Other people's managers

INDIANAPOLIS—One cool thing about the Winter Meetings is the daily little thing each manager does with the press. For some guys it's the first (and only) chance they get to catch a glimpse at someone like Don Wakamatsu or Dave Trembley and hear what they have to say.

Other times, it's nothing more than another mass media session for the popular managers of the big-market teams. For instance, this afternoon, Terry Francona of the Red Sox and Ozzie
Guillen from the White Sox held they media sessions in front of pretty large crowds. Then again, Ozzie and Tito usually gather larger than average crowds simply because they are so quotable. In the case of Ozzie Guillen sometimes he's so quotable he can't be quoted because of his choice in different types of words he likes to use.

It makes me wonder if Ozzie learned English from listening to Redd Foxx records when he came to the U.S. from Venezuela.

Nevertheless, today Francona relived the end of the 2009 season and how even though the Red Sox won 95 games, they weren't quite good enough.

"Everybody remembers how you finish," Francona said, acknowledging that despite all those wins, the Red Sox didn't even challenge the Yankees in the AL East.

With World Series title No. 27 in the bag, the secret to the Yankees success is pretty simple to hear Francona describe it.

"They have a lot of money and they have a lot of smart people running things," he said.

Lethal combo.

Meanwhile, across the ballroom here in the Indy Downtown Marriott, Guillen talked about his club, specifically how veteran Andruw Jones fits in.

Jones, of course, has been THE center fielder in the Majors over the last decade. However, now that he going into his 15th season in the league and closing in on his 33rd birthday, Jones will have to get used to playing left field for the White Sox, because, as Guillen said, "Right now he doesn't have a choice."

Five-year veteran Alex Rios is Guillen's choice to play centerfield in front of Jones.

"Rios is a better center fielder," Guillen said. "Ten years ago, Andruw Jones was the best center fielder on Earth."

He's still pretty good, but not good enough for the South Side of Chicago.

As far as the Phillies go, Charlie Manuel did not make the trip to Indy with the approximately 30 other members of the team's traveling party. Because the season lasted into the first week of November, Manuel was excused. Last year in Las Vegas, as some remember, Manuel spent the entire week in his room at the Bellagio ridden with the flu. Until the last day of the winter meetings Charlie only surfaced to sign his contract extension before going back to bed.

This year he's probably playing a little golf in Florida.

We're so outta here

There is no such thing as the ex-Phillies curse. There might be an ex-Cubs curse and the curse of Kenny Lofton[1] appears to be alive and well, but as far as the Phillies go, there is no such jinx[2]. In fact, leaving the Philadelphia Phillies for another team is a really good career move. How good? Going back to the last time the Phillies were actually in the World Series there has been at least one former Phillie to play in the Series in every season except for 1998. If the Red Sox manage to beat the Rockies this year, it will be four straight World Series where an ex-Phillie plays an instrumental role.

Need names? OK.

Scott Rolen for the Cardinals last year; Cliff Politte for the White Sox in 2005; and of course, Curt Schilling and Terry Francona for the Red Sox in 2004.

The last two names are the most interesting. Actually, Schilling isn't so interesting because he is one of those guys who can pick and choose where he wants to play. He wanted the Phillies to trade him to the Diamondbacks and a year later he was pitching in the World Series. When the D'backs were ready for their big fire sale, Schilling was able to wrangle a deal to the Red Sox, a team that missed out on the World Series because of Aaron Boone's home run in Game 7 of the ALCS the previous year.

What Schilling wants, Schilling gets - but really, where's the fun in that? It's not exactly the noblest tact, but whatever...

But when Schilling worked the trade to Boston at Thanksgiving of 2003, one thing he wanted was Terry Francona as the manager of the Red Sox. It wasn't the most popular move to the Red Sox fans during that 2004 season, but they got over it pretty quickly. Now in his fourth season as the Red Sox skipper, Francona is heading to his second World Series after ending the franchises' 86-year "curse" in '04. Francona, it seems, is a pretty good manager after all.

Go figure.

Jim Salisbury examined the rise of Tito in the Inquirer today. In the story Francona's days as the manager of the Phillies were especially noted. Hired to manage the Phillies before the 1997 season when he was just 37, Francona's job, it seems now, was just to bide time until the Phillies could get the new stadium built and then find a better manager.

Francona, it was reasoned, had the temperament to deal with the young Phillies players as well as take the lumps in the press. And aside from giving the manager Rolen and Schilling, the team really wanted Francona to take a beating.

