It's unclear if Red Sox owner John Henry will meet with the media at any point during spring training -- something he has done in the past, but not in recent years.
He has, however, answered a few questions via email for The Athletic (subscription required) and addressed being booed at the team's Winter Weekend in Springfield for the first time.
When asked if he recognized Red Sox fans' frustration and if it would change his approach at all, Henry gave a defensive answer, saying there is a "false narrative surrounding the club" and seemingly denying that he was booed at the Winter Classic when his Pittsburgh Penguins faced the Boston Bruins at Fenway Park.
"There is a false narrative surrounding the club," Henry told Jen McCaffrey. "It really took hold in 2022. There were even false reports of booing at Fenway Park during the Winter Classic. I think those factors and losing Xander [Bogaerts] to San Diego were the biggest factors. Those are the fans you would believe are the least likely to try to shout us down, but it happened. Did anyone report the standing ovation at the end?"
Henry went on to praise Red Sox fans, saying that they're the ones who make Fenway "magical," but there is a lot to unpack in the first part of his response.
For starters, the reports of Henry getting booed at the Winter Classic were most certainly not false. It wasn't all 39,243 fans in attendance booing him, and it didn't last all game or anything, but there were enough boos directed at him before the game that it was clearly audible in the park.
There was also this video of a fan begging him to pay Rafael Devers -- which the Red Sox ultimately did a couple days later -- as he arrived at the game.
The most generous reading of Henry's comments would be that perhaps he isn't saying that the boos didn't happen, but rather that the narrative that the boos led to the Devers extension was false. That's not actually what he wrote in the email, though. As worded, and without any further clarification, it appears he is just straight-up denying that there was any booing at all.
It's also unclear what Henry is referencing with the comment about "the standing ovation at the end." The end of the Winter Classic? The end of Winter Weekend? There was a standing ovation at the end of the Winter Classic, but it was quite obviously for the Bruins winning, not for Henry or the Red Sox.
Because Henry only answered questions via email, it doesn't appear there was any opportunity for a follow-up, and won't be unless he does decide to meet with reporters in Fort Myers. For now, we can only guess at what Henry meant, with a rare on-the-record Q&A only creating more questions.
Related
