Beckett: Claims of fried chicken in clubhouse a 'bunch of bull'

Former major leaguer Josh Beckett spent seven seasons with the Red Sox, helping the team win the 2007 World Series, but it's a clubhouse incident that led to a blockbuster trade the right-hander may be best known for in Boston.

During the Red Sox's 2011 late-season September collapse, it was reported Beckett, Jon Lester, and John Lackey would drink alcohol, order takeout chicken, and play video games in the clubhouse on days they weren't starting, rather than be in the dugout with the team.

"I think it was a lot about nothing, that's why I chose not to say much about it," the now-retired Beckett told CSN New England. "It was not as it was perceived. I think there was somebody that was probably pissed at us and they made it into a lot bigger deal than I thought it was."

He added: "The chicken thing was a bunch of bull. The beer, yes. That's in every clubhouse - not to say that that's right. We did not invent the word 'rally beer.' ... It was like that my whole career. That's just stuff that goes on that people don't talk about, and like I said, it doesn't make it right but it is what it is.

"A lot of times it was situations where we were tied in the 10th inning or something like that and we'd have what we'd call a rally beer."

The Red Sox became the first team in MLB history to have a nine-game lead in the final month of the season and fail to make the playoffs after they finished the season 9-20.

The collapse resulted in the front office parting ways with manager Terry Francona after they declined to pick up his option. General manager Theo Epstein also left the club for the Chicago Cubs, and Beckett was shipped to the Los Angeles Dodgers the following August.