When Dave Page was told Tuesday that he was fired as the strength and conditioning coach for the Boston Red Sox, he said it felt as if he was being made a scapegoat for the players’ fitness woes.

“The bottom line is we weren’t ready to play physically, fundamentally or mentally the way we should have been, like a championship team should have been,” Page said during a nearly 20-minute interview on Boston sports radio station WEEI on Friday afternoon.

Page said that the perception there were players on this Red Sox team that weren’t focused on maintaining their conditioning, particularly in September, was a correct one. The Red Sox went 7-20 in September to slide out of the playoff race.

Page said there were four players in particular — one position player, one starting pitcher and two relievers — whose fitness was deemed unsatisfactory at the end of the season.

“We got to the end of the year and we had four guys that we thought didn’t make it to that part of the season where we hoped they would be,” said Page, who declined to identify the players. “For the most part, most of all of everybody else stayed within range of where we wanted them to be.”

“

The bottom line is we weren’t ready to play physically, fundamentally or mentally the way we should have been, like a championship team should have been.

”
– Ex-Red Sox strength coach Dave Page

In fact, Page explained, he had approached one player during the final series of the season in Baltimore to discuss why that player had seemingly given up on staying in shape. The player didn’t have an answer, he said.

“I did have a good conversation with one player at the end of the year in Baltimore that kind of opened my eyes,” Page said. “I said, ‘Hey, what’s going on here, bro? It seems like you’ve pulled the plug a little bit, and why?’ He kind of looked down at the ground, looked back at me and said: ‘I don’t know why. I can’t answer that question.’ Which was kind of a shock.”

Page would not identify the player, though he did tell WEEI it was not Josh Beckett, who has taken the most heat in the aftermath of the team’s collapse and reports of lethargy, beer-drinking and fried-chicken eating in the clubhouse. He did reveal, however, that Beckett was concerned with his weight. By the end of the season, even fans had noticed the pitcher had put on pounds.

“He did express some concerns himself,” Page said. “In fact, he brought it up to me and the other members of our training staff, that he felt he was getting a little sideways, so to speak, with his weight. I don’t think it was something that was just noticed by us. I certainly think he felt the same way.”

The veteran right-hander finished the season with a 13-7 record and a 2.89 ERA in 30 starts, but he had a 5.40 ERA in his last five starts and gave up 12 runs in his last two.

Page told the Boston Herald the primary reason Beckett cut back on workouts was because it was producing results. According to Page, during Beckett’s dominant stretch in May and June, the pitcher had reduced his fitness regimen. Because he had pitched great during that span — a 4-2 record and a 1.97 ERA in 10 starts — he decided to stick with that routine hoping that the success would carry throughout the summer and into the fall.

“He did things that were away from his normal program,” Page told the Herald. “A lot of it, Josh is a routine-oriented guy. If he pitches well doing one thing for those four days leading up to that start, he’s probably going to do it again. It’s funny to say, but he’s got some superstitious tendencies that way. That’s not an abnormal thing in baseball.

“But what happened was he had a string of really good starts where he wasn’t doing the things we used to do in ’07, ’08 and ’09, and he was having success with it. And he’s like, ‘I’m feeling good doing these things, so I’m going to stick with it.’ For the short term, it probably worked. For the long term, it probably wasn’t the best plan.”

Page explained that each player’s workout routine is tapered toward the end of the season, but he said he was still surprised by how much certain players cut back.

“There were some guys who peeled it back more than I thought, more than I would have liked them to,” Page said. “For the most part this team worked hard.”

The things Page was noticing about his players’ conditioning were passed along to the front office and manager Terry Francona, he explained. Page said part of his job entailed sending a weekly report on players’ fitness routines.

“If somebody wasn’t represented on that sheet, everybody would know about it every week,” Page said.

He also said he went to Red Sox staff members to express concerns.

“There were a couple of times when someone from the front office or the uniformed coaches would come to me and say something, but for the most part, it was me going to them saying, ‘Hey, I’m having trouble reaching this guy,’ ” Page said. ” ‘Can you give me some backup here? Let’s try to use my words and your voice and see what happens.’ “

Did he feel as if he was being supported by management in trying to get some players in line?

“I would say it’s been a lot better in the past,” Page said.

Page, like many players and executives before him, downplayed the presence of beer and fried chicken in the clubhouse.

“There was a lot of grumblings but I think that whole chicken-and-beer thing has gotten a lot of unnecessary play, to be honest with you,” he said. “I really didn’t see chicken in the clubhouse all that often.

