PETE PAGUAGA — Sports Editor
Let’s recap what has happened in Boston the last three weeks.
They stumbled to the finish, were eliminated from the playoffs on the last day of the season, when they blew a 3-2 lead in the ninth.
They didn’t get any help from their rivals, the Yankees, who somehow blew a 7-0 lead against the Rays lost on a walk-off home run in the 12th.
There were a lot of students walking across campus Thursday morning, following the loss, some being Sox fans who were still in shock about what happened, others recovering from a long night at Soco’s or Westside.
The Red Sox finished 90-72, to win 90 games in an MLB season is a great feat even though every so-called “analyst” at ESPN picked them to win the AL East and go to the World Series. With all their pitching woes and some high-priced players, (cough, Carl Crawford) underachieving, yet they finished the season with 90 wins.
Good job Terry Francona, right?
Wrong. For some reason, John Lackey pitching worse then A.J Burnett, and Crawford playing like he is worth $1 compared to the over $100 million contract he was signed too was the manager’s fault.
So, less than a week after the Red Sox flipped over in their bobsled, and walked to finish like the Jamaican bobsled team, Francona is out as manager of the Red Sox. The same manager that led them to two World Series, one breaking the 86-year “Curse of the Bambino” in 2004 and then again in 2007.
Why?
That is the question that comes to my mind. It’s not like when Joe Torre was out as manager of the Yankees. Yea, that sucked, but you could argue that it was time— he had managed the Yankees for over 10 seasons.
Francona was the Red Sox; he symbolized what the Red Sox “idiots” stood for.
He never tried to be bigger than the team, he always was there for his guys anf didn’t ever try to show someone up. I guess only Theo Epstein and John Henry will know.
The new question is how much longer will Epstein be in Boston. There have been rumors that the Chicago Cubs will offer Epstein the General Manager position and possibly a higher-level position within the organization—maybe president.
When Francona, was let go by the Red Sox, right away he was linked to both Chicago teams.
Wouldn’t that be something, if after the postseason ends, the Cubs hire Epstein as GM and team president, then his move will be to the hire Francona as manager.
Just let that soak in for a second. They already ended the 86-year drought for the Red Sox, who’s to say they couldn’t do it again, this time with the Cubs.
The Red Sox could possibly be in a lot of trouble come November, it should be fun to see how everything pans out.
Fancona said he lost the team, he could insprire them any more. I think he was tired of working in the pressure cooker known as Boston sports. Like New York it’s hard to manage in a town when the fans and writers ride you on every loss and question every move. It’s nice when you win and very hard when you don’t. Not sure you can compare the Red sox to the Jamaicain bobsled team, they were poor and were never supposed to win, but they had good energy and colorful uniforms. In NY and Boston good energy and nice uniforms don’t count for much unless you win. As they say, you can’t fire the team so you fire the manager. Keep ROCKIN….GO YANKEES
Great editoria!Love your work!