Right?
Pissed. Damn right I'm pissed.
Shocked? Yep, that too.
And while I am on record that I have not given up all hope of Theo returning, if he leaves I think we will be okay. Think. Hope. Okay, so I am also very confused.
-Continued in comments (warning rambling ahead)
Is losing Theo that devastating? Why was my initial feeling of shock so strong. On the negative feelings scale, in my recent memory, Aaron Boone’s HR was about a 10. Getting swept by the White Sox was about a 3. A-Rod signing with the Yankees was about a 9. Yet somehow yesterday while driving home, I was registering about a 7.5. And why?
ReplyDeleteTheo never hit a ball over the green monster. He never drove in a run. Never pitched seven strong innings. Never struck out an opponent’s cleanup hitter with the tying run on in the ninth.
He did assemble the 25. And no other GM in Sox history has really done that. (Don’t nitpick here). But every year some GM puts together a winner. Hell, Kenny Williams, the laughingstock of Moneyball did it this year. So it can be done. With the Sox vast financial resources they should be able to do it again.
Theo had a great run. He will be missed. But if he is gone for good, I wish him good luck and thank him for bringing us success. But Theo was not invincible. No GM is. He wanted Contreras badly. Same for Pavano. He signed Jeremy Giambi and Ramiro Mendoza. He gave Byung Hung Kim $10 Million – even after the guy flipped off the home fans. He tried hard to get Loaiza. He traded for Jeff Suppan.
Of course he did tons of good as well. Ortiz, Schilling, Foulke, Millar, O-Cab.
So perfect, he’s not (sorry Boomer). On the whole the good outweighs the bad and there is no evidence greater than the memory of Joe Buck calling – “Back to Foulke. Red Sox fans have longed to hear it…..”
My guess is that this will sting for a month or so. It may get worse if Theo takes another job – like watching our ex-girlfriend go out with some other guy. Some other guy that we think has soooo much less to offer than we do. But we will move on. Maybe they will promote Jed Hoyer. Maybe Pat Gillick can be convinced to take the job. Or Jerry Hunsicker. We will be skeptical at first. Then slowly, life will move on. The sox will flirt with the signing of Konerko. There will be trade rumors. There probably will be real trades – baseball trades even, not just financial moves. Rotations will be debated.
And then eventually, pitchers and catchers will report. The Sox will play Boston College. We will battle the Twins for the Mayors Cup. A useless exhibition against the Yankees will be overhyped. We will all swear at one point or another that we will never read (fill in the blank Globe/Herald writer) again.
And then, April 3 in Texas, the 2006 Red Sox will take the field for the first time. We will be tuned in. Navy blue hat embossed with the blazen B. Probably a whole bunch of grey T-shirts, no slightly faded, declaring the Boston Red Sox champions of the world in 2004. Don and Jerry will take the mike. We will settle into our chairs, the distant memory of Theo in the back of our mind. And clap as Johnny Damon or Tony Graffanino or whomever takes Ball One from Chris Young.
Another season begun. Another (that's right, I said another) championship to pursue.
We have survived the departure of Fisk, Freddy Lynn, Wade Boggs, Clemens, Vaughn....
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