Last season the Red Sox were in 1st place with a 1.5 game lead going into a four game series with the 2nd place Yankees on August 30th. The Yankees win 3 of 4 and the Red Sox start a legendary collapse that will eventually drop them into 3rd place and out of the playoffs. The Sox go 8-21, including 9 losses in the last 12 games, over the last 6 weeks of the season. This implosion allows division rivals Tampa Bay to take the wild card. After the season ends, a story breaks that Boston pitchers (all highly paid) Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and John Lackey have frequently been on the clubhouse drinking beer and eating fried chicken during games. This will eventually lead to manager Terry Francona (the guy who won two World Series in 3 seasons after an 86 year drought) being fired with contentions that he "lost the clubhouse." Theo Epstein the GM & architect of the championship teams negotiates his exit from the Red Sox to the Chicago Cubs.
The whole fried chicken thing may not seem like a big deal because the three culprits were pitchers and not everyday players. Had any one of these high priced pitchers pitched well during September (Lackey was 0-3, Beckett 1-2 and Lester 0-2. That doesn't count starts where they were left the game and didn't register a decision) then the story isn't a big deal but it started an avalanche that still has the Sox in its thralls.
Management decided to go in a different direction after firing players manager Francona. They opted for the no nonsense ways of Bobby Valentine. Valentine had success with the Mets and led them to the World Series in 2000. He had been out of MLB since being fired by the Mets after the 2002 season. From 2003-2011 he had been coaching in Japan, won a championship, and did some color analyst work for EPSN. Valentine is a good manager but he can rub you the wrong way make no mistake (there are times when he thinks he invented baseball) and there's a reason why he went several years without a job offer. Boston ownership thought that Valentine would be the person to restore order to the out of control clubhouse.
Suffice to say the plan has backfired so far. It's not all Valentine's fault though. The team has been ravaged by injuries (they've placed something like 27 players n the disabled list). Valentine has yet to hand in the line-up card he thought he was going to have before the season. Needless to say there's been a lot of headlines generated by Valentine. There was friction between him and Fenway favorite Kevin Youkilis that would lead to Youkilis being traded the Chicago White Sox. Youkilis' production had fallen off since 2009 and he had been battling injuries during that time as well (he missed 128 out of a possible 486 games between 2009-2011). In 42 games with the Sox in 2012 he was hitting a mere .233 and that led to his trade to Chicago. Personally I don't have a problem with the trade. Youk is only hitting .260 with the ChiSox raising his overall average to .245, so he's hardly lighting it up.
There have been detractors since Valentine was named the new manager. The voices that have been calling for his dismissal have been growing and getting louder over the course of the season. Today there was a Gordon Edes article wondering if ownership should cut their losses with Bobby V and start fresh. I disagree. It's not Valentine's fault that the team has been ravaged by injury, or that staff aces Beckett and Lester have been lousy (though Lester has gotten better over last 2 starts but Beckett...), the bullpen is in disarray (it shown signs but still inconsistent) and lack of performance. Sure he's made questionable moves (as all managers do) and he's said something about players to the press (something Francona NEVER did) but the manager doesn't play the game. I do feel that the Red Sox should start fresh. There is a notion, more like a dream, that they can get on a run and make it to the playoffs (now that there is a 5th team that makes it). Besides, if they replace Valentine now, who do you get to replace him? I can't think of anyone. Heck, with all the injuries and problems the Sox have had I think Valentine has done a good job just keeping the team's nose above water. I say let's see what he can do with a healthy team and an intact bullpen.
