The smear job

[jacksonianmarch]

http://espn.go.com/boston/mlb/story/_/id/7092528/terry-francona-victim-latest-red-sox-smear-campaign

 

Great article here. Another smear campaign from the kings of the smear

[Cocos Disciples]

It's f***ing embarrassing. Everyone in this organization needs to shut the f*** up. This off-season is already a nightmare, and it's still mid-October. Ugh.

[jacksonianmarch]

I'm wondering what skeletons are gonna come out about Theo

[Gringo]

Occupy Yawkey Way!

[YAZMAN]

It's textbook Lu??hino, sooooo predictable.

 

Next up: Whose shamrock panties were those in Theo's suitcase?

[VA Sox Fan]

http://espn.go.com/boston/mlb/story/_/id/7092528/terry-francona-victim-latest-red-sox-smear-campaign

 

Great article here. Another smear campaign from the kings of the smear

 

Ironic that article was written by Edes. He was just as guilty of the smear campaigns when he wrote for the Globe.

[SoxSport]

Getting tired of the "beer in the clubhouse" media routine. It's like, not uncommon.

 

You can just imagine what those "post-game spreads" are like. Lavish is the word.

After all, everybody's a multi-millionaire.

 

There comes a point when too much money interferes with competitiveness in sports.

The Red Sox are a prime example.

 

I said a year ago this club was reminding me of the soft Yawkey days.

 

It looks like Henry has become Mr Softee Yawkey.

[SoxSport]

I don't buy this "Tito as a victim" business.

 

Francona knew what was going on. If he wasn't being listened to, he should have gone upstairs.

He's accountable for the players conduct on the field and in the clubhouse.

 

My guess is the FO also knew what the score was. They are also accountable.

Henry? The guy seems a bit detached--with his yacht and his hedge funds.

Maybe he just lost interest after a couple of championships. Maybe they all lost interest in winning.

Just milking the fanbase for operating income.

Werner? I've never seen a picture of him.

 

The whole organization is responsible for the demise.

 

Tito and Theo didn't just walk away--they were given a good hard push--by Werner and Henry.

[Dojji]

Mm. I don't think this is a deliberate smear job.

 

I think there's things that writers had known about these guys for a long time, but that they kept quiet about for fear of offending their sources, or putting the jobs of said sources in jeopardy.

 

Basically once these guys walk, all the stuff that you held back, there's no reason to hold it back anymore and it comes out. That's all. Looks really bad from an outside perspective, but all the media's doing is using all the juicy, interesting tidbits they couldn't use when the guy was here.

 

What it does tell me though is that the media is much too much in bed with the front office, if the front office is able to earn that much deference from the writers. We talk about what a tight, leakproof club this is most of the time, this is the ugly side of that. If this stuff leaked out at the time the media learned about it, instead of exploding all at once when the guy is gone, it'd probably be healthier.

[SoxSport]

Mm. I don't think this is a deliberate smear job.

 

I think there's things that writers had known about these guys for a long time, but that they kept quiet about for fear of offending their sources, or putting the jobs of said sources in jeopardy.

Basically once these guys walk, all the stuff that you held back, there's no reason to hold it back anymore and it comes out. That's all. Looks really bad from an outside perspective, but all the media's doing is using all the juicy, interesting tidbits they couldn't use when the guy was here.

 

Bingo.

 

Prior to the meeting with Francona, the Globe line was pure status quo. No changes needed.

 

After Francona was let go, the Globe changed 180 degrees, calling for Epstein to leave and publishing all kinds of stuff about the players lack of conditioning, clubhouse excesses, Francona's "personal problems", etc.

 

Clearly, the media knew what the score was with this club long before the September collapse. And didn't say a word.

 

A lot of what Abraham and Mazz have said lately about the state of the team corroborates

the observations of the more perceptive posters in different chatgroups through the season.

The lack of winning intensity, reflected in the manager, and the lack of conditioning.

