Theo and John Henry
John Mellencamp has a song on his “Big Daddy” CD titled “Theo and Weird Henry” so I couldn’t resist that title.
After watching everything go down in the past few days I find myself asking one question. It’s the same question Jackie McMullen of the Globe was asking in a column yesterday, why wasn’t this thing done a lot sooner? Like at the beginning of spring training or sometime right after the World Series victory.
I’m not convinced that Larry Luchino is the culprit here. I think he definitely factored into Theo’s decision, but I really believe there were other contributing factors that were just as important and unfortunately we’ll never really know what truly happened. John Henry is correct when he says that ultimately the principle owner is the one responsible.
Most owners buy the team and then hire people to run it, more or less staying out of the business themselves. There are exceptions of course, George Steinbrenner being the most notable, but overall, owners stay out of it. Regardless, the owner will always have the final say in everything, so ultimately they are the ones who should shoulder the blame.
John Henry, in my opinion, is unique. For the most part he has stayed out of baseball operations, yet when it was clear that A-Rod was interested in coming to Boston but things weren’t moving quickly enough to get the deal done before the MLB deadline, Henry stepped in and took over the negotiations himself. This tells me that when he really wants something, he’ll get involved if it’s necessary.
Watching and listening to him talk at the press conference yesterday it was clear that he has a genuine affection for Theo, and that he really wanted him to continue to be his general manager. If this is the case, then why wasn’t a deal done a lot sooner? There is no reason to wait to get something like this done. If Larry Luchino is putting Theo off during spring training and during the season, then Henry needs to step in. He either needs to tell Larry to get something done or just do it himself.
Having said that, I’m not really blaming Henry either, he stated yesterday that, never in his wildest dreams did he think this would happen, and that he had envisioned Theo as being GM for the rest of his (Henry’s) life. This tells me that he just assumed that Theo would want to stay and that Larry would get it done. Obviously this was a mistake, but you can’t really fault him for it because it’s a mistake that just about everyone else made as well.
At one point he even stated that maybe he wasn’t fit to be the owner of the Boston Red Sox; which of course, is insane. More has been done with this team during his 4 year run than was done in the previous 80 or so years, including winning a World Series. I’ve been happier and more proud to be a Red Sox fan in these last 4 years than I have in any other time in my life. Not because they won the World Series, but because they finally had an owner who wanted to win as much as I did and was willing to do just about anything to do it.
John Henry has not only been great for the Red Sox, he’s also been great for baseball, the community, the Jimmy Fund and many other charities, and all kinds of other things. As I’ve stated before, if you’re a Red Sox fan, you cannot possibly have a better owner for your team.
What happened here is unfortunate and we’ll probably never know exactly why it happened, but it cannot be blamed on any one person, not John Henry, not Larry Luchino, and not Theo Epstein.
As for Luchino, he’s every bit as responsible for all the good that has happened here in the last 4 years as Henry and Epstein, and others of course. Although I do believe he was a factor in Theo’s decision to depart, I believe that if it was the only factor, they would have found a way to get past it, so I refuse to pin this on him either.
Losing Theo is a tough break for this organization, and as Henry pointed out yesterday, “a great, great loss.” Henry also pointed out that he (Theo) was completely selfless in his devotion to the team, and as Bob Ryan mentioned in his article today, he was a rare combination of old school and new school, he had the brains to run the team and the people skills that made him popular with everyone including the players, something we did not have in the last GM.
He is a local fan boy who made good and became a legend. Although he is replaceable, he is not easily replaced. But when they do replace him, it will be with somebody who is completely capable of filling his role. Someone who will be able to take over the good work that he has done in bringing in team players and continuing to build on the great foundation he laid down in the farm system.
We will survive, and we will continue to go in the right direction, that same one that Theo was leading us to. It’s just a shame that Theo won’t be going along with us.
After watching everything go down in the past few days I find myself asking one question. It’s the same question Jackie McMullen of the Globe was asking in a column yesterday, why wasn’t this thing done a lot sooner? Like at the beginning of spring training or sometime right after the World Series victory.