There are some problems however that health won't solve. Carl Crawford, whom the Red Sox gave a 7 year $161 million free agent contract (a bad contract IMHO. His stats didn't warrant that type of deal), has underachieved thus far and now faces the prospect of Tommy John surgery that could sideline him for all of next season. Then of course there is Jacoby Ellsbury. Coming off an MVP type season last year, Ellsbury has been injured most of the season and will be a free agent at season's end. Ownership may be reluctant to resign Ellsbury (who will probably command a Crawford like deal) because of his injury and the fact that they've got a lot of money tied up in Crawford, whom they can't get rid off. Crawford was place on waivers recently and there were no takers. Boston needs to resign Ellsbury. Sure they may not print money like the Yankees but they're doing ok financially so they can afford it. Josh Beckett is also a problem. Since going 20-7 in 2007, Beckett was only 48-36 from '08-'11 and his missed approximately 18 starts over the same period. He's damaged goods (Beckett was also placed on waivers and had no takers). It's possible that Beckett could get it back between now and the end of his contract in 2015 but he's always been plagued by injuries throughout his career. There's also the John Lackey situation. Lackey is currently out for this season with an injury but has gone 26-23 with an ERA of 5.26 in seasons with Boston since signing a 5 year $82 million free agent contract with Boston after the 2009 season. Personally I never thought the guy was that good with the Angels (102-70, 3.81 ERA in 233 starts from 2003-'09. Hardly eye-popping) but the Sox ar stuck with him until 2015.
I think that the main problem was that winning the World Series in 2004 & 2007 got nto the head of the franchise as a whole. When the Yankees won during theiry run, you never heard any bad publicity about their core guys: Jeter, Bernie Williams, Paul O'Neil, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Riveria (though they had some guys with baggage like A-Rod, Jason Giambi and Roger Clemens but that was mainly steriods). Those guys always acted professionally on the field, with the exception Jeter being on Page Six from time to time (mostly for the starlets he was being seen with). The Red Sox allowed themselves to get out of control. Maybe Francona should've been more forceful in 2011 but that's not his nature. I don't think Francona should've been fired but when a team has an epic collapse late in the season, someone's going to get blamed and it's usually the manager. Now the "children" in the dugout are responding to the domineering personality of Bobby Valentine. Too bad. Maybe the players should've taken a page out of the Yankees' book, been more professional and shown their manager the proper respect (to both Torre and Girardi). The players don;t like Valentine too bad. They crapped over Francona and now they have to pay. I still think this team with it's core (Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz, Adrian Gonzales and Ellsbury-just sign him!), the up & comers (Will Middlebrooks and Pedro Ciriaco) continue to flourish and the pitching gets straightened out can be a force in the American League. The Red Sox organization has no one to blame but themselves for this downfall.
The whole fried chicken thing may not seem like a big deal because the three culprits were pitchers and not everyday players. Had any one of these high priced pitchers pitched well during September (Lackey was 0-3, Beckett 1-2 and Lester 0-2. That doesn't count starts where they were left the game and didn't register a decision) then the story isn't a big deal but it started an avalanche that still has the Sox in its thralls.
Management decided to go in a different direction after firing players manager Francona. They opted for the no nonsense ways of Bobby Valentine. Valentine had success with the Mets and led them to the World Series in 2000. He had been out of MLB since being fired by the Mets after the 2002 season. From 2003-2011 he had been coaching in Japan, won a championship, and did some color analyst work for EPSN. Valentine is a good manager but he can rub you the wrong way make no mistake (there are times when he thinks he invented baseball) and there's a reason why he went several years without a job offer. Boston ownership thought that Valentine would be the person to restore order to the out of control clubhouse.
Suffice to say the plan has backfired so far. It's not all Valentine's fault though. The team has been ravaged by injuries (they've placed something like 27 players n the disabled list). Valentine has yet to hand in the line-up card he thought he was going to have before the season. Needless to say there's been a lot of headlines generated by Valentine. There was friction between him and Fenway favorite Kevin Youkilis that would lead to Youkilis being traded the Chicago White Sox. Youkilis' production had fallen off since 2009 and he had been battling injuries during that time as well (he missed 128 out of a possible 486 games between 2009-2011). In 42 games with the Sox in 2012 he was hitting a mere .233 and that led to his trade to Chicago. Personally I don't have a problem with the trade. Youk is only hitting .260 with the ChiSox raising his overall average to .245, so he's hardly lighting it up.