And the babying of the starters at the expense of the bullpen.

[ORS]

Mm. I don't think this is a deliberate smear job.

 

I think there's things that writers had known about these guys for a long time, but that they kept quiet about for fear of offending their sources, or putting the jobs of said sources in jeopardy.

 

Basically once these guys walk, all the stuff that you held back, there's no reason to hold it back anymore and it comes out. That's all. Looks really bad from an outside perspective, but all the media's doing is using all the juicy, interesting tidbits they couldn't use when the guy was here.

 

What it does tell me though is that the media is much too much in bed with the front office, if the front office is able to earn that much deference from the writers. We talk about what a tight, leakproof club this is most of the time, this is the ugly side of that. If this stuff leaked out at the time the media learned about it, instead of exploding all at once when the guy is gone, it'd probably be healthier.

This is only true if one buys into your hypothetical scneario that this was known by the media for quite some time. Personally, I think you are grasping at straws looking for a silver lining. I don't buy it. I think this stuff came out after the collapse.

 

As for the smear job, it takes two to tango. What I mean is, it takes a source, and recent history is chock full of examples of negative behavior coming to light as a member of the team or staff is on the way out. It's seems pretty clear that someone in this front office believes post-action posturing is of high importance. It also takes a willing press. The Boston media has a long history of tearing down former heros on the way out. It's in the blood of the Boston media. It's part of the regional culture.

[Dojji]

I don't think my scenario is quite so hypothetical. We've had multiple sportswriters openly admitting they've known parts of this story for months and hadn't decided to share it with us. That is known, the only question is why.

 

I think the front office has used its control of information to punish writers who get too aggressive about embarrassing them and scare the rest into line. And the result is that risk-averse writers hold onto things that might offend the front office until it's probably safe to let it out -- such as when a player departs (although not always -- merely being in disgrace with the front office is sometimes enough to paint a target on a plater or coach's back).

 

The result is far, far more control over the media by the team than could ever be healthy, and it really shows at times like this.

[ORS]

I don't think my scenario is quite so hypothetical. We've had multiple sportswriters openly admitting they've known parts of this story for months and hadn't decided to share it with us. That is known, the only question is why.

 

I think the front office has used its control of information to punish writers who get too aggressive about embarrassing them and scare the rest into line. And the result is that risk-averse writers hold onto things that might offend the front office until it's probably safe to let it out -- such as when a player departs (although not always -- merely being in disgrace with the front office is sometimes enough to paint a target on a plater or coach's back).

 

The result is far, far more control over the media by the team than could ever be healthy, and it really shows at times like this.

But, if they had that much control over the media, why are the complicit in letting it come out at all, even after the departure, when the public perception will be that they are engaged in a smear campaign? How do they benefit from that? They don't, which leads me to believe they don't have the control you suggest.

[Palodios]

But' date=' if they had that much control over the media, why are the complicit in letting it come out at all, even after the departure, when the public perception will be that they are engaged in a smear campaign? How do they benefit from that? They don't, which leads me to believe they don't have the control you suggest.[/quote']

 

We will need to see what their offseason plans are before we can determine how they are affected by this situation. If they end up trading Beckett and Ellsbury this offseason, it will all make sense.

[Dojji]

I have two ideas about that.

 

One is that they have much less ability to stop someone from reporting a fact permanently, than they have to delay someone from reporting a thing. If teams try to punish writers for reporting, that runs them afoul of the whistleblower laws as well as potentially violating the First Amendment right of free press, and the team gets sued (or the Globe, which owns part of the Red Sox, clears its throat loudly, accomplishing basically the same thing). On the other hand, a request to wait is much more reasonable. After all, "never" is a lot more drastic a word than "later" in nearly every circumstance.

 

The other idea is that it's really the writers currying favor with the team, trying to worm their way into a notoriously tight and leak-proof front office, and both withholding and dropping these tidbits are done on the instigation of the writers and editors themselves in order to get in with the team. Still gives the team far too much control over what is printed though.

