A Good Off-Season?

This past Sunday, February 08, 2004, New York Times columnist Tyler Kepner wrote a fascinating article that illustrates why the Boston Red Sox have not won anything since the new ownership, headed by John Henry, has taken over. Kepner wrote that Red Sox president Larry Lucchino, the individual who referred to the Yankees as the “evil empire,” stated "I've been in the game long enough to know how unpredictable it is, how important randomness is to the success and failure of teams, and to know how important health issues are. It's a heck of a team."

Lucchino, of course, is right. How many people at Yankee Stadium October 16, 2003, thought that the Yankees would overcome Pedro Martinez and a 5-2 Red Sox lead after Nick Johnson flied out to right fielder Trot Nixon leading off the eighth inning? Probably more than a few considering who was leading whom, but it can be confirmed that there was at least one vendor who shouted to the fans in the fifth inning, with the Yankees down 4-0, “Last call for Crackerjacks…until Saturday.” Sometime instinct overrules logic.

Lucchino went on to say that he couldn’t imagine winning a World Series without Nomar Garciaparria, the future Hall of Fame shortstop whom the Red Sox would have traded had they been able to acquire the services of Alex Rodriguez. So exactly what was Lucchino imagining for the Red Sox when he wanted to trade Nomar?

General Manager Theo Epstein (yes, his name really IS Theo, which is a Dutch name he was given because he was conceived in Holland) told Kepner that when his team led the Yankees in Game 7 by three runs in the eighth inning, he thought of Williams, Pesky, Rice and Yastrezemski, Red Sox greats whose teams never had “slain” the Yankees. If Theo were to examine baseball history, there have been many instances in which the Red Sox beat the Yankees, the last of which was 1995 when the Red Sox won the Eastern Division title only to lose to Cleveland in the first round of the playoffs.

Theo’s use of the word “slain” is fascinating. Doesn’t he realize that one of baseball’s greatest attractions is that all teams but one are “slain” or die each season but all are reincarnated the next? He really should since his team has been “slain” 86 times since it last won the World Series. Perhaps Theo would just like to see the Yankees go away.

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