Reporter: "So what kind of adjustments did you make to Derek Jeter tonight, considering he got three hits off of you the last time out?"
World Series MVP, with a look of utter disdain: "I can't even believe we're talking about this, man."
Throughout the post-Game 6 press conference, Beckett treated the entire press corps as if they were tobacco snuff. And that's how the brash 23-year-old treated the Yankees, Cubs, and Giants lineups during the postseason: chewing 'em up and spit 'em out.
Yeah, he's a cocky little prick. But with postseason like that, who can hold that against him? Anyway, I've always dug asshole pitchers. Kevin Brown, possibly the most boorish man on the planet, is a particular favorite, along with widely-despised (though recently revered) Ra-jah Clemens, my childhood sports idol. Add Beckett to that group. Like Wood and Prior, he's got that exploding high nineties fastball and 12-to-6 curve. His stuff is the reason I've made a special effort to snap up Beckett on one of my Fantasy teams two years running (in neither year was he worth the price).
But it's that "I don't really give a fuck you've hit 500 homers, don't fuck wit' me" fearless swagger on the mound that's turned him into a guy I'll now always pay to see. I don't understand the fan mentality about wanting sports figures to be "good guys." Is it to perpetuate some fantasy that one day, Pedro will show up at Gillian's and throw back a few while telling you the inside dope? Sorry, man, I just want to see them dominate on the mound, just like I wanna see Barry at the plate with the bases loaded. If the player's awesome, I really don't give a fuck how often he dicsk over reporters in front of his locker or ignores autograph hounds.
Oh, and the Yankees? Whatever happened to Mr. Clutch in Game 6? Beckett's high cheese getting to his stomach?
Also: Grady Little gets canned. It had to be done because of the following reasons: (1) Red Sox Nation will never forgive him, making his job impossible; (2) his poor in-game managing is ill-suited to a team under such an electron microscope, where a sixth inning pitching change against Tampa Bay in late May is analyzed and argued over on the internet. Grady seemed like a good players' manager, but he's probably not a great fit for an organization as devoted to sabermetrics (stathead-ism) as the Red Sox.
