A Foulke'n Problem

I am a Keith Foulke fan. (Witness the $200 Foulke Red Sox jersey hanging in my closet.) Foulkie aggressively attacks hitters with a combination of an 89 m.p.h. fastball and a wicked change-up. He helped carry the Sox to the 2004 World Series -- in effect ruining his 2005 season by emptying the tank during that historic run last October. Even as he has been consistently off his game in '05, I would not allow the memory of Foulke and Jason Varitek celebrating in St. Louis leave my mind. Until this morning. As I said -- and Red Sox Nation has seen all year -- Keith Foulke is not the same pitcher this year that he was last year. Again, I contribute this to his amazing run through August, September and October of last year. His fastball is off, the change-up is off target and No. 29 even missed six weeks with knee surgery that should have been done last November. But he has been down right bitter that not everyone remembers his contribution to the World Series champions. (Foulkie doesn't realize that this is Boston -- home of the "What have you done for me lately" fan base.) He has gone off on the fans, namely Johnny from Burger King and he has pouted to the media, namely his weekly segment on WEEI's "Dale & Holley" show. And then last night he went off again -- check out the quote he gave to the Boston Herald: "If I'm not on the postseason roster, if they don't think I'm good enough, that will be an even bigger story. I'm making $7.5 million. If I'm not on the postseason roster, there's probably a pretty good chance I won't be here (in 2006)... Do you think I give a (expletive) about their confidence? It's all about me." -- 9.13, Keith Foulke, Boston Herald This is the last straw with me and Foulke. No amount of good will can allow myself -- a "paying" fan -- to give a pardon to Mr. $7.5-million Closer. Foulke may be in a bad state of mind (I hope he would be considering his results and his paycheck) but that in no way excuses him for putting himself beyond his team. Foulke should have simply said that he is trying to work through a bad time (both on and off the field) instead of pouting to the media about his situation. Consider yourself warned Keith. I am pretty sure the vast majority of my fellow fans feel the same way. It's time for you to shut up, stop complaining and start to pitch like the Keith Foulke of old. Or else you can join the Burger King team and work for Johnny in 2006.