Globe Op-Ed Page Plays Hardball with Boston Herald

February 1, 2013

From our Late to the Party desk

Wednesday’s Boston Globe op-ed page featured a piece by sports economist Andrew Zimbalist spanking former Red Sox manager Terry Francona for criticizing the Sox owners in his new book as being more interested in money than the game of baseball.

Zimbalist calls Francona’s narrative “as unconvincing, as it is, at points, nasty, petty, inaccurate, and unfair.” That’s not the only thing that’s unfair in this piece. Here’s how it starts:

10232011_1023oped_vennochi-8075467Francona’s petty payback to Sox owners

IN “FRANCONA, the Red Sox Years,” Terry Francona, with the aid of Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy, has given us his version of his eight years in Boston. They were very successful years for the team — two World Series victories, six trips to the playoffs. Presumably, Francona should get at least some of the credit for this success, though it is not clear how much.

The problem for Francona is that it all ended with the September swoon in 2011 and many seem to blame him. Francona, after all, reportedly had a wild year — a marital separation, a painkiller problem, and then the incident reported by Bob Hohler in the Globe of Jon Lester, John Lackey, and Josh Beckett drinking beer, eating fried chicken, and playing video games in the clubhouse during games. The inevitable, and seemingly reasonable, inference was that Francona had lost control of the team.

 

Wait a second. As best the hardreading staff recalls, the Boston Herald’s John Tomase broke the beer-and-chicken story.

C’mon, Globies. Credit where credit’s due.

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Herald on the Ball Re: Napoli Deal

December 12, 2012

So maybe the Mike Napoli signing isn’t sealed and delivered just yet.

From John Tomase’s column in today’s Boston Herald:

3b58dc_080612soxnl33Catch to Mike Napoli signing?

Injury issues may put contract in jeopardy

Mike Napoli was the Red Sox [team stats]’ primary target of the offseason, and he might become their first casualty.

No one on Yawkey Way had anything to say on the matter last night, but alarm bells have been sounding ever since the one-week mark of his three-year, $39 million agreement passed without an official announcement.

Last night the estimable Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports speculated that Napoli’s deal might have hit a snag, noting that he was supposed to be introduced at a Fenway Park [map] news conference yesterday.

 

Interestingly, what reportedly did happen yesterday was Napoli’s physical. Which has led to all kinds of speculation, as the Herald piece notes.

Meanwhile, crosstown at the Globe, the dead-tree edition had nothing on the Napoli deal, but the website caught up this afternoon with this piece:

Red Sox trying to close Mike Napoli deal

The Red Sox are trying to work through some issues that have prevented them from formalizing a new deal with Mike Napoli, according to a major league source, but nothing is resolved yet.

It seems like for days now the Red Sox have been on the verge of an announcing that Napoli had been signed to a three-year, $39 million deal, but none has come.

A newly acquired Red Sox player usually comes to Boston for a physical and officially signs the contract. Then, the player is introduced at a Fenway Park press conference.

 

Call Napoli the player to be quizzed later.

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Funny, Valentine Gives Exclusive to Herald Edition

September 8, 2012

Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine, who sometimes seems to be only half there, gets half the Boston Herald’s front page today (via The Newseum):

Inside, Steve Buckley has the scoop:

Bobby V plans to be back

Choosing to whistle past the Fenway Park [map] graveyard, a defiant Bobby Valentine said yesterday he plans to be managing the Red Sox [team stats] in 2013.

“I expect to be, of course,” Valentine said late yesterday afternoon at Fenway Park before the Sox’ series opener against the Toronto Blue Jays. “Until I’m told that I’m not, why would I expect otherwise?”

Valentine, who is signed through 2013 and will earn $2.5 million next season, said he doesn’t “see any reason that I wouldn’t be in uniform, other than that they figured there’s someone better to do the job than I’m going to do here. Then maybe I’ll be in another uniform.

See your local bookmaker for the odds of that.

The hardreading staff’s favorite Bobby V pronouncement, though, appears in the pull quote:

As good as I am, I couldn’t even create this kind of mess.

Crosstown at the Globe, meanwhile, they seem to have already kissed Bobby goodbye. The broadsheet is all about John Farrell, the one that got away to the equally miserable Toronto Blue Jays. Michael Vega’s game report from the print edition (which led with a focus on Farrell) has largely been replaced, while a thumbsucker devoted to Farrell was added to the website today.

Back in the Herald, John Tomase says Farrell should stay put.

Farrell’s a keeper

No way Blue Jays should let Sox take their manager

The Red Sox [team stats] want John Farrell. Let there be little doubt of that. But here’s a question: If you’re the Blue Jays, why on earth would you give him to them?

The Red Sox are in disarray. Bobby Valentine is 99.9999999999999999999 percent certain to be fired, probably within hours of the season ending. If you’re Toronto, grasping for the tiniest thread of hope in the AL East, this is it:

Let the Red Sox keep flailing.

With Bobby V at the helm, there’s little doubt that’s just what will happen.

 

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