The scene was perfect, on a humming Saturday night at Fenway Park. In Boston, the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers took on the Red Sox. It was old-school vs the fresh guard. The great Clayton Kershaw was on the mound for the Boys in Blue, and Boston responded with their fireballing ace, Garrett Crochet.

The opening inning was a recurring nightmare for the Red Sox. The game’s third pitch was belted out of the park by Shohei Ohtani for his 38th home run. Later, Teoscar Hernández launched a ball over the Green Monster, too. The defending champs jumped to an early 2-0 lead. But then, Crochet simply flipped a switch. He settled in and delivered a masterclass in resilience, going six full innings, striking out 10 Dodgers.

Meanwhile, Boston’s offense blasted at Kershaw, who exited after 4 2/3 innings, having allowed four runs. After the match, Crochet did not mince words, taking a direct shot at FOX Sports. The $170 million man stated, “I made two bad pitches. I’ve been watching them on repeat, too. FOX has played them 30 times. You’d think that the Dodgers won tonight.” Well, the 26-year-old clearly felt the network chose star power over the real story of the day.

The outspoken moment was not entirely unexpected from the ace. Crochet has a history of speaking out when necessary. When he was with the Chicago White Sox, he received a bit of flak when he let slip that he wanted a long-term contract extension. He addressed the criticism directly, saying, “I didn’t, by no means, feel like I was demanding it because I wanted money or security by itself. It was more so in the fact that I was establishing myself as a starter and kind of getting away from the idea that teams viewed me as a potential high-end reliever.” So, he doesn’t shy away.

And, his bashing of FOX gets at a long-culture history of perceived bias. For years, the legendary announcer Joe Buck of have faced accusations of being biased. Buck also confessed to making a “terrible” call in a Cardinals World Series victory.

Fox analyst John Smoltz has also been the target of regular criticism from viewers. He drew widespread fan ire during the Texas Rangers’ 2023 World Series drive, when they reached the final round and fans widely accused him of rooting against them. Smoltz has publicly dismissed these claims, saying, “I don’t pay attention and I could care less. It has no relevancy whatsoever, and so I don’t have any social media, and my job is to call the game neutral.”

But to truly understand Crochet’s frustration after the game against the Dodgers, you have to look beyond the broadcast booth.

Garrett Crochet was at the heart of Boston’s resilience

The defending champion Dodgers arrived at Fenway Park looking very much in trouble. They were going through a slump. The bullpen was ravaged by injuries, with the former MVP being in the midst of his worst season. He carried a .238 batting average and a low. 679 OPS. His bat speed ranked only in the 11th percentile across all of MLB.

The Boston Red Sox, meanwhile, had their own recent troubles, entering the game with a 3-5 mark since the All-Star break. They were also dealing with injuries with rookie Marcelo Mayer on the IL and Alex Bregman just back.

But they showed resilience and at the heart of that resilience was Garrett Crochet. The win over the Dodgers was his 12th win this season. He is also the major league leader in strikeouts with 175. His outstanding 2.23 ERA is a reflection of that dominance. His performance shows up even better in advanced stats. His FIP is 2.41. He is one of the league’s most valuable players in terms of WAR as well, which is 4.5 in his case.

So, when he complained, it wasn’t just about a couple of replays. It was much more than that!