In case your bullshit meter was in the shop yesterday or you were otherwise not able to pick up on yesterday's press conference, Shank is here to again
state the obvious.
Terry Francona was fired yesterday. The longtime manager and the Red Sox brass used a lot of polite words and tried to make it sound mutual, but Francona turns out to be the first victim of the greatest collapse in baseball history.
On a bizarre and historic Friday at Fenway, the Sox and Francona generated more spin than the Harlem Globetrotters.
Francona blamed himself, worked hard to stay on message, but late in his goodbye press session, he veered off the rails and threw John Henry under the team charter.
“To be honest with you, I’m not sure how much support there was from ownership,’’ Francona offered. “You’ve got to be all-in on this job. It’s got to be everybody together, and I was questioning that a little bit.’’
Bingo. Henry has had Francona in his crosshairs for a couple of years. Ultimately, Francona was not enough of a numbers guy to satisfy Boston’s Moneyball boss.
Not much of a surprise there, but this is a little interesting:
Based on Francona’s non-denial, it’s apparently true that some of the Sox’ starting pitchers were drinking in the clubhouse during games they were not scheduled to start. A report in yesterday’s Herald broke the story and Francona rejected an opportunity to say that it was untrue.
Funny how things like this only come up after the season ends, to be largely forgotten by the time spring training comes around.
1 comment:
I truly don't believe Francona was fired. Or that the Sox were using him as a scapegoat. It has always been true that a manager is easier to let go after a terrible season than even the worst (Lackey) players (Crawful).
I listened to the press conference on the radio, and Terry would not have sounded as he did in my view if he had been fired outright. I believe him when he said he made up his mind before the end of the season. He is too genuine a person and he has too much integrity to lie to the fans and the media about his honest feelings.
If he felt that he was not reaching current players (again, Lackey being an obvious one) and established players (probably Youkilis among them) and I were in his position, I completely understand why he would "walk away" so to speak. If he couldn't reach a hothead like Lackey this year there would be little chance he could do the same next year.
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