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Red Sox Owner John Henry Has A Long, Tense On-Air Argument About Boston’s Collapse

Boston Red Sox owner John Henry made an unannounced (and extremely contentious) appearance on the “Felger and Mazz” radio show, to clear the air about “misleading” comments he says the two hosts, Michael Felger and Tony Massarotti, made about the club in the wake of its historic late-season collapse.

The interview was a long — and weird — one. Much of it had to do with this much talked-about Boston Globe piece, which charged certain members of the team with effectively giving up late in the season (in addition to playing video games and eating fried chicken during games).

Here were some of the highlights from Henry’s surprise appearance on the air today:

The Red Sox are not the ones who leaked information about former manager Terry Francona’s troubled marriage or alleged pill habit. Apparently, the whole reason Henry showed up to the CBS Radio studios was because Felger and Massarotti accused his team of leaking sensitive info about Francona to the Globe. Henry heard these accusations while he was driving, and promptly came on the air to deny this. He also found time to charge the hosts with leading a “smear campaign” against him and his club. Driver! To the local sports talk radio station! I have a score to settle!

John Henry didn’t want to sign Carl Crawford. “[Anyone] involved in the process, anyone in upper management with the Red Sox, will tell you that I personally opposed that,” said Henry of his team’s biggest (and most disappointing) offseason acquisition. That sound you hear is Crawford, his .255 average, and his $142 million contract being thrown under a very large bus.

The Red Sox didn’t give up at the end of the season. “I didn’t see any of our players doing anything other than busting their ass to win games.” In the next breath, Henry admitted to having terrible eyesight. This is not a joke.

The Red Sox didn’t skip their workouts to eat fried chicken and play XBox. Although he conceded that pitcher Josh Beckett put on some weight during the season, Henry says all of his players did their required cardio and strength training on off days: “Unless our training people are lying to me directly, the answer is yes, [they did their work].” In other words: Henry was probably lied to. Is it that far-fetched that the trainer making $80,000 didn’t want to rat out the pitcher making $17 million?

All in all, if you’re a fan of the Red Sox (or a fan of their collapse), or like to hear people who very plainly don’t like each other argue on the radio, the full interview is worth a listen.