Shaughnessy On Gresh & Zo: Did Red Sox Throw Josh Beckett Under The Bus?

With the stories from the Red Sox changing seemingly every day when it comes to Josh Beckett's health status when he went golfing two weeks ago, it seems there is more than a little bit of dishonesty coming from the team. Dan Shaughnessy stopped in with Gresh & Zo on Monday and said that while it's not exactly likely, it is very possible that Beckett was not injured and was just skipped to let Aaron Cook pitch.

Shaughnessy said he'd believe that scenario because it's not in Beckett's nature to give anyone the satisfaction of knowing the truth.

"Is it possible that Josh Beckett got tossed under the bus on this thing unfairly and then just didn't give anybody the satisfaction of saying that?" Shaughnessy pondered. "And I'm telling you, that's the way he is. It's very possible that his whole straw man thing was built up and they actually skipped him and he was allowed to go do what he wanted to do and nobody would be put out about it because he was skipped and not out with a lat [injury], then Josh Beckett was unfairly maligned.

"But he would never stand up there and say, 'Screw you guys, here's what really happened.' He wouldn't give you the satisfaction of the true version. It's like, 'Go ahead, kill me.' That's the way he is."

But what about the fact that he's become a hated Boston athlete overnight?

"He doesn't care," Shaughnessy said.

"I'm not saying he was never hurt or he was skipped and it was all to get Aaron Cook in there, but if that was what happened, he would not give you the satisfaction of defending himself," he added. "But it would make him and the other players wonder why is the team letting this guy take this beatdown instead of just saying what it is?"