[Gringo]

What rankles me is there's been nary a peep from Henry. WTF?

 

And zero accountability from any of the other brass.

 

For such P.R. wizards, they're really dropping a huge turd with this calamity.

[VA Sox Fan]

Say what you want about Schilling. I say thank you for 2004 & 2007 and for your honesty:

 

Schilling accuses Sox owners of 'character assassination'

 

October, 12, 2011

By Gordon Edes

 

 

BOSTON -- Former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, who played a behind-the-scenes role in the hiring of Terry Francona as Red Sox manager after starring for him in Philadelphia, came to the defense of his former manager Wednesday night, calling reports of Francona’s marital problems and use of pain medication “character assassination of the worst kind.’’

 

Schilling also said that the team’s dysfunction at the end of the season, the unseemly details of the team’s behavior, and the handling of Francona’s departure means that the Red Sox “have lost any goodwill they had.’’

 

He said, “I don’t think John Lackey can ever put that uniform on again” and predicted “there will be some guys who will walk on that field on Opening Day next year and get booed louder than any New York Yankee who ever set foot [on the field].’’

 

Schilling, an ESPN contributor, said Wednesday night on “Baseball Tonight” that the allegations in a Boston Globe story implying Francona may have been abusing his pain medication could “only come from a couple of people in the organization: the trainer, the team doctor or the executive team there.

 

“That’s the distressing part. There are a lot of things to think about now. If I’m a free agent, why would I go to that organization. At the end of the day, I think they betrayed a lot of people in Red Sox Nation.’’

 

Schilling charged that the unnamed team sources in the Globe article detailing the team’s issues, especially Francona’s, were the team’s owners -- John W. Henry, Tom Werner and Larry Lucchino -- though he did not single them out by name.

 

“It starts at the top," Schilling said. "These are some bad people. This guy (Francona) gives everything he could give. They spent nine or 10 years building this into a model franchise, so to speak, and I think they destroyed it in a matter of …"

 

Later in the interview conducted by Baseball Tonight’s Steve Berthiaume, Schilling said: “Again, the information coming out in this article couldn’t have come from other people. It could have been sourced through other people, but it had to start at the top.

 

“You remember Tito’s press conference, when Larry Lucchino and Tom Werner were talking to Theo about the [Carl] Crawford signing and said all our free agents are a collective effort. Then the comments in this article were that Theo did his own thing here and had to convince the owners. This was them preparing the road for the exits. A very low-class, horrible thing to do.’’

 

Schilling did not dispute the team’s right to make a managerial change or that a change might have been in order.

 

“The fans were ready for a change,’’ he said. “As hard as it is to say, I’m a big Terry Francona fan, [but] he’s made mistakes. Some of the biggest fights in my career were with Terry. He’s not a perfect manager. There are better managers on the field, tacticians, in the clubhouse. The whole-packagewise, I think he was one of the best.

 

“But this guy gave everything. He walked away and took the high road. He had multiple opportunities on multiple outlets to throw people under the bus and never did. In my mind, it was over. He’s gone. They took this opportunity to character-assassinate this guy, and I think that’s just, I don’t think the fans in Red Sox Nation want the game played that way.’’

 

Regarding some of the details of player conduct in the clubhouse, Schilling said he didn’t “disbelieve” the reports. “I’ve been in a big-league clubhouse for 20 years. That’s the kind of stuff that happens,’’ he said.

 

When asked if the manager bears responsibility, he said: “I think he made it very clear he tried to make it right. Multiple times he tried to get to his players. You try to do that first through your players. There certainly was not a presence in that clubhouse to take control of the situation. It wasn’t David Ortiz. It wasn’t Jason Varitek. It wasn’t Tim Wakefield. It’s not Dustin Pedroia; the guy’s on the field, playing. And I don’t think that personally existed in that clubhouse.