I’m not convinced that Larry Luchino is the culprit here. I think he definitely factored into Theo’s decision, but I really believe there were other contributing factors that were just as important and unfortunately we’ll never really know what truly happened. John Henry is correct when he says that ultimately the principle owner is the one responsible.
Most owners buy the team and then hire people to run it, more or less staying out of the business themselves. There are exceptions of course, George Steinbrenner being the most notable, but overall, owners stay out of it. Regardless, the owner will always have the final say in everything, so ultimately they are the ones who should shoulder the blame.
John Henry, in my opinion, is unique. For the most part he has stayed out of baseball operations, yet when it was clear that A-Rod was interested in coming to Boston but things weren’t moving quickly enough to get the deal done before the MLB deadline, Henry stepped in and took over the negotiations himself. This tells me that when he really wants something, he’ll get involved if it’s necessary.
Watching and listening to him talk at the press conference yesterday it was clear that he has a genuine affection for Theo, and that he really wanted him to continue to be his general manager. If this is the case, then why wasn’t a deal done a lot sooner? There is no reason to wait to get something like this done. If Larry Luchino is putting Theo off during spring training and during the season, then Henry needs to step in. He either needs to tell Larry to get something done or just do it himself.
Having said that, I’m not really blaming Henry either, he stated yesterday that, never in his wildest dreams did he think this would happen, and that he had envisioned Theo as being GM for the rest of his (Henry’s) life. This tells me that he just assumed that Theo would want to stay and that Larry would get it done. Obviously this was a mistake, but you can’t really fault him for it because it’s a mistake that just about everyone else made as well.
At one point he even stated that maybe he wasn’t fit to be the owner of the Boston Red Sox; which of course, is insane. More has been done with this team during his 4 year run than was done in the previous 80 or so years, including winning a World Series. I’ve been happier and more proud to be a Red Sox fan in these last 4 years than I have in any other time in my life. Not because they won the World Series, but because they finally had an owner who wanted to win as much as I did and was willing to do just about anything to do it.
John Henry has not only been great for the Red Sox, he’s also been great for baseball, the community, the Jimmy Fund and many other charities, and all kinds of other things. As I’ve stated before, if you’re a Red Sox fan, you cannot possibly have a better owner for your team.
What happened here is unfortunate and we’ll probably never know exactly why it happened, but it cannot be blamed on any one person, not John Henry, not Larry Luchino, and not Theo Epstein.
As for Luchino, he’s every bit as responsible for all the good that has happened here in the last 4 years as Henry and Epstein, and others of course. Although I do believe he was a factor in Theo’s decision to depart, I believe that if it was the only factor, they would have found a way to get past it, so I refuse to pin this on him either.
Losing Theo is a tough break for this organization, and as Henry pointed out yesterday, “a great, great loss.” Henry also pointed out that he (Theo) was completely selfless in his devotion to the team, and as Bob Ryan mentioned in his article today, he was a rare combination of old school and new school, he had the brains to run the team and the people skills that made him popular with everyone including the players, something we did not have in the last GM.
He is a local fan boy who made good and became a legend. Although he is replaceable, he is not easily replaced. But when they do replace him, it will be with somebody who is completely capable of filling his role. Someone who will be able to take over the good work that he has done in bringing in team players and continuing to build on the great foundation he laid down in the farm system.
We will survive, and we will continue to go in the right direction, that same one that Theo was leading us to. It’s just a shame that Theo won’t be going along with us.
posted by Bob at 11/03/2005 08:30:00 AM
1 Comments:
The sox will survive, maybe thrive. But I truly don't think you replace someone like Theo.
I think Theo has a ton of integrity and he said that he couldn't put his heart and soul into the organization completely anymore. So without throwing anyone under the bus, we know there are things he isn't happy with or approve of. Whether its the leaks to the media, Larry's heavy hand or demeanor, or maybe an upcoming move that Theo wants to distance himself from.
I'll miss him, he was more mature than anyone on Yawkey way. He was trustworthy and always took the high road. Its easy to bash people on there way out of town. Dan "twilight of his career" Duqette is the perfect example. Theo never did that, never will.
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