David Price Is Only Talking To The Media On Days That He Pitches, Blows Up On Beat Reporter In The Clubhouse
We’ve come a long way since David Price held up his Red Sox jersey at Fenway Park with a big smile on his face; John Henry on his right, Tom Werner on his left. Back in December of 2015, the Red Sox unveiled their new ace, the $217 million man, with hopes that he’d tip the scale for their young core of players and guide the Red Sox back to the postseason after two last place seasons. And he did help do that.
The narrative will tell you otherwise. The narrative will tell you that Price came to Boston and that he was a complete and utter failure in his first season in a Red Sox uniform, followed by yet another postseason flop and an injury in the following spring training that sidelined him for two months to start the year. Some of those things are true — Price did fail in the postseason. Again. And Price did suffer an injury to start the 2017 season.
But before we talk about 2017, let’s revisit that “failure” of a 2016 one more time, shall we? Coming off a 2015 season in which Price was voted as the runner-up for the Cy Young award, Price got off to an awful start in his first season in Boston. Over his first seven starts, Price pitched his way to an incredibly disappointing 6.75 ERA. Over his next 24 starts, though? Price threw 164.1 innings, struck out 157 batters and posted an ERA of 3.07, which was the sixth best ERA in the American League over that four-month span (May 12 through September 12).
But then he finished the season the way that he started it. In his final four starts, Price accumulated a 5.55 ERA which bled into his lone postseason start in which he allowed five earned runs in three and a third innings. Here in Boston, we’re big on first impressions. Price’s was bad. We’re also big on postseason success, and Price didn’t have any prior to coming to Boston, nor did he change that upon arriving. These two major factors, which should not be ignored, have been the driving force behind the negative perception of Price amongst both the fans and the media. Last year, Price won 17 games and the bulk of his season was pretty damn good, but the Red Sox didn’t bring him here to be “pretty damn good” for just a chunk of the season. They paid him to be an ace and pitch like one from wire to wire and then shake his postseason demons. He did not do that.
Literally adding insult to injury, Price could do nothing to avenge his 2016 season for the first two months of 2017. After many thought that he’d end up on an operating table before throwing a single pitch, Price returned and pitched pretty well in his first start, and then dominated in his second. The ultimate “fuck you” to those who had already scrapped his 2017 season due to injury. This is why I’m confused about Price’s comments to Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe.
Has playing in Boston changed you? Are you more cautious now?
“I’m not cautious,’’ he insisted. “I’m the same me. I don’t talk to the media every day like I did last year and I guess I get blown up for that. But I was honest with everything they asked me last year and I get blown up for that. So they did this to themselves. Talk to me on the day I pitch and that’s it. There are no more personal interviews. There are no more asking me questions on a personal level. That’s done.’’
In other parts of the interview Price is asked if he’s enjoying playing in Boston to which he answers, “I love my teammates, man.” When asked if he feels like people are rooting for him to succeed, he responded, “I know I’ve got 24 guys in this clubhouse and all our coaches rooting for me, and my family and my friends. That’s all I need.” Translation: He’s not enjoying Boston, which I think we all could figure that out by now, and he doesn’t feel like people are rooting for him outside of his close circle. That’s sad to hear.
Evan Drellich of CSNNE tweeted the part of the interview that I clipped above, and apparently that set Price off in the clubhouse last night. Steve Buckley of the Boston Herald has the details:
Where to begin? Following the Sox’ 8-0 loss to the Yankees, as the media was entering a long hallway that leads to the clubhouse, Price asked to speak with former Herald scribe Evan Drellich, who now covers the team for Comcast SportsNet New England.
“Sure,” said Drellich, who fell behind as the rest of the group entered manager John Farrell’s office. Price already was speaking loudly to Drellich when we entered the office. Kevin Gregg, the Sox media relations director, shooed everyone out of the hallway and into the office then closed the door. We still could hear Price yelling.
I assumed this had something to do with a column by the Globe’s Dan Shaughnessy that appeared online during the game, with Price saying he’d henceforth only be speaking on days he pitches. Drellich tweeted a quote from Price that was in the Globe column.
My hope was to wait to speak with Price and see if this indeed was the case. So after Farrell’s media session, and after Sox starting pitcher Rick Porcello spoke, with everyone on the other side of the clubhouse to speak with Jackie Bradley Jr., I approached.
Price informed me that yes, from now on, he’d only talk on days he pitches. He followed with this: “Write whatever the fuck you want. Just write it. Whatever the fuck you want.” Soon Drellich was back in the room, and he and Price went at it again. When Drellich said something about Price’s professionalism, Porcello, standing nearby, asked about Drellich’s professionalism. A few minutes later, when I spoke with Kevin Gregg about my own exchange with Price, I was told to wait around a few minutes. Gregg was going to see if Price would speak with me. The last words I heard from David Price last night were “Fuck them! Fuck them all. All of them.”
I can definitely understand Price being pissed at the world based on all that’s transpired since he’s been in Boston, but I am genuinely confused about the timing of this blowup. To my knowledge, Drellich hasn’t written anything negative about Price recently. And to be honest, I don’t think anybody else has, either. Things were finally starting to turn a corner here. There was still the concern that Price’s elbow would become an issue somewhere down the line, but nobody was bashing the guy. I just find it odd that he would bring this upon himself at this particular moment.
It’s becoming more and more clear that this is just how it’s going to be with Price in Boston. Since he arrived here, he’s pretty much been one of the biggest stories going. This was really one of the first lulls as it pertains to Price being in the headlines because he was back and pitching well. Then he goes and does this. And to be honest, I don’t even care about him not speaking to the media on days that he’s not pitching. I feel like Chris Sale does the same thing — it’s just that he didn’t make an announcement about it. Talk to the media whenever you want. More than fine by me.
It just seems, at this point, like he’s paranoid and feels like the Boston media is out to get him. And with some folks, that might be true. But for his sake, and the sake of everybody around him, I hope he can shake that mentality. Boston’s not for everybody. More often than not, it’s a very negative environment to be in. Go down the line of Boston superstars, and I’m sure you can find a quote from each and every one of them complaining about it. The best ones dealt with it, though. I hope Price learns how to deal with it, because at the end of the day, he’s still one of the best pitchers in the American League and the Red Sox are better with him than without him.