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November 5, 2010

John Henry On Soccer And The Sox

The Globe has some of Stan Grossfeld's Q&A with John Henry and Tom Werner late last month on the flight back to Boston from Liverpool. Some snips:
When do you go from being sentimental to being pragmatic? ... [W]hen you followed your heart, you rewarded Mike Lowell with a multiyear contract ... in hindsight it wasn't a good financial move.

Henry: In hindsight, most long-term free agent deals with players over 30 years of age are not good investments. There's a long history in baseball of teams that do it. It generally costs you more than you'd like in the last year or years of the contract.

So why do them?

Henry: It's part of the price you pay sometimes to win championships.
Example
Last year became known, unfortunately, as the Year of the Bridge --

Henry: Not because of us. When you are a general manager, you say a lot of things and somebody can pick up on one and make it a major issue. [Epstein] said that because we felt that by 2012 we'd have some young talent that's going to be ready. I don't know why that was perceived as a negative. For me it was a positive.
Example
Do you want to reassure Red Sox Nation? There have been grumblings that the product is being diluted.

Henry: How could it be diluted?

You're spending too much time on soccer.

Henry: Yeah, well, I'm not the general manager, the manager, or the CEO of the Red Sox.

7 comments:

  1. Henry: Yeah, well, I'm not the general manager, the manager, or the CEO of the Red Sox.






    It sounds like people better do better jobs this year.....

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  2. The way I read it was:

    Henry: WTF! Who the fuck cares if I get involved in soccer? I'm not Theo, I'm not Tito, and I don't fucking play every day -- or ANY day, for fuck's sake! Jesus wept! Is this really an issue? Oooooooo, John Henry is reading a 1,000-page book, I'm scared the Red Sox will go into a massive slump because his attention will be elsewhere during some of the day. Are all our fans this stoopid? (bangs head on seatback tray)

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  3. no one cared when they got involved in Nascar

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  4. You're spending too much time on soccer.

    Finish your homework before you go outside to play!

    The fans are worried about John Henry's time and money. Their lives must be perfect. They're fresh out of real things to worry about.

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  5. I appreciated the interview, but I thought the questions were a bit... well, dumb. The question about how Henry spends his time in particular. Isn't that the reverse of the fan's complaint you usually hear about ownership, that its too hands on? "Hey, how come your head isn't up the GM's butt?!!?"

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  6. "Hey, how come your head isn't up the GM's butt?!!?"

    "HE OWNS TOO MUCH!!! HOW CAN HE OWN IT ALL AT ONCE!?!?!"

    ReplyDelete