Johnny Pesky Would Want The Red Sox to Simply Play Ball.

At the height of the Red Sox team dysfunction in the 1980’s the phrase “25 players, 25 cabs” was coined to illustrate just how divided the team had become. Guys not only didn’t hang out with one another, they simply didn’t like or trust one another. Welcome to the 2012 Boston Red Sox media circus.

When the beloved Johnny Pesky died recently, Red Sox Nation and indeed Major League Baseball mourned one of baseball’s true gentleman and ambassadors of the game. The day after Pesky passed away the New York Yankees observed a moment of silence. When the Sox returned to Fenway after a recent road trip the front office, as expected, put on a Pesky memorial worthy of the man. When the funeral was held for Pesky, just four Red Sox players – David Ortiz, Clay Buchholz, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Vicente Padilla – attended Pesky’s funeral. The rest of the team did not.

As reported on big massive.com, team President Larry Lucchino said, “There was a tremendous turnout at Johnny Pesky’s funeral. We had over a 100 people there in terms of ownership, front office, current players, staff, former players. It was a very impressive turnout. I think the people who knew Johnny best came to it. Our players will have had a chance on Tuesday night to participate in a ceremony on the field — they all willingly and enthusiastically participated on that date — and then there’s going to be another memorial service. So I think it’s unnecessary to focus on that issue.”

"I agree with Lucchino. The over-the-top coverage of the sparse current team turnout at the funeral speaks volumes not so much about how individual players chose to honor Pesky but more about the hyper-sensitive tinder box that is the Red Sox and the accompanying media feeding frenzy in the midst of a miserable season."

At the end of the day, it’s about baseball. Pesky was loved by many and was so honored by many Red Sox players. On field under-performance and some deserved attention regarding recent off field ugliness does help to tell the Red Sox 2012 story. Belittling and second-guessing player motivations regarding Pesky’s passing is picking a scab already bloodied by this ugly scar of a season.

Pesky would have hated this coda to his passing. Move on. Play ball.