There have been detractors since Valentine was named the new manager. The voices that have been calling for his dismissal have been growing and getting louder over the course of the season. Today there was a Gordon Edes article wondering if ownership should cut their losses with Bobby V and start fresh. I disagree. It's not Valentine's fault that the team has been ravaged by injury, or that staff aces Beckett and Lester have been lousy (though Lester has gotten better over last 2 starts but Beckett...), the bullpen is in disarray (it shown signs but still inconsistent) and lack of performance. Sure he's made questionable moves (as all managers do) and he's said something about players to the press (something Francona NEVER did) but the manager doesn't play the game. I do feel that the Red Sox should start fresh. There is a notion, more like a dream, that they can get on a run and make it to the playoffs (now that there is a 5th team that makes it). Besides, if they replace Valentine now, who do you get to replace him? I can't think of anyone. Heck, with all the injuries and problems the Sox have had I think Valentine has done a good job just keeping the team's nose above water. I say let's see what he can do with a healthy team and an intact bullpen.
There are some problems however that health won't solve. Carl Crawford, whom the Red Sox gave a 7 year $161 million free agent contract (a bad contract IMHO. His stats didn't warrant that type of deal), has underachieved thus far and now faces the prospect of Tommy John surgery that could sideline him for all of next season. Then of course there is Jacoby Ellsbury. Coming off an MVP type season last year, Ellsbury has been injured most of the season and will be a free agent at season's end. Ownership may be reluctant to resign Ellsbury (who will probably command a Crawford like deal) because of his injury and the fact that they've got a lot of money tied up in Crawford, whom they can't get rid off. Crawford was place on waivers recently and there were no takers. Boston needs to resign Ellsbury. Sure they may not print money like the Yankees but they're doing ok financially so they can afford it. Josh Beckett is also a problem. Since going 20-7 in 2007, Beckett was only 48-36 from '08-'11 and his missed approximately 18 starts over the same period. He's damaged goods (Beckett was also placed on waivers and had no takers). It's possible that Beckett could get it back between now and the end of his contract in 2015 but he's always been plagued by injuries throughout his career. There's also the John Lackey situation. Lackey is currently out for this season with an injury but has gone 26-23 with an ERA of 5.26 in seasons with Boston since signing a 5 year $82 million free agent contract with Boston after the 2009 season. Personally I never thought the guy was that good with the Angels (102-70, 3.81 ERA in 233 starts from 2003-'09. Hardly eye-popping) but the Sox ar stuck with him until 2015.
I think that the main problem was that winning the World Series in 2004 & 2007 got nto the head of the franchise as a whole. When the Yankees won during theiry run, you never heard any bad publicity about their core guys: Jeter, Bernie Williams, Paul O'Neil, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Riveria (though they had some guys with baggage like A-Rod, Jason Giambi and Roger Clemens but that was mainly steriods). Those guys always acted professionally on the field, with the exception Jeter being on Page Six from time to time (mostly for the starlets he was being seen with). The Red Sox allowed themselves to get out of control. Maybe Francona should've been more forceful in 2011 but that's not his nature. I don't think Francona should've been fired but when a team has an epic collapse late in the season, someone's going to get blamed and it's usually the manager. Now the "children" in the dugout are responding to the domineering personality of Bobby Valentine. Too bad. Maybe the players should've taken a page out of the Yankees' book, been more professional and shown their manager the proper respect (to both Torre and Girardi). The players don;t like Valentine too bad. They crapped over Francona and now they have to pay. I still think this team with it's core (Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz, Adrian Gonzales and Ellsbury-just sign him!), the up & comers (Will Middlebrooks and Pedro Ciriaco) continue to flourish and the pitching gets straightened out can be a force in the American League. The Red Sox organization has no one to blame but themselves for this downfall.
Here are some tidbits of Red Sox history dating back to 1918. It's got some highlights & lowlights...
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