 

“I think the guys were complementary guys around a Mike Lowell-type of a leader, but that leadership guy didn’t exist here. That kind of stuff, it happens all the time. I don’t want to say the beer, chicken and video games, but guys would be in the clubhouse. They’d have a bite to eat, whatever their schedule is. But for it to have become a centerpiece of attention means it was happening far more often and by far more people than anybody witnessing was used to or comfortable with.’’

 

Schilling said he believes the collapse contributed to Epstein’s reported decision to leave for the Chicago Cubs.

 

“Why would he want to go back there?’’ he said. “I think we all know now what Terry was saying when he said I don’t feel like I had the front office’s backing. I think it was very clear why. And for the ownership to follow up that interview by saying I was kind of caught off-guard by the fact that he said that was disingenuous at best.’’

 

Schilling said he was disappointed that none of the players singled out in the reports -- Josh Beckett, Lackey, Jon Lester -- have responded publicly to any of the allegations.

 

“I think Josh, if he doesn’t find a way to make things right, I think fans are going to be pretty upset with everything that’s come out in this article. And that’s the biggest thing for me.

 

"If my name is in that article, my press conference starts five seconds after that’s over. 'That’s a lie,' and I’m calling everybody out that said something.

 

“I’ve heard nothing from the players. Nobody saying 'That never happened, I never did that'. That to me is horrifying, because I saw Jon Lester go through a lot as a young player and battle his butt off to get to where he is and I want to attribute that September to he struggled. He just struggled. I hope that is the reason. But this article leads you to believe very differently.’’

[a700hitter]

Mm. I don't think this is a deliberate smear job.

 

I think there's things that writers had known about these guys for a long time, but that they kept quiet about for fear of offending their sources, or putting the jobs of said sources in jeopardy.

 

Basically once these guys walk, all the stuff that you held back, there's no reason to hold it back anymore and it comes out. That's all. Looks really bad from an outside perspective, but all the media's doing is using all the juicy, interesting tidbits they couldn't use when the guy was here.

 

What it does tell me though is that the media is much too much in bed with the front office, if the front office is able to earn that much deference from the writers. We talk about what a tight, leakproof club this is most of the time, this is the ugly side of that. If this stuff leaked out at the time the media learned about it, instead of exploding all at once when the guy is gone, it'd probably be healthier.

I think you are pretty close to being completely right about how the Press operates in Boston and their cozy relationship with the owners. I do think that each time there is a some new tidbit that is leaked after the fact that sparks the press into their all too natural feeding frenzy mode that they hold in check while the guy is part of the organization.

[DwightFright]

Bingo.

 

Prior to the meeting with Francona, the Globe line was pure status quo. No changes needed.

 

After Francona was let go, the Globe changed 180 degrees, calling for Epstein to leave and publishing all kinds of stuff about the players lack of conditioning, clubhouse excesses, Francona's "personal problems", etc.

 

Clearly, the media knew what the score was with this club long before the September collapse. And didn't say a word.

 

A lot of what Abraham and Mazz have said lately about the state of the team corroborates

the observations of the more perceptive posters in different chatgroups through the season.

The lack of winning intensity, reflected in the manager, and the lack of conditioning.

And the babying of the starters at the expense of the bullpen.

 

The Globe is owned by the New York Times. I wonder what mischief the parent company enjoys causing up the turnpike now that their flagship Yankees got booted from the postseason.

[DwightFright]

Schilling was always one to open his mouth without thinking. The Edes article is contradictory. In the beginning, Schilling implies there is a smear campaign against Francona that is all lies. Toward the end, he implies that the fact that no players have spoken out might mean there is some truth/substance to the various reports. Out of respect for Francona, perhaps players don't want to submit to media scrutiny over what they knew about Tito's alleged issues. It would not surprise me if various agents have advised their clients to stay out of the media frenzy. There is some satisfaction that the media is salivating for sound bites from the various accused, and they are getting squat.

