Red Sox' mini hot streak leads to media-on-media Twitter tiff

BOSTON -- The Boston Red Sox are not in last place. That distinguished dishonor currently rests with the New York Yankees, who are in the midst of a four-game losing streak.

For the Red Sox, not being in last place isn't a great accomplishment, but it sure beats the alternative.

And after Boston won in walk-off fashion on Monday night -- giving the Red Sox a third consecutive win to bring their record to 16-14 on the year -- the current AL East standings set off a bit of a media spat on Twitter.

At 10:31 p.m., NESN studio host Tom Caron tweeted out a screen shot of Dan Shaughnessy's column from Opening Day. That column was titled, "Not surprisingly, the Red Sox already are back in last place."

"UPDATE: they're not," Caron tweeted. "Maybe it was premature to talk standings with 161 to go."

Caron clarified his point to someone who responded to his tweet: "Don't get carried away with it. It's early. People were burying this team when they were 0-1, and 5-8. If you're going to do that, give them credit when they've winning series."

Someone else instructed Caron to wait until the season is over to share the Red Sox' place in the standings.

"Kind of my point, right?" Caron responded. "But if you're going to start telling me they're in last place after a game I'm going to point out there not after 30. Can't play it both ways. Either we're talking standings or we're not. I'd just as soon not."

Shaughnessy himself saw that tweet and decided to enter the fray, tweeting, "Embarrassing to be this desperate to please one's bosses."

Shaughnessy and Caron kinda-sorta share the same bosses, as John Henry owns the Boston Globe and Henry's Fenway Sports Group owns 80 percent of NESN. Shaughnessy often discloses this relationship in his columns, which often including biting commentary of all local teams, including the Red Sox.

Caron responded: "Not trying to please anyone. I tweeted that the Sox were holding a playoff spot, but that it was crazy to talk about playoff positioning in April. Same goes for talking about a team sitting in last place in April. This team - esp the offense - is better than most thought."

Obviously, there's a long way to go in the season, with 132 games left to play for the Red Sox. The team is certain to move up and down the standings a few times between now and Oct. 1. And clearly, plenty of people in the media will be watching to point out when those movements take place.