Terry Francona

I watched Terry Francona's press conference and I watched the Epstein/ Lucchino/Werner press conference. My initial reaction was one of overall sadness. It is the end of an era in Red Sox baseball, a very short, spectacularly successful era.
I was a little surprised at the emptiness I felt; sometimes you don't realize how big a part of your life something is until it is gone.
You would think two world championships in four years would give you what you need to overcome any differences, but this is sports in 2011. Nothing means anything.
How many MLB coaches have won two championships or more? I guarantee you it is a very short list over the history of baseball.
The press conferences reinforced what I have felt for a very long time - they are an absolute waste of time. If a journalist has the balls to ask a tough question he will get a softball answer. If they ask softball questions they get condescension. That's why people like Ozzie Guillen and Charles Barkley are so valuable - they speak their minds. Might not be the truth, might not be accurate, but at least they have the guts to say what they think. And it makes you think or respond or pay attention, as opposed to nodding obediently and sheep-like to meaningless drivel.
It feels like this was largely Francona's decision. I can handle that better than if he was forced out. I woke up briefly, and with fire in my soul, when he talked about not connecting with or being able to motivate some of the players (which was repeated by ownership later on). I HATE this about professional sports. It is not a managers job to motivate athletes or "connect" with them. They should motivate themselves, just like they did in high school and college and the minors when they had a burning desire to make it to the majors. Fat paychecks result in fat egos which results in complacency and babysitting. I got two words for you - Manny Ramirez. He should have been fired the first time he didn't run out a ground ball; not benched - fired. He wasn't because he is a rich, pampered athlete who has more clout than his manager and can do whatever he wants to do. Francona should have been allowed to punch him in the face with the rest of the team lined up behind him for their turn.
A manager should be the guy with all the knowledge to try to make all the right moves in every situation. He should be the guru who can look ahead as well as think on his feet to put his team in the best situation to win as often as is possible. That's why I have always hated coaches pre-game or post game talks, especially in football. One out of a hundred are intelligent or motivational; the rest come across like a third grader trying to compare and contrast the political advances of the Mesopotamian Empire with the those of Ancient Greece.
The Epstein/ Lucchino/Werner show was boring and had that phony corporate feel. I guarantee you that those three refer to baseball as product. I was amused at John Henry's absence; I think he would have been the most emotional, most outspoken and honest of them all. Although I can understand him injuring himself on his yacht; happens to me all the time. They echoed the babysitting/ connecting/motivating bullshit, which continued to disgust me. However I was infinitely amused when they expressed surprise at Francona's comment that he wasn't sure he had management's support. That is the issue right there. I think Francona could have stuck around to continue changing diapers, because that is the nature of professional sports today. It is unavoidable. I think The Holy Four were unhappy with Terry's player relationships and with the teams colossal failure, even though The Sox dealt with devastating injuries during the year. Many key players who lost a lot of time, especially on the pitching staff. You can only have so much depth.
I feel empty. I don't know where The Sox go from here; I think they are in for a bumpy road. The phrase "there's always next year" holds no comfort for me this time around.
Went out to see Moneyball last night. There is a scene where Billy Beane has been invited to Fenway to interview for the GM job, which he eventually turned down, opening the door for Epstein. The scene shows him walking up the runway into Fenway Park. The woman sitting next to me said in wonder "That's Fenway", when she recognized the ballpark. She audibly gasped when the view opened up from the runway to reveal the field in all it's glory.
That's what's missing from professional sports today. That's where it started, but it has gotten a long way away from that over the years.
Good luck, Terry Francona and thank you for two precious, Boston baseball memories. 2004 and 2007. They are part of my soul and no one can ever take them away.