[VA Sox Fan]

Schilling was always one to open his mouth without thinking. The Edes article is contradictory. In the beginning' date=' Schilling implies there is a smear campaign against Francona that is all lies. Toward the end, he implies that the fact that no players have spoken out might mean there is some truth/substance to the various reports. Out of respect for Francona, perhaps players don't want to submit to media scrutiny over what they knew about Tito's alleged issues. It would not surprise me if various agents have advised their clients to stay out of the media frenzy. There is some satisfaction that the media is salivating for sound bites from the various accused, and they are getting squat.[/quote']

 

The bottom line is that Tito accepted responsibility for losing the players and club house. He didn't blame anyone else. But "the powers that be" still smeared him after he took the blame. They should have let it go.

[Gringo]

Say what you want about Schilling. I say thank you for 2004 & 2007 and for your honesty:

 

Schilling accuses Sox owners of 'character assassination'

 

October, 12, 2011

By Gordon Edes

 

 

BOSTON -- Former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, who played a behind-the-scenes role in the hiring of Terry Francona as Red Sox manager after starring for him in Philadelphia, came to the defense of his former manager Wednesday night, calling reports of Francona’s marital problems and use of pain medication “character assassination of the worst kind.’’

 

Schilling also said that the team’s dysfunction at the end of the season, the unseemly details of the team’s behavior, and the handling of Francona’s departure means that the Red Sox “have lost any goodwill they had.’’

 

He said, “I don’t think John Lackey can ever put that uniform on again” and predicted “there will be some guys who will walk on that field on Opening Day next year and get booed louder than any New York Yankee who ever set foot [on the field].’’

 

Schilling, an ESPN contributor, said Wednesday night on “Baseball Tonight” that the allegations in a Boston Globe story implying Francona may have been abusing his pain medication could “only come from a couple of people in the organization: the trainer, the team doctor or the executive team there.

 

“That’s the distressing part. There are a lot of things to think about now. If I’m a free agent, why would I go to that organization. At the end of the day, I think they betrayed a lot of people in Red Sox Nation.’’

 

Schilling charged that the unnamed team sources in the Globe article detailing the team’s issues, especially Francona’s, were the team’s owners -- John W. Henry, Tom Werner and Larry Lucchino -- though he did not single them out by name.

 

“It starts at the top," Schilling said. "These are some bad people. This guy (Francona) gives everything he could give. They spent nine or 10 years building this into a model franchise, so to speak, and I think they destroyed it in a matter of …"

 

Later in the interview conducted by Baseball Tonight’s Steve Berthiaume, Schilling said: “Again, the information coming out in this article couldn’t have come from other people. It could have been sourced through other people, but it had to start at the top.

 

“You remember Tito’s press conference, when Larry Lucchino and Tom Werner were talking to Theo about the [Carl] Crawford signing and said all our free agents are a collective effort. Then the comments in this article were that Theo did his own thing here and had to convince the owners. This was them preparing the road for the exits. A very low-class, horrible thing to do.’’

 

Schilling did not dispute the team’s right to make a managerial change or that a change might have been in order.

 

“The fans were ready for a change,’’ he said. “As hard as it is to say, I’m a big Terry Francona fan, [but] he’s made mistakes. Some of the biggest fights in my career were with Terry. He’s not a perfect manager. There are better managers on the field, tacticians, in the clubhouse. The whole-packagewise, I think he was one of the best.

 

“But this guy gave everything. He walked away and took the high road. He had multiple opportunities on multiple outlets to throw people under the bus and never did. In my mind, it was over. He’s gone. They took this opportunity to character-assassinate this guy, and I think that’s just, I don’t think the fans in Red Sox Nation want the game played that way.’’

 

Regarding some of the details of player conduct in the clubhouse, Schilling said he didn’t “disbelieve” the reports. “I’ve been in a big-league clubhouse for 20 years. That’s the kind of stuff that happens,’’ he said.

