave up three home runs). Now the loss is understandable because the Red Sox only scored two runs. Porcello only gave up three, which is good, but I'll be darned if I can call a pitcher's performance in which he gave up three home runs, great. What kind of announcer do you want, an honest one or a home town one?

In keeping with the way this board seems to go, we could expand this to say that the announcer's remark was racist because as a white person he praised a white pitcher for a game he lost while giving up a three home runs. But then, I'm just being sarcastic.
 

Comfortably Lomb

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Predictably. NESN is pretending that none of this happened. While every other station that says anything about the Red Sox is covering this, they say NOTHING. I loved Timlin as a player but as a color guy......yuck. Still can't believe that Price gets to be such a jerk and no one on the Red Sox tells him to knock it off and play baseball.
They have a $30M per year problem on their hands, a seemingly fragile young clubhouse, and a team that is leading the division even if sliding. They're likely hoping this goes away and it will if the team starts rambling off wins again. It's not the time for the Sox to make bold moves.
 

reggiecleveland

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I find this extremely hard to believe. No way a guy with his cred is that fragile. And if he is, dude really needs to get it together. Sticks and stones and whatnot.
I can see it, all he has been through etc, the respect he is shown by his from organization, employer could mean a lot. If the organization really didn't do much to support him that is big kick in the nuts. How many of us would want to work at a place where guys swear at you and without consequence?
 

streeter88

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Also might explain why Farrell, as much as we might like to hate him, felt no need to apologise to Eck.

I wonder if we will ever hear the whole story, and even if we should?

I also wonder whether the clubhouse maybe is healthy after all. We don't really hear much about it, and it is easy to suppose there's a problem since Papi retired and the team lost its senior statesman and media frontman, but maybe there is not as much of a leadership void as has been speculated?
 

soxhop411

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Also. If we swapped the commentators and instead of eck it was lynos is this still a story?

I doubt it.
 

threecy

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I think it's interesting to note that everyone involved can be considered a co-worker...Price, Farrell, Eck, and CHB are all on John Henry's payroll.
 

NDame616

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Pedroia is the defacto "Captain" so for him to be cheering price and supporting him means there is more to the story (and that price is not the villain in this story)
Well, I mean, the longest tenured vet on the team who is well established and beloved in the city taking a teammates side over a broadcaster may not qualify as "more to the story"
 
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