“If they were drinking beer it was probably upstairs and I wasn’t up there. You’ll see the starting pitcher drink a beer when he comes out of the game, that’s pretty common. In my opinion it wasn’t as rampant as it’s gotten to be made out to be.”

Along with Page, who had been the team’s strength and conditioning coach since 2006, the Red Sox fired assistant trainer Greg Barajas, who had been a trainer with the Sox since 2009 after spending 12 seasons as a minor league trainer.

Page said that since his firing, he’s estimated he has heard from about 90 percent of the Red Sox’s current roster expressing support. One of the players, Page said, texted him saying he felt guilty.

“He texted me and said, ‘I feel this is all my fault,’ ” Page said. “I don’t want to say who it was, because that’s between him and me. But he did say that.”

The Red Sox did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Joe McDonald covers the Red Sox and Bruins for ESPNBoston.com.

Follow Joe McDonald on Twitter: @espnJoeyMac

Published: Oct. 19, 2011 at 2:16 PM

BOSTON, Oct. 19 (UPI) — Three Boston Red Sox pitchers have denied a report that they drank beer in the dugout during games.

The Boston Globe said Jon Lester, Josh Beckett and John Lackey denied the WHDH-TV, Boston, report Tuesday that the pitchers drank Bud Light in the dugout as early as the sixth inning in some games and the drinking became more frequent as the season progressed.

WHDH cited two unidentified team employees, and the Globe said it later confirmed the report.

But the Red Sox issued a news release Tuesday night in which the team and all three pitchers denied the allegation.

“The accusation that we were drinking in the dugout during games is completely false,” Lester said in the release. “Anonymous sources are continuing to provide exaggerated and, in this case, inaccurate information to the media.”

WHDH said Beckett had instigated the drinking, the Globe reported.

“I cannot let this allegation go without response; enough is enough,” Beckett said in the release. “I admit that I made mistakes along the way this season, but this has gone too far. To say that we drank in the dugout during the game is not true.”

“There are things that went on this season that shouldn’t have happened, but this latest rumor is not true, and I felt that it was important to try to stop this from going any further,” Lackey said.

Team President Larry Lucchino said the pitchers “assured us that the allegation that surfaced today about drinking in the dugout during games in 2011 is false, and we accept their statements as honest and factual.”

The Globe said Lester has admitted drinking beer with Josh Beckett and John Lackey in the clubhouse during games but not the dugout.

Embattled Red Sox pitchers Jon Lester, Josh Beckett and John Lackey denied a TV report Tuesday that said they drank beer in the dugout during games.

The allegation is the latest in a rough stretch for Boston, which missed the playoffs following a record collapse, going 7-20 in September and finishing at 90-72.

Manager Terry Francona was let go last month, general manager Theo Epstein appears to be on his way out and Lester, Beckett and Lackey have caught much of the blame for the team’s season-ending skid.

“Tonight our organization has heard directly from Jon, Josh, John, and former manager Terry Francona,” team president Larry Lucchino said Tuesday in a release.

“Each has assured us that the allegation that surfaced today about drinking in the dugout during games in 2011 is false, and we accept their statements as honest and factual.

“It is time to look forward and move forward, rather than allow a reckless, unsubstantiated accusation from ‘anonymous sources’ to mislead the public.”

WHDH-TV, citing two unidentified Red Sox employees, reported Tuesday that Beckett, Lester and Lackey would fill their cups with beer in the Fenway Park clubhouse, then return to the dugout and drink while watching the game.

One of the employees told WHDH-TV the three starters appeared “bored on nights they weren’t pitching and this is how they entertained themselves.”

“The accusation that we were drinking in the dugout during games is completely false,” Lester said in the release issued by the team. “Anonymous sources are continuing to provide exaggerated and, in this case, inaccurate information to the media.”

Said Beckett: “I cannot let this allegation go without response; enough is enough. I admit that I made mistakes along the way this season, but this has gone too far. To say that we drank in the dugout during the game is not true.”

The Boston Globe reported last Wednesday that Beckett, Lackey and Lester would eat fried chicken, drink beer and play video games in the clubhouse during games, instead of being in the dugout with their teammates. That story was based on “team sources.”

“There are things that went on this season that shouldn’t have happened, but this latest rumour is not true,” Lackey said in Tuesday’s release, “and I felt that it was important to try to stop this from going any further.”

Said Francona: “In 32 years of professional baseball, I have never seen someone drinking beer in the dugout.”

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Talk about some bad hops in Boston.

On Wednesday night, the Boston Red Sox denied a local report by WHDH-TV that pitchers Josh Beckett(notes), John Lackey(notes) and Jon Lester(notes) drank beer in the home dugout at Fenway Park during games this season. The report comes about a week after a story in the Boston Globe said the same three pitchers drank beer in the clubhouse and ordered out for fried chicken during games when they weren’t pitching.