 

When asked if the manager bears responsibility, he said: “I think he made it very clear he tried to make it right. Multiple times he tried to get to his players. You try to do that first through your players. There certainly was not a presence in that clubhouse to take control of the situation. It wasn’t David Ortiz. It wasn’t Jason Varitek. It wasn’t Tim Wakefield. It’s not Dustin Pedroia; the guy’s on the field, playing. And I don’t think that personally existed in that clubhouse.

 

“I think the guys were complementary guys around a Mike Lowell-type of a leader, but that leadership guy didn’t exist here. That kind of stuff, it happens all the time. I don’t want to say the beer, chicken and video games, but guys would be in the clubhouse. They’d have a bite to eat, whatever their schedule is. But for it to have become a centerpiece of attention means it was happening far more often and by far more people than anybody witnessing was used to or comfortable with.’’

 

Schilling said he believes the collapse contributed to Epstein’s reported decision to leave for the Chicago Cubs.

 

“Why would he want to go back there?’’ he said. “I think we all know now what Terry was saying when he said I don’t feel like I had the front office’s backing. I think it was very clear why. And for the ownership to follow up that interview by saying I was kind of caught off-guard by the fact that he said that was disingenuous at best.’’

 

Schilling said he was disappointed that none of the players singled out in the reports -- Josh Beckett, Lackey, Jon Lester -- have responded publicly to any of the allegations.

 

“I think Josh, if he doesn’t find a way to make things right, I think fans are going to be pretty upset with everything that’s come out in this article. And that’s the biggest thing for me.

 

"If my name is in that article, my press conference starts five seconds after that’s over. 'That’s a lie,' and I’m calling everybody out that said something.

 

“I’ve heard nothing from the players. Nobody saying 'That never happened, I never did that'. That to me is horrifying, because I saw Jon Lester go through a lot as a young player and battle his butt off to get to where he is and I want to attribute that September to he struggled. He just struggled. I hope that is the reason. But this article leads you to believe very differently.’’

 

One of the rules I live by is never listen to what Curt Schilling has to say.

 

Even if he's right in this instance.

[Derach]

It's baffling why whoever is leaking this francona stuff wouldn't use real, legitimate baseball reasons to slam him ... like that he ran too loose a ship, or that he was over loyal to players who were slumping, or other tangible reasons for his firing. Not personal issues that are minor. He's got marriage troubles? What MLB manager has a perfect marriage? The continued empty criticism of Tito and the sure to come attack on Theo will only make Schill's words prophetic. FA's will be hesitant to join a team with so many daggers they are so eager to sink into someone's back.

[FredLynn]

The bottom line is that Tito accepted responsibility for losing the players and club house. He didn't blame anyone else. But "the powers that be" still smeared him after he took the blame. They should have let it go.

 

I agree 100%. I was never a Terry Francona fan, but he did not deserve all this. He is entitled to some sort of private life. I really don't care to know about his medical conditions, what meds he is taking (after all, was it just Advil that he was taking for pain-that has zero effect on your judgement), and how his marriage is going.

Furthermore, today Henry slammed Crawford saying that he did not support signing him. How is that supposed to motivate Crawford to do well next year, knowing that the owner never liked his game? Some of these guys just don't know when to keep their mouths shut, and others don't know when to open them.

[Hawkguy]

http://www.boston.com/sports/blogs/thebuzz/2011/10/audio_john_henr.html

Has anyone listened to this yet on "the buzz"? I have never heard so much double talk and tap dancing from one person (Henry)! Who is steering this ship????? For Henry to be so out of touch with HIS ballclub is mind blowing!!!! I understand that you put smart baseball people in positions to effect winning. But there has to be oversight!!!

[SoxSport]

The Globe is owned by the New York Times. I wonder what mischief the parent company enjoys causing up the turnpike now that their flagship Yankees got booted from the postseason.

 

The Globe never says anything bad about the Yankees. And the Jets get about as much coverage as the Patriots over there. One suspects the media's love affair with the Jets won't last much longer, however.

