Kevin Walsh: Charade is over for Red Sox sellout streak

(NECN/CSN: Kevin Walsh) – Could it be the end of an era? Spring Training is just beginning and already, the Boston Red Sox are anticipating disappointment.

President Larry Lucchino said he suspects the sellout streak will come to an end in April, and he maintains the team did not embellish anything to keep that streak alive.

Kevin Walsh from Comcast SportsNet disagrees.

“I’ve got news for Larry Lucchino. The streak ended about two years ago. He just wouldn’t really say it, but now he’s coming full circle,” says Walsh.

There were many games last season and the year before, Walsh says, where 6,000-7,000 seats were not occupied. They got around that by “dumping those tickets onto the secondary market because that’s technically a sale, but come on now! The charade is done.”

There’s talk of drugs…The drug is in the family of Advil. It’s an injectable. It’s an anti-inflammatory. It’s a pain killer and it’s non habit forming, Walsh says, and it’s a bigger problem in the NFL than it is in MLB.

But now you’ve got guys like Jon Lester saying he’s used it, Clay Buccholz used it, Curt Schilling.

What kind of long-term effects does this have? People don’t really know.

It comes down to playing with fire, Walsh says.

What about the Bruins?

Walsh says they’re playing tough and they’re on a 5-game road trip but they’re historically a good road team.

“They’re playing really good hockey. It’s not sexy hockey. They play a heavy style of game and that’s what they’re going to do. They take it on the road and keep it simple.”