The best things to ever happen to the Red Sox head to the World Series
Old demons return to haunt the Red Sox this Halloween.
COMMENTARY
Who ya got?
On one side sits the former general manager of the Boston Red Sox, pitted to be the first man to help bring a pair of long-for begotten franchises unlikely titles.
On the other, the in-dugout skipper who helped the same guy to eventually achieve Cooperstown, assuring his own place in the Baseball Hall of Fame in the process.
If you’re a Red Sox fan, never mind an historian of the game, you were probably pining for a Red Sox-Cubs showdown in this month’s World Series. Who else, after all for the Cubs to break their 108-year title drought than against the club that broke an 86-year lapse 12 years ago?
With the same guy at the decision-making helm? Inconceivable.
But this is better, at least for those more infused in more recent history of Major League Baseball.
Hundred-year-old “curses” play well in the overall analysis, but in this World Series between the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians, we are instead treated to a modern-day soap opera, one in which the Red Sox can either boast or shame themselves into creating.
It seems so much longer than only five years ago that the franchise unceremoniously let go of Terry Francona, mired with personal problems and a team that reacted to his normally-effective character-building measures about as well as a moth to a windshield wiper. The Red Sox were a mess, greased in a collapse highlighted by chicken and beer, yet one that went far deeper than anything the leaks revealed.
Has it really, only been five years since Theo Epstein, the best general manager the Red Sox could ever claim, walked away from his dream job because of an internal tug-of-war?
Yet, here they are. Francona vs. Epstein. Indians vs. Cubs.
It is perfect.
Had the Red Sox not won their city-inspired World Series in 2013, this might have had a bigger spotlight than it might right now. But the fact that the architect and sergeant of two Boston World Series titles, (three if you want to count Epstein’s involvement in the third), should play as an enormous over-easy on the face of the local owners, particularly in a time when the front office seems to be on a consistent exodus.
General manager Mike Hazen, a name most fans might not even know based on Dave Dombrowski’s omnipotence, is off to the Arizona Diamondbacks, along with vice president of international and amateur Scouting Amiel Sawdaye. It seems another day that passes, another member of the Red Sox is electing to move elsewhere, a farewell tour that suggests turmoil within the building.
But it’s nothing compared to what occurred in 2011, when the Red Sox suffered an historic collapse down the stretch, one that cost Francona his job. Epstein resigned nine days later to take over the Cubs, and the Red Sox went in a direction that included Bobby Valentine. You know how it all went.
Two years later, the Red Sox won the World Series, buoyed by the perfect mix of veterans acquired by Ben Cherington. Francona wrote a book. Epstein succumbed to “Yellow Ledbetter.”
Yet, here they are now, the two guys the Red Sox doubted enough to surrender a half-decade ago, both fighting for the chance to cure droughts just as significant as they teamed to do more than a decade ago.
You’re welcome, Chicago. No problem, Cleveland.
Maybe in some perverse way the Sox can celebrate the Cubs’ possible World Series win with some grand ceremony the next time they’re in town for interleague play. Perhaps they’ll salute Francona with a video montage should he come back with the Indians in 2017 with a third ring on his right fist.
But Boston owners have no rooting interest. Not the way it ended with Francona, dragged into marital and pill-popping accusations. Not the way it ended with Epstein, storming out of the place he longed to run, overpowered by the image and TV ratings that certain people in the hierarchy insisted upon.
The Red Sox will be an afterthought after this World Series. Either the Cubs or Indians will have broken a streak with more modern-day significance than what the Red Sox managed 12 years ago. Neither will be able to claim the drama of that October, but they can boast the particulars. Again.
Terry Francona and Theo Epstein are in the World Series together. Again. For the third time.
This time, though, it’s on opposite sides.
And this time, on Yawkey Way, it’s personal.
John Farrell’s 2016 club may have ended its season more than two weeks ago, but this is a bigger moment for the franchise as a whole.
Mistakes and attitude come back to haunt.
Happy Halloween, Red Sox.
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