[SoxSport]

One of the rules I live by is never listen to what Curt Schilling has to say.

 

Even if he's right in this instance.

 

Hey, Curt, it was a GLOBE STORY, not a Red Sox PR release.

 

Schilling had some great years in Boston, but he sure did steal that $8 million his last year.

That was a parting gift.

[SoxSport]

http://www.boston.com/sports/blogs/thebuzz/2011/10/audio_john_henr.html

Has anyone listened to this yet on "the buzz"? I have never heard so much double talk and tap dancing from one person (Henry)! Who is steering this ship????? For Henry to be so out of touch with HIS ballclub is mind blowing!!!! I understand that you put smart baseball people in positions to effect winning. But there has to be oversight!!!

 

Henry was on CBS radio today. He disputed a lot of the Globe's interpretations. Defended Beckett, and said he was not in favor of signing Crawford.

 

From what I've read, Epstein had player personnel control after he took off his gorilla suit in 07. He has been responsible for FA acquisitions since, and has done a lousy job. Prior to 07, Lucchino was involved as well. That's why Theo put on his gorilla suit--he wanted more autonomy as GM. Well, he got it. and his track record the last few years was not very good.

Hello, Chicago.

 

My impression is Henry is a real sugar daddy. Too much so.

[a700hitter]

Henry was on CBS radio today. He disputed a lot of the Globe's interpretations. Defended Beckett, and said he was not in favor of signing Crawford.

 

From what I've read, Epstein had player personnel control after he took off his gorilla suit in 07. He has been responsible for FA acquisitions since, and has done a lousy job. Prior to 07, Lucchino was involved as well. That's why Theo put on his gorilla suit--he wanted more autonomy as GM. Well, he got it. and his track record the last few years was not very good.

Hello, Chicago.

 

My impression is Henry is a real sugar daddy. Too much so.

So, in the days to come we should also find out that Lackey was Theo's call and that Theo had been playing the guitar during games and that he was doing coke. Let the smears begin.

[seabeachfred]

Bingo.

 

Prior to the meeting with Francona, the Globe line was pure status quo. No changes needed.

 

After Francona was let go, the Globe changed 180 degrees, calling for Epstein to leave and publishing all kinds of stuff about the players lack of conditioning, clubhouse excesses, Francona's "personal problems", etc.

 

Clearly, the media knew what the score was with this club long before the September collapse. And didn't say a word.

 

A lot of what Abraham and Mazz have said lately about the state of the team corroborates

the observations of the more perceptive posters in different chatgroups through the season.

The lack of winning intensity, reflected in the manager, and the lack of conditioning.

And the babying of the starters at the expense of the bullpen.

 

When I was a kid I used to read tons of stuff about how hard the Boston Press was with the Red Sox, but apparently a lot changed over the decades because some like Edes and others have become little more than flunkies for the front office. The crime is that the fans are the ones who were kept in the dark and now have to endure a miserable winter of wondering when the hell our team is going to win anything again. 2007 now seems like a generation ago and we now can see that the team has had a ton of garbage heaped on them and we wonder how long before we see the light of success again.

 

Many of us have never been Francona fans, believing he was too lax in the discipline and accountability department as well as some of the bizarre things he did in the dugout. If Henry has any part of his brain left he has to know that the new manager must NOT be a Francona clone; we need someone with some spunk and starch who will demand the players bust their tails from April through the season.

 

I'm not sold on Cherrington at all because he was one of Epstein's shadows and one has to wonder just how much like Epstein the guy is. I hope Lucchino keeps a sharp eye on the guy if that's the case because it is now evident that H enry gave the Boy Blunder pretty much of a carte blance account to do as he pleased and the results were disastrous.

 

It is pretty frustrating being a Red Sox fan now as we see what went down this season. I was at Yankee Stadium for that three game series a few weeks ago and I swear it looked like Jon Lester was hoping to be anywhere but on the mound. He was fussing, shaking and looking total disorientated. The results showed it in bold letters.