Red Sox pitcher Drake Britton busted for drunk driving at 111 mph, if only he pitched that fast
Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Drake Britton (66) poses during photo day at JetBlue Park. (Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports)
Drake Britton, the Red Sox’ 23rd-round draft pick in 2007, was scratched from what was supposed to have been a scheduled spring training start on Sunday. The first question, of course, is why on earth would the BoSox consider sitting a pitcher who was recently clocked in at a ridiculous 111 miles per hour?
And then you find out that the speed was not on a pitch at all. Instead, it was the speed he was clocked at by police before being pulled over — in a 45 MPH zone.
Not surprisingly (unfortunately), Britton did not go slowly into the night, and he was eventually booked on suspicion of drunk driving after refusing to take a breathalyzer test. In fact, the dude was going so crazy that the Boston Herald has made the short police chase sound like a bad action movie:
With the officer in pursuit, Britton, according to the report, swerved between vehicles, eventually driving off the road, over a curb, down a decline and then drove through and knocked down a fence. Britton attempted to drive into the woods before finally coming to a stop. The officer approached Britton and decided he did not pose a threat. When the officer asked for an ID, Britton turned over his Bank of America Visa card. Britton admitted to drinking and the officer observed slurred speech, bloodshot watery eyes and the strong odor of alcohol.
Personally, our favorite move has to be busting out the Bank of America card.
Only his billing service knows exactly where he was with that card as he was enjoying all the drinks that got him in trouble in the first place. We’re keeping our eyes open for a strip club receipt to surface, for example.
Not that the Red Sox are laughing.
“This is a matter that the Red Sox take very seriously, and it is being addressed,” read a statement released by the team Tuesday afternoon. “The club will not make further comment on this matter.”
Immediately after being scratched, Britton was optioned from the big league squad down to Double-A, where he finished last season.
That hurts, but it certainly is not the first (nor will it be the last) time an employee has been demoted or punished for drunk driving. He’s pretty lucky, honestly, that he was not given his outright release from the organization.
