One day, we'll be able to tell our grandchildren.

Boston Herald:

Bobby Valentine yesterday expanded on his recent phone conversation with Josh Beckett, who was not happy that the manager had complained about all the time the starter was taking in between pitches in a game against the New York Yankees.

“He felt, and probably correctly so, at the time he was dominating the Yankees and one of the things mentioned across the field was from (Yankees hitting coach) Kevin Long,” Valentine said during the “Christmas at Fenway” ticket-selling event at Fenway Park. “I didn’t remember this as an ESPN announcer, but Kevin Long started complaining about him taking too long and (Beckett) felt, ‘Why don’t I take long, if they don’t like it, that’s exactly what I want to do — do what they don’t like, do what makes them uncomfortable, what makes them not successful.’ So he said that what I, and we at ESPN, we fell into his trap, or we bought into Kevin Long’s strategy to reverse his success.

“I get it. I said, ‘Maybe I did,’ and that there was a frenzy about what Kevin said and I was reiterating it.”

Valentine said that he mostly listened to Beckett during a 20-minute phone call that began with, “ ‘Oh by the way, I was really (upset) at what you said.’ And I said, ‘OK let’s get that out of the way.’ So that was out of the way and then we talked about everything else, so that was kind of the extent of his dislike for what I said.”

Former Red Sox manager Terry Francona, in a long-scheduled appearance on The Big Show, said that the Boston Globe story suggesting that his ability to manage had been undermined by the use of prescription pain medications made him feel "terrible." He suggested that he had been happy to take responsibility for the organization's collapse on the way out the door, only to be caught off guard when he was hammered by allegations of personal conduct that Francona said were untrue.

"The people that know me that well knew that what was said in the paper wasn’t true. It was obviously said to hurt me," he added. "If there was one thing I was probably guilty of, it was protecting everyone in that organization. Everybody. I felt that was part of my responsibility, even to the point where in that last press conference, I said I take responsibility for this. I couldn't get to the players. I thought, 'OK, I'm done here. I'll take responsibility and go away.' Little did I know I was going to be going away limping because someone cut my legs out from under me."

Truly a disgusting organization.

Two Red Sox employees are standing by their accounts of pitchers Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and John Lackey drinking beer in the dugout during games. Both team employees witnessed the drinking on multiple occasions at Fenway Park.

In reaction to all three pitchers denying the report, the first Red Sox employee said, "I know what I saw. They [Beckett, Lester, Lackey] know it's true."

As we reported on WHDH-TV on Tuesday, Beckett, Lester and Lackey would exit the dugout as early as the 6th inning on nights they were not pitching, walk back to the clubhouse, and fill cups with Bud Light beer. They would then return to the dugout with cups of beer and drink while watching the game. It didn’t make a difference whether the Red Sox were winning or losing at the time and the practice became more frequent later in the 2011 season. One Red Sox employee said Beckett, Lester and Lackey appeared “bored on nights they weren’t pitching and this is how they entertained themselves.”

Another Red Sox employee described the routine like this: “Beckett would come down the stairs from the dugout, walking through the corridor to the clubhouse and say ‘it’s about that time’. Becket was the instigator but Lester and Lackey were right behind him. It was blatant and hard not to notice what was going on with all three guys leaving at once.”

"Who cares about the game, I'm wasted!!"

Exhibit A, today's Boston Globe:

By numerous accounts, manager Terry Francona lost his ability to prevent some of the lax behavior that characterized the collapse. Team sources said Francona, who has acknowledged losing influence with some former team leaders, appeared distracted during the season by issues related to his troubled marriage and to his health.

Francona spent the season living in a hotel after he moved out of the Brookline home he shared with Jacque, his wife of nearly 30 years. But he adamantly denied his marital problems affected his job performance.

Team sources also expressed concern that Francona’s performance may have been affected by his use of pain medication, which he also vehemently denied. Francona said he has taken pain medicine for many years, particularly after multiple knee surgeries. He said he used painkillers after knee surgery last October and used them during the season to relieve the discomfort of doctors draining blood from his knee at least five times

Terry Francona: Homewrecker and drug abuser. That's the story Sox ownership wants everyone to believe. What a disgusting organization.

Boston Herald:

Two baseball sources have confirmed that Theo Epstein is on the cusp of leaving his job as general manager of the Red Sox to accept a position with the Chicago Cubs that is believed to include powers greater than he has in Boston, with an announcement expected to be made “within the next 24 to 48 hours.”

The hangup in the negotiations has been twofold. One of them is that Red Sox ownership was still hoping to have Epstein remain with the team. The other is compensation: If Epstein is to leave Boston, said one source with knowledge of the negotiations, the Red Sox are going to want “something real.”

If The World's Smartest Man does bolt for the Cubs, we wonder if he'll be vilified like the organization, media, and fans do to every player that leaves.

Starting pitchers drinking in the clubhouse during games on days when they weren't pitching, which can leave one boozily indifferent to the plight of teammates after they've just lost in extra innings. Originally reported in the Boston Herald, it was not only confirmed here, but with the added twist that it has been going on the past two seasons.

Francona didn't want to go there Friday afternoon, reasoning that if, as manager, he'd never singled out players before for petty crimes and misdemeanors, including the poster boy for such behavior, Manny Ramirez, he wasn't about to start now. Fair enough, although a public spanking might have been just desserts for Josh Beckett setting such an embarrassing standard for the other starters on the team.

"Josh has some real leadership qualities, but this time he didn't lead left, he didn't lead right, he led wrong," one uniformed member of the team said.

No clubhouse leadership. "They don't need a leader," one prominent Sox player said Friday. "They need a babysitter."

Ain't no party like a Third Place Party, cause a Third Place Party don't stop!

Francona, unfailingly loyal to his players, took an uncharacteristic jab by labeling the team “challenging” and disclosed that he called a meeting Sept. 7 in Toronto, after a 14-0 victory one night earlier, to express some concerns about what he perceived to be a lack of accountability by some within the clubhouse. A source told colleague John Tomase that more than one pitcher had been drinking beer in the clubhouse during games and there was grousing from players that team buses were departing for the ballpark too early each day on the road.

Brockton (MA) Enterprise:

And Red Sox manager Terry Francona and GM Theo Epstein revealed that there was even more going on behind the scenes that contributed to the unprecedented malaise.

“Normally ... there are events that make you care about each other,” Francona said, often looking stunned before a large group of media. “This club, it didn’t always happen as much as I wanted it to. And I was frustrated by that.”

“Ultimately, you don’t need a team that wants to go out to dinner together,” Francona said. “But you need to have a team that wants to protect each other on the field and be fiercely loyal to each other on the field. That’s what, ultimately, is really important.”