One month ago, Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy wrote the obituary for the Red Sox’ season before it even really began.
Following their Opening Day loss to the Orioles, Shaughnessy filed a column with the following headline: “Not surprisingly, the Red Sox already are back in last place.”
Shaughnessy, of course, was trolling. He hammered the Red Sox all winter long for their lack of spending and used their season-opening loss to perpetuate his criticisms. It was a textbook move from the polarizing sports scribe, who still garners more reaction than any other columnist in the sports-loving city.
One month later, the Red Sox aren’t in last place anymore—by one game. They’ve won 11 of their last 17 contests and walked off the rival Blue Jays at Fenway Park Monday. The Sox now stand at 16-14 and are 7.5 games out of first place.
NESN anchor Tom Caron, the long-time lead studio host for the Red Sox-owned network, celebrated the team’s early May victory with a jab at Shaughnessy. “Maybe it was premature to talk standings with 161 to go,” he tweeted.
UPDATE: they’re not. Maybe it was premature to talk standings with 161 to go 🤔 pic.twitter.com/7bKrrq0FoX
— Tom Caron (@TomCaron) May 2, 2023
Caron is right: it’s insane to seriously talk about MLB standings in late March. But Shaughnessy wasn’t doing that. The whole column was written with an apparent wink.
Here is a sampling: “This is what the Red Sox have become. For the first time in a long time, they are the fourth-most-popular team in our sports-crazed region, and they rely on past glory, an idiotic song, and pink-hat fans to bolster past days when they were a serious baseball organization spending money and trying to win championships for a loyal, long-suffering fan base.”
Those are biting words from a columnist looking to generate reaction, not an unbiased observer.
But Caron took the bait. Shaughnessy responded in kind.
“Embarrassing to be this desperate to please one’s bosses,” he tweeted.
Embarrassing to be this desperate to please one's bosses. https://t.co/o62W9PQm6B
— Dan Shaughnessy (@Dan_Shaughnessy) May 2, 2023
It’s worth noting that Red Sox principal owner John Henry also owns the Globe, and the paper has been accused of propping up the hometown team. Earlier this year, the Globe ran a puff piece on embattled chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, in which he claimed media members privately disavow their criticisms of the Red Sox.
But Shaughnessy, to his credit, continually hammers the Red Sox–and often takes shots at ownership.
That kind of blistering commentary isn’t found on NESN, or other team-owned sports networks (Fenway Sports Group, the Red Sox’ parent company, owns 80 percent of NESN). And that’s fine. Fans can go elsewhere for that.
But whenever team broadcasters launch to the defense of their employers, they open themselves up to criticism.
Caron continued to debate Shaughnessy in his replies.
“Not trying to please anyone. I tweeted that the Sox were holding a playoff spot, but that it was crazy to talk about playoff positioning in April,” he wrote. “Same goes for talking about a team sitting in last place in April. This team – esp the offense – is better than most thought.”
That’s true! But here’s the problem: Shaughnessy isn’t looking to have an actual debate. Caron can keep tweeting away, and Shaughnessy can keep collecting his clicks.
Clearly, one of these two isn’t in on the joke.
