Beckett is upset people would think he had a blister...

[johnsamo]

I don't know what it is, but fastball pitchers who grow up in Texas usually have a nasty streak and a short temper. Everybody knows about Clemens of course. Off the field, Ryan was a pretty mellow guy, but on the mound, he was known as a killer... It wasn't just the fastballs, he wanted the other team to fear him and would throw chin music when he felt the other team was getting a little uppity.

Guys like Bob Gibson had it too, that nasty "i'm going to destroy you" sort of attitude.

I'd rather have a nasty SOB on the mound for me than a nice lovely guy throwing bp.

[McBain]

This thread moved me.

[Boggs]

I'd rather have a nasty SOB on the mound for me than a nice lovely guy throwing bp.

Seriously. Give me the guy who's in it to win it. Those guys have fared pretty well in Fenway and held up under pressure. Clemens, Schilling, Pedro-they pitched with emotion and it worked just fine

[Onyx]

Not really sure what the point of this post is. Let's not take it out of context-it's not as if his reaction was unprompted.

The kid pitches a gem. He comes out of the game for the 8th b/c he tweaked his back earlier (snagged a spike). A camera happens to catch a shot of him showing his hand to Nipper and a trainer. His finger, for the record, was fine.

All of a sudden its all "BECKETT HAS BLISTERS AGAIN!" It headlines DirtDogs, with all the back quotes about how they can't seem to fix the problem (from past years, mind you), it's on the Globe, NESN pulls up the graphic of his DL stints due to blisters, Remdawg announces his suspicion. Hell, there's even some clown over on injury/player updates who instantly posts a thread "Beckett and Blisters! Beware!!"

Then he comes out and rather than discussing the incredible game he threw (after struggling in recent outings), he's bombarded by speculation that he's back to his old problems. He came to Boston knowing that everyone doubted his ability to stay off the DL because of his finger.

He's an emotional guy, and you can bet that so far, he's been quite proud to be able to prove them wrong and show that he can bring his stuff to the team without concern. It's a lot of pressure, and it sucks that the media won't let him rise above his reputation-even when he IS ok. Screw it. I'd blow up too.

[yossarian]

Well, the Boston media isn't the most patient or understanding group of people in the world.

[mcqfesijiba]

I don't care what Beckett thinks. Just go out and pitch. This is what the media does. Nothing Beckett says will change the way the media works, so he'd better just get used to it. He had blister problems in the past, so they will be brought up if an opportunity presents itself.

[Dan Lambskin]

[The Jury]

If the man ever has blisters again, he may want to consider the Moises Alou treatment and urinate on his hands. It just might work