From enjoying fried chicken and beer in the clubhouse to hitting the links despite being too injured to play, Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett hasn't exactly been endearing himself to the Boston faithful lately. After coming under fire for his locker room antics during the aftermath of Boston's epic collapse to end the 2011 season, the 31-year-old is off to a poor start to the 2012 campaign.
On Thursday, Beckett got shelled by the Indians at Fenway Park, giving up seven earned runs off seven hits in just 2.1 innings. Red Sox fans booed Beckett as he made his way to the dugout.
The boos didn't rain down on him just because of his stat line, but because of what Beckett did on his off day last week. The three-time All-Star went golfing just one day after he was scratched from his scheduled start due to soreness in his shoulder.
That combined with his 2-4 record and 5.97 ERA caused a massive negative backlash from Red Sox nation. Following his poor outing, Beckett had this to say about his golf outing, per John Tomase of the Boston Herald.
"I spend my off days the way I want to spend them," he said. "My off day is my off day. We get 18 off days a year. I think we deserve a little bit of time to ourselves."
Neither his performance nor his defiant attitude went over well with Boston fans. The developing antipathy between the pitcher and the paying customers spawned a hashtag on Twitter called #ThingsBostonLikesMoreThanJoshBeckettRightNow. Check out some of the things Boston likes more than the MVP of the 2007 ALCS.