Dodgers Pitching Coach Wants Mean Red Sox Fans To Be Nicer To His Pitchers

Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycutt wanted the fans at Fenway Park to stop taunting his pitcher. Whining about it in public after a resounding 8-4 loss was probably not the best way to silence Red Sox fans before Game 2 of the World Series.

It did not take long on Tuesday night for the optimistic Red Sox fans to break into song. A mere two batters into the bottom of the first inning, the Red Sox had a 1-0 lead on Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers and a deafening chant of "Kerrrr-shaaaw! Kerrrr-shaaaw!" - sung to the tune of that old chestnut "Dar-ryl! Dar-ryl!" - filled the park.

Honeycutt told Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated that Red Sox fans were not entirely civil to Kershaw while he was warming up in the bullpen:

Brutal. Pretty brutal. What I don't understand is why baseball allows it. You've got the rubber right there and people literally standing over you.

Verducci noted: "The bullpen welcoming committee was nothing compared to how the Red Sox hitters treated him." With less-than-crisp stuff, Kershaw found himself "buried under an avalanche of hits and walks and a track meet around the bases".

A reporter for WBZ (CBS Boston) stated:

Goodness gracious! People watching a baseball player at a baseball game! The horror. That's quite the complaint from someone who has been in baseball for four decades.

Alex Reimer of WEEI called Honeycutt's comments "a loser's lament" that embodied "how overmatched the Dodgers appeared to be" in Game 1.

I doubt Kershaw approves of Honeycutt going public with his disapproval. I'm sure he'd say that fans are fans and if you are going to be successful, you have to block that shit out and do your job. Hyun-Jin Ryu cannot be very pleased, either. He'll receive a similar (or worse) greeting - unless, of course, the Commissioner's Office decides this afternoon to ban Red Sox fans from booing and yelling at opposing players.