The Embarrassing History of Pete Abraham & JBJ

by | Apr 18, 2013 | Ben Cherington, Boston Red Sox, Jackie Bradley Jr., Larry Lucchino, Pawtucket Red Sox, Pete Abraham, Ryan Dempster, The Boston Globe

Listen, there are times in life that I would rather be wrong, honestly. I care more about the Red Sox than I do about being right. I’ll admit that when Ryan Dempster was initially signed, I was less than encouraged by his subpar stats in the American League with the Rangers last season. I even fired off a bitter tweet declaring that both he and the team would finish with losing records. It was a knee jerk reaction, but the sentiment remained that I wasn’t a big fan of his. So, if he continues his strong start to the season, I’ll be wrong, and I’ll be happy to be wrong.

I picked the Red Sox to finish 3rd in the division. You can’t even begin to imagine how happy I would be to be wrong and have them finish above that prediction.

So let’s start by dismissing this first Pete-Tweet, that those of us who love this team would actually not be rooting for the players on the team to succeed.

I wish that I was wrong about Jackie Bradley, Jr. After remaining on the fence about JBJ for a most of his fantastic Spring Training, I finally read and understood enough to get the basic premise of the decision that the team was facing. You have a 22 year old kid who tore up the Grapefruit League. He has never had a single at bat above the AA level. By bringing him up on the first day of the season you run the risk of losing a year of service time for him in the prime of his career, or having to send him down for 20 consecutive days later in the season. Fire Brand editor Hunter Golden’s piece summarized this all nicely.

However, Pete Abraham decided to make it his personal crusade to get Jackie Bradley on the team. He would use anything that he could to make his case.

He used peer pressure.

It’s not even a decision at this point, he had a 2-run single! What else do you need to see, Ben Cherington?

What’s scary is that this guy is the primary connection to the team for a lot of fans out there. They didn’t even know that there were some very reasonable arguments of why he should not have started the season with Boston.

He used the ticket sale angle. People will pay money to see this guy play!

Ticket sales haven’t exactly been a problem for this franchise, and according to Francona’s book trying to build a team that people wanted to see led us to spending lots of money on Carl Crawford. How about we just get back to building a baseball team that is based on who plays baseball the best, because when you win in Boston ticket sales take care of themselves.

Pete even referenced nostalgic fans from Bradley’s alma mater the University of South Carolina.

Listen, guys, if Gamecocks fan swear by the guy then he must be ready to hit major league pitching. He just has to be.

He refused to acknowledge that there was even a reasonable argument against his stance.

Finally, he used sarcasm.

Even on a bad day, the kid goes 1 for 4 with a walk. You must be a real idiot at this point if you don’t think he should break camp with the club. But prudent baseball operations people don’t get caught up in the great Spring Training numbers and forego a pre-exisiting plan. It’s shortsighted.

Regretfully, the Boston brain trust (#BlameLucchino) agreed with Pete, and as you know Bradley started the year with the Red Sox in New York. When the news broke that he would be on the Opening Day roster Pete promptly pulled all of his muscles vigorously patting himself on the back for a successful crusade.

Do you want to know why Pete doesn’t care about the Red Sox in 2019? Because he isn’t a fan of the team. He doesn’t care about the Red Sox. He was a beat reporter for the Yankees before coming to the Globe to cover the Sox. This team is about a paycheck for Abraham, not a passion. So, please try to excuse us for caring about and consider the future of the organization, Pete. I’m not just a Red Sox fan for the first half of April (or until my job is unceremoniously eliminated), I’ll be a Red Sox fan in 2019 and beyond.

After appearing in 11 games he’s batting .097 and slugging .129. The same player that Pete promised would make the team better is wielding a beyond dismal -0.3 WAR.

At this point he’s just trolling. We all know how many wins the club had last year. There are distinct moments like this when you are reminded that he is not a fan of the team.

Trollin’, trollin’, trollin’, keep your PeteAbe trollin’…

Then in a blaze of cross-sport glory, Pete decided to immediately turn the grusome and emotional injury of Louisville’s Kevin Ware into one more time to grind home his all-too-publiczied view on Bradley’s status.

This was straight trash. I was honestly embarrassed for him. I may not agree with the guy all of the time, but he generally carries himself like a professional. What kind of a person watches a young athlete suffer a potential career-ending injury and while the guy is still laying on the floor with his bone literally protruding from his leg says to himself “I need to make this about the guy that I have a creepy obsession with”?

What was crazy to me is that even though Kevin Ware broke his leg, Jackie Bradley, Jr. still couldn’t hit major league pitching. After all, Pete made such a compelling argument that the two things were related.

Finally, Wednesday brought us this sad surrender from our good friend Peter.

I’d like to picture Pete tweeting this, pouring himself a glass of scotch, and blasting “Didn’t We Almost Have it All” on his iPod as uncontrolled tears begin to roll down his cheeks.

Listen, we have not seen the last of Jackie Bradley, Jr. Not by a long shot. I believe completely that the kid is a future star. I’m rooting for the kid, just like I have been every time he’s come to the plate over the last 2 weeks. He’ll go down to Pawtucket and get some AAA at bats under his belt. He’ll figure out the pitching on that level like he has at every other stop in his college and pro career. I have no doubt that we’ll be watching him lead off and play centerfield for the Red Sox for years to come. Thankfully though, his upcoming demotion will ensure that those years to come include 2019.