The clubhouse, the dugout. What’s next, while warming up in the bullpen? On the pitcher’s mound in the top of the second inning? Homestands turning into keg stands?

[Related: Red Sox finger-pointing officially begins]

WHDH, citing claims of two unnamed (of course) Red Sox employees, said the dugout drinking happened on multiple occasions, regardless of the game’s score, when Beckett, Lackey and Lester were not pitching. Check out this … hastily written excerpt:

Beckett, Lester and Lackey would exit the dugout as early as the 6th inning, walk back to the clubhouse, and fill cups with Bud Light beer. They would then return to the dugout with cups of beer and drink while watching the game. [...]

One Red Sox employee described the routine like this: “Beckett would come down the stairs from the dugout, walking through the corridor to the clubhouse and say ‘It’s about that time’. Becket was the instigator but Lester and Lackey were right behind him. [...]“

A second Red Sox employee said Beckett, Lester and Lackey appeared “bored on nights they weren’t pitching and this is how they entertained themselves.”

Grown men, acting like beer zombies, with Beckett as the lead zombie. The players, along with former manager Terry Francona, issued flat denials via the team’s website. Said Lester:

“The accusation that we were drinking in the dugout during games is completely false. Anonymous sources are continuing to provide exaggerated and, in this case, inaccurate information to the media.”

Team president Larry Lucchino said the team accepts the denials as truth, and went a step further, calling the WHDH report “a reckless, unsubstantiated accusation from ‘anonymous sources’ to mislead the public.”

Right. Drinking in the clubhouse during the game — we’re looking into what happened, and we’re implying that we’re sorry about whatever it was— but drinking in the dugout? Preposterous!

The players put themselves and the team in this position by their own behavior — which they’ve all admitted to. So there’s no reason to have any sympathy for them. Lester has said there’s no correlation between the bad behavior and Boston’s epic swan dive in September, but even allowing for that dubious assertion misses the bigger point.

Imagine yourself sitting in the stands at Fenway, trying to get through one of Beckett’s agonizing four-hour-long starts, or any appearance by Lackey, without downing at least one beer. Insanity would set in. But seriously, does it even have to be said that fans pay to watch the Red Sox, and the players are supposed to be working — even if they’re not playing at the moment? And Bud Light?

All of this is on Beckett, Lackey and Lester. They need to quit crying in their beer and start acting like professionals again.

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TORONTO — Boston Red Sox right-hander Josh Beckett has a sprained right ankle and will miss his next scheduled start.

Beckett left in the fourth inning of Monday’s start at Toronto after experiencing pain in his ankle on consecutive pitches. He flew back to Boston on Tuesday to be examined by a specialist.

Red Sox medical director Dr. Tom Gill said in a statement that Beckett’s “examination was consistent with an ankle sprain,” adding that an MRI revealed no damage to Beckett’s ankle tendons or his Achilles’ tendon.

He will be re-evaluated later this week.

Red Sox manager Terry Francona said Beckett will miss his start Sunday at Tampa Bay. John Lackey will pitch Friday in place of Erik Bedard (left knee), Kyle Weiland will go Saturday and Jon Lester will pitch Sunday.

An All-Star for the third time this season, Beckett is 12-5 in 27 starts. His 2.49 ERA is tied with Los Angeles Angels right-hander Jered Weaver for second-lowest in the AL, behind Detroit’s Justin Verlander (2.34).

TORONTO (AP) — Boston Red Sox right-hander Josh Beckett has a sprained right ankle and will miss his next scheduled start.

Beckett left in the fourth inning of Monday’s start at Toronto after experiencing pain in his ankle on consecutive pitches. He flew back to Boston on Tuesday to be examined by a specialist.

Red Sox medical director Dr. Tom Gill said in a statement that Beckett’s “examination was consistent with an ankle sprain,” adding that an MRI revealed no damage to Beckett’s ankle tendons or his Achilles’ tendon.

He will be re-evaluated later this week.

Red Sox manager Terry Francona said Beckett will miss his start Sunday at Tampa Bay. John Lackey will pitch Friday in place of Erik Bedard (left knee), Kyle Weiland will go Saturday and Jon Lester will pitch Sunday.

An All-Star for the third time this season, Beckett is 12-5 in 27 starts. His 2.49 ERA is tied with Los Angeles Angels right-hander Jered Weaver for second-lowest in the AL, behind Detroit’s Justin Verlander (2.34).

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