[W]e wondered, of the two deposed managers — Terry Francona and Bobby Valentine — which one is held in higher regard by Henry and the Sox owners?Nick thinks it's Valentine.
Francona, who managed two championship teams, albeit with great talent, or Valentine, who had a record number of injuries and chaos during his year at the helm?
I'm not kidding. He really does. Here's the link.
The amount of water Nick has carried for Valentine over the past 14-15 months has to rival the contents of the Pacific by now.
ReplyDeleteYou must not be done with book yet....lol
ReplyDeleteI finished yesterday, actually!
ReplyDelete"Nick thinks it's Valentine"
ReplyDeleteThus proving conclusively it's Francona.
SoSHer hellborn: "Better president--Abraham Lincoln who won the Civil War and ended slavery, albeit with a great top-hat, or William Henry Harrison, who caught a chill during his inauguration and died."
ReplyDeleteYa did, did ya.... Is there a post on its way.
ReplyDeleteYa did, did ya.... Is there a post on its way.
ReplyDeleteUmm, no. I wasn't planning on it.
[W]e wondered, of the two deposed managers — Terry Francona and Bobby Valentine — which one is held in higher regard by Henry and the Sox owners?
ReplyDeleteWho wonders this? Or, for that matter, who really cares? Another example of a Boston beat writer trolling for a story that isn't there.
In that case.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion Tito came off very insecure. He really seemed to worry about where he stood with ownership.
And the 2004 section, gave me nothing new. The book itself gave me nothing I didn't already know. Thats just my opinion.
There was some new stuff in there, like Posada's "pop time" on Roberts's steal in G4.
ReplyDeleteYeah , your right that and his love for the clubhouse workers.
ReplyDeleteDid you get the sense he wasn't in love with Pedro?
ReplyDeleteAnd as much as they wanted it not to be , it did come off as though they hired him because of Schilling.
ReplyDeleteIt would seem the owners blame CHB more for the comments in Tito's book than they blame Francona.
ReplyDeleteSoSHer mabrowndog:
"In Lucchino's recent radio interviews he's pretty much exonerated Tito from the scathing comments in his book. Instead, he laid the blame squarely at the feet of Shank."
Also a tweet from Pete Abraham:
"Two questions to Luchhino from @Dan_Shaughnessy. Two quick "no comments." Then he answered same questions asked by others."
Hard to say about Francona and Pedro. Pedro had his own way of doing things and his own schedule, but I didn't really get that vibe. I assume it was a mixed bag. Unlike Manny, who was apparently not a mixed bag.
ReplyDeleteI didn't get that feeling about his hiring at all. Francona had been extensively interviewed and had spent several days actually working at Fenway before his hiring was announced - and before the Schilling courtship started. It totally helped in getting Schilling to seriously consider a trade to Boston, though.
It is a shame that Francona signed off on all of the snide comments against Bill James and against progressive thinking in general. It was 101% obviously who was responsible for those sentences, since CHB would include a gratuitous insult and then quote Francona as basically agreeing with James.
ReplyDeleteAlso, whole sections of the book seemed like they were written extremely fast. When going through some later seasons (like 2008 or 2009), it read like a first draft that needed to be fleshed out.
Still, I enjoyed almost all of it. Only when CHB was getting in his usual digs was it annoying.
Now we need Theo to write his Red Sox book!
The thing with a book like this. It just looks like a money grab. Because they all still work int he game or still want to work in the game. So you never ever get the whole story. The last time that happened Jose Canseco wrote a book and tore the lid of baseball. And hes is shunned by most.
ReplyDeleteI wanted more about players. It was obviuos he loved the guys like himself, the marginal players. Kapler for one he loved.
I would have liked it if he just concentrated on the Red Sox years like the book said. But it seemed as though CHB did most of the writing about players.
Talked way to much about car and plane rides. I think Tito even mentioned that is where they became a team, on plane rides and cribbage tournaments.
In my opinion Tito comes off as a little odd.
Also alot of talk of bathroom doors and his office.
9C, what do you mean by "a money grab"?
ReplyDeleteSomeone offered Tito money to write a book. He said okay then decided to give us a fluff piece. Like I said that is only my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI just felt as though the book was writted to take a few jabs as he went away.
In every organization there is going to be a guy everyone dislikes. Lucchino is that guy.
So it's not that he made money for the book, it's that the book isn't substantial enough, not enough going on. Glad I asked.
ReplyDeleteI was more interested in reading it before I read your comments!
Oh, I'm sorry. I didnt want to ruin it for anybody. Read it anyways I would love to hear your thoughts as well.... And you know as well as anyone not take my opinion as gold.
ReplyDeleteI don't think L would get much out of it. Too much behind the scenes stuff that she tries to ignore during the season!
ReplyDeleteI doubt he made that much for the book. Certainly far less than he does managing - and he had to deal with CHB. So he suffered for however much he got!
ReplyDeleteI suppose it was a cash grab in the sense that it was a high-profile firing and there are plenty of Red Sox fans who would want to read about it/Tito in general.
I would have liked more about the 2004 and 2007 post-seasons (and comebacks). Maybe he talked about that, but CHB did not use it.
I agree Allan, fans are going to read it and want to learn about their team. The 2004 part of the book was small. Which is wierd because I believe I have seen two documentaries and read two books on just 2004.
ReplyDeleteI know CHB doesnt give a shit about the fans. But I am not sure Tito even realized how much it meant to the fans. Like when he choose not to wear his red sox hat at the parade. Just childish,
You didn't ruin it for me!
ReplyDeleteI was questioning the idea of a book as a cash grab because writing is seldom profitable. Usually people write because they feel they have something to say, want people to hear their side of the story, want to keep their name out there - now called "extending your brand" (gag).
I hope he did make some decent money from it, I even hope that for CHB. Now there's solidarity for ya, good wishes for a writer whose work I despise.