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Considering how much of the sports internet’s attention span has been eaten up by the drama of the NBA of late, it’s about time someone in Major League Baseball got involved in a petty, public beef, don’t you think?
The fact that this particular beef involves the Boston Red Sox organization being butthurt about something is just the cherry on top.
Sunday night, during the NESN broadcast between the Red Sox and Blue Jays, demonstrative pitcher Marcus Stroman struck out Eduardo Nunez and celebrated with a scream and a glare towards the Boston dugout.
MLB Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley, who was calling the game for NESN, then proceeded to call Stroman’s behavior “tired.” That’s right, Dennis Eckersley said that.
This little bit of irony was not lost on those in the know on Twitter, with the best tweet coming from MLB and ESPN analyst Rob Friedman who quoted Eckersley’s bio on Wikipedia, “He was aggressive and animated on the mound, and he was known for his intimidating stare and pumping his fist after a strikeout.”
That's not Dennis Eckersley calling Stroman's celebrations "tired," is it?
"He was aggressive and animated on the mound, and he was known for his intimidating stare and pumping his fist after a strikeout. "https://t.co/Cu6cA6k49A
Somewhere a pot is screaming at a kettle. pic.twitter.com/BbYKfT78Qj
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 23, 2019
This response was also pretty spot-on…
https://twitter.com/jetpack/status/1143008189321027586Here’s the celebration that rustled Eck’s jimmies.
🗣 ENERGY 🗣@MStrooo6 | #LetsGoBlueJays pic.twitter.com/qehX0JGt7o
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) June 23, 2019
Stroman apparently got wind of Eckersley’s comments, or he follows Friedman on Twitter, and weighed in with his own thoughts, calling the ex-pitcher a clown, hypocrite, and trash.
His comments are always trash. 🤷🏾♂️
— Marcus Stroman (@STR0) June 23, 2019
Hypocrite. https://t.co/XqyTUzuXDN
— Marcus Stroman (@STR0) June 23, 2019
😂😂😂 clown. Lol
— Marcus Stroman (@STR0) June 23, 2019
Love it.
Stroman has turned himself into Boston’s public enemy number one ever since he deployed some subtle gamesmanship on the Red Sox back in May, pissing off Boston’s manager Alex Cora.
Marcus Stroman, Quick Pitch (after Chavis calls time, to try to mess with Stroman's rhythm). pic.twitter.com/mTipRxogSA
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 22, 2019
That led Cora to say after the game, “It’s the same thing with him every day. He competes a certain way and people don’t like it.”
Stroman’s response?
Cora probably still mad I chose to play for @USABaseball over Puerto Rico. Now it makes sense. Lol 😂😂😂 https://t.co/y5xvA6dGhm
— Marcus Stroman (@STR0) May 22, 2019
See? This is exactly what MLB needs. A guy who is 5-9 on the season getting into a pissing match with a 64-year-old announcer for a team that is 12.5 games ahead of them in the standings. It’s just so NBA it hurts.