Francona definitely took it, the Phillies eventually built their new stadium, but did they get a better manager to replace him? Surely there will be plenty of folks to debate that one - especially in Philadelphia where there seems to be some resentment for those who find success elsewhere. The curious part about that is Francona was never expected to win in Philadelphia - what team in which four starters made more than 30 starts during the four-year run would be?

Why the resentment? Is it Francona's fault that the Red Sox cared about winning and the Phillies just wanted to get a stadium built and hired Larry Bowa?

Schilling summed it up in the Inquirer:

"Nobody that matters or knows what they're talking about sees him that way," said Curt Schilling, who has spent eight of the last 11 seasons pitching for Francona, first in Philadelphia, now in Boston.

"Unfortunately, there are some people in Philadelphia that have the ability to shape opinions. There are some people in the media there that are the most ignorant sports people I've ever met.

"Terry's really not any different than he was in Philadelphia. He just has an organization that understands winning and is committed to winning."

And like Rolen and every other former Phillie that left town for greater glory, Philadelphia is hardly even a blip in Francona's rear-view mirror:

"Regardless of what job I've had, I've never made it about myself," he said after his team won the American League pennant Sunday night. "Really, I don't care what people in Philadelphia think, especially from Woodhaven Road on down."

So can Francona and Schilling do it again?

Yeah, why not...

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[1] Kenny Lofton has made it to the playoffs in 11 of the past 13 seasons with six different teams and has been to the World Series twice. Both times his team lost. Moreover, in 20 playoff series, Lofton's teams are 9-11. Then again, Lofton was a Cub during the infamous "Bartman" series. Does that mean Lofton himself is the jinx or the fact that he was on the Cubs make him a jinx?[2] Of course there are no such things as jinxes, curses or other otherworldly influences on sports, but for the sake of this argument we'll just pretend to be stupid(er).

Goofin' off

Whenever I want a good laugh I read my horoscope. Better yet, the astrology stuff that attempts to pinpoint my personality and future based on my birthday are the best. Because I was born on December 10 – like Emily Dickinson, Susan Dey and that big dude from The Green Mile – I’m supposed to be inscrutable and philosophical… or something like that.

Be that as it may, there are a lot of people who take their astrological sign and star charts seriously. In fact, some people treat it as a religion.

Along those lines is a report in The New York Times where Japanese baseball players are judged on their blood type.

Why blood type and not eye color?

Anyway, new Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka is a warrior who can face down any difficult situation – like facing Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez with no outs and the bases loaded – because his blood type is O.

Think I’m kidding? Read this story… like I wrote, it’s in The Times.

On another note, I happened to hear former Phillies manager and current Red Sox skipper, Terry Francona, on Dan Patrick’s radio show this afternoon while driving home with my son from his school. During the show, Patrick asked Tito if he anticipates and communication problems with the new, $52 million man who is set to pitch for the Red Sox.

No, Francona, said, adding, “If he wants to go out and pitch seven, eight or nine innings every night, I can pat him on the butt in any language.”

Factoid
This is from sometime ComcastSportsNet.com contributor and former “Best Damn Sports Show, Period” researcher, Bill Sudell:

Here's how things are going at the Wachovia Center: The Flyers have won eight games, the 76ers only five. There are 31 teams - 23 in the NHL, which has played more of its schedule, and eight in the NBA - with as many or more wins than the 13 the Flyers and Sixers have combined.

Don’t let the door hit you…
Here’s a surprise – some Philadelphia police officers are happy to see Allen Iverson (reportedly) on his way out of town.

Here’s the money quotes via Philadelphia Will Do, via the Inquirer’s police blog:

“"He's a hoodlum, a thug" proclaimed one police officer. Another one of Philly's finest said, "He doesn't make our lives any easier as cops. He thinks he can drive a thousand miles an hour down City Avenue and that no one is supposed to say anything to him." Another officer commented how disgusted she was when he allegedly turned down a young fan looking to get his autograph at TGI Fridays.”

Just for the sake of nothing, I decided to look up all of the 76ers’ coaches during Allen Iverson’s time in Philadelphia. They are:

Johnny Davis 1997
Larry Brown 1998-2003
Randy Ayers 2003-2004
Chris Ford 2004
Jim O’Brien 2004-2005
Maurice Cheeks 2005- present

Meanwhile, just for fun, I decided to look up the managers Scott Rolen has played for during his career. Like Iverson, Rolen was the Rookie of the Year in 1997.

Jim Fregosi 1996
Terry Francona 1997-2000
Larry Bowa 2000-2002
Tony La Russa 2002- present

As one can tell from the list, Iverson really didn’t become a coach killer until Larry Brown bolted for Detroit. Meanwhile, Brown has been in and out of two organizations since leaving Philadelphia.

