It sometimes baffles me how news can sometimes be recycled and resurfaced at random times in the modern age of media.
Whether it be about a person committing a crime, or a simple scuffle that was blown super out of proportion, these types of things resurface all the time. As annoying as it is, it appears there’s no real way of avoiding that or even being able to live it down no matter how hard you try.
And when you’re a player like David Price, who’s brought tremendous amounts of controversy to the Red Sox since his arrival in the offseason prior to 2016, it just becomes that much harder to avoid.
The slender Vanderbilt product is wildly regarded as one of the most respected men in Major League Baseball. He constantly has teammates going to bat for him and defending his character.
And it’s not a reach to think that Price’s teammates are genuine in their words about him. For example, former Red Sox reliever Pat Light—out of baseball since the mid-way point of 2018—took to twitter to defend a teammate in which he spent all of one spring training and a few regular-season weeks with.
Not one to get involved in this on twitter but David is one of the best teammates I’ve ever had. Don’t pretend to know the personality of someone you never met. https://t.co/IgYvOyS0EU
— Pat Light (@Pat_Light) July 17, 2019
But what is Light going on about? Why does he even feel the need to defend David Price on twitter?
Time for a little backstory for those who weren’t following the team in 2017.
Eduardo Rodriguez was rehabbing from an injury and made a rehab start that didn’t particularly do much to impress Red Sox fans and personalities alike. NESN color commentator and MLB Hall of Fame closer Dennis Eckersley read the stat-line for Rodriguez and his analysis was summed up in just one word: “Yuck!”
It doesn’t seem like a huge ordeal, as Rodriguez didn’t pitch well. It was, for lack of a better word, a “yucky” stat-line. However, David Price didn’t take too kindly to the word choice from the man they call “Eck”—and he confronted him in front of the team on a flight.
Price basically told Eckersley that he had no idea what he was talking about, and told him to “Get the f*** outta here!”
This stirred up a ton of media coverage, as well as outrage from a fan base that had been less than impressed with Price during his brief Red Sox tenure to that point.
Price later went on to address the media and admit he should’ve handled the situation better.
Price went on to finish his injury-riddled 2017 season to a resounding ovation after he carved up the Houston Astros lineup for four scoreless relief innings in Game 3 of the ALDS.
After that, the story seemed to have been put to rest. Or so we thought at least. Especially after Price dazzled in the 2018 postseason en route to the Red Sox fourth World Series title since 2004, which is where he let out the famous “I hold all the cards now” quote.
However, Chad Finn did an interview with Eckersley recently, where he did bring up the Price incident from 2017. Eckersley responded by saying he has no intention of seeing Price ever.
It actually is a great read if you want to check it out here.
Nothing came of it until Alex Reimer of WEEI piggybacked off of the story and made his own post about it, to which Price replied to on twitter.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 https://t.co/mxgBKUrU3L
— David Price (@DAVIDprice24) July 17, 2019
Yes, Price reacted like I probably would had this story been about me. The difference is, I’m an 18-year-old college student, not a multimillionaire in his mid-30s.
However, I understand the reaction. If someone decided to clickbait a story about me, when it should’ve been left in the past two years ago, I’d probably have a similar reaction to it. It’s just childish on Reimer’s part to take from Finn’s article and turn it into something it really shouldn’t have been.
Price responded to the story in a four-minute media session prior to Thursday’s game against the Blue Jays.
Good for Price for defending himself. While not all of the details he said about Eckersley were true, he still has a point when he says he tried to bury this in 2017 with a meeting. A meeting Eckersley decided against going to.
But can we stop talking about this now? It happened two years ago. It’s old news. I for one am done hearing about it.
P.S. To Red Sox fans vouching to “never root for David Price again” after this, please check yourself. Because you look silly.