Downloaded playbook
Apparently, Eagles' rookie Jeremy Bloom is resourceful. How resourceful? Well, instead of using his iPod to listen to music or watch movies, Bloom uses his handy-dandy little computer to learn the Eagles playbook.

According to a story on ESPN.com, the rookie out of CU-Boulder records himself reading the playbook, loads it onto his iPod, and then works out while listening to himself tell himself what to do.

The winning graf:

Eagles special teams coordinator John Harbaugh observed Bloom doing his solo work, but had no idea what he was listening to. "I thought there was music in that thing," Harbaugh said.

Tito!

Amongst sports fans -- if I can even be considered a sports fan -- I am rare in that I feel no sympathy for the Boston Red Sox, their whiny fans and their damned curse. As far as I'm concerned, the Red Sox and their fans deserve all the agony that has been dealt their way. Want to know why? The phrase, "Get that nigger off the field," sums up my ambivilence toward the Olde Towne Team. Check out my friend Howie's book Shut Out, better yet, buy it, if you want to understand the real history of the Red Sox. Contrary to popular media mythology, the real curse has nothing to do with Babe Ruth. Instead, the fact that the Red Sox refused to integrate for more than a decade after Jackie Robinson broke the color line screams volumes.

Sometimes, I even root for the Yankees to beat the Red Sox. To me that means that everything is OK in the world. If the Red Sox were to somehow figure out how to win it all, the earth might spin off its axis and prople itself into the sun.

For good measure, screw the Chicago Cubs too. Real teams figure out how to get it done.

Anyway, the magnitude of the Red Sox's victory in the ALCS still has not sunk in. Rarely are two extremes even contained in the same variable in that the victory was both the greatest comeback and greatest collapse in baseball history. The fact that it happened with two of the most mythologized francises in the sport just makes it even more immense and legendary. However, there are a few things that a lot of people are forgetting about the two teams.

Firstly, the Red Sox were actually favored to win the series. After the Sox swept an Angels team that was much better than the Yankees, the consensus was that the Sox would win the ALCS in six games... maybe even five. But when the Sox lost the first two games and then were embarrassed 19-8 in the third game, it was the same old, same old for Red Sox Nation.

Nice try. Hurry up and lose so we can move on.

So when they came back from three games down and three outs away from a sweep against one of the best three closers in the history of the game, it was easy to see that something was up.

Interestingly, the Red Sox also overcame a seemingly insurmountable 3-1 series deficit with just one strike to go before they were eliminated the last time they went to the World Series. And we all know how that one ended.

I'm sure Fox will have a blast playing and replaying the ball that went through Bill Buckner's legs. That image still sends chills up and down my spine every time I see it even to this day. But we'll chat about that later.

Anyway, back to why I don't like the Red Sox.

Surely, I should be able to ignore the idiocy of the whiny fans, egghead literati and elbow-patch blazer wearing professors as well as the knee-jerk media that obsess over the Sox, but I can't. I'm shallow. I'm also one of those people who is too cool to be attached to common fandom because I get to go into the clubhouse. Yeah, that's right. I'm so cool.

But when I was boy and easily influenced by the media -- especially television, newspapers and those jock-sniffing tell-all books -- I loved the allure of the Red Sox. Johnny Pesky is a family friend, so how could I not root for the Sox. Since they are the lovable losers always knocking on the door but never getting an answer, how could a young kid not be influenced by that? Enticing it even more was the fact that the were always so close to it finally being the year. They always did the right thing by adding the piece that they needed, and always had a band of complex and complicated stars.

Teddy Ballgame, Yaz, Jimmy Rice, Wade Boggs, Oil Can, the Rocket, Freddie Lynn, Boomer Scott, Eck, Fisk, Remy, el Tiante, Nomah, Mo Vaughn, Dewey Evans, Zimmer, Steamer Stanley, Dave Henderson and Billy Buckner. Who couldn't like those guys?

Well, they couldn't, I would later find out. Much later, I learned that that 25 cabs for 25 guys ethos that had defined the team and was later embraced by Nomar Garciaparra doesn't work. The Golden Boy had to go if they were going to make a serious run.

Regardless, I find myself curiously interested in these Sox because of an unappreaciated element called Terry Francona. Old Tito, of course, was the first manager I ever dealt with on an everyday basis. Tito is a guy who I associate with my dream of covering a big league team. His office was the first place I went when I finally became an insider. I'm sure if it had been anyone else other than kindly and classy Francona that I would not want to have anything to do with baseball. By being a good guy -- which to me is more important than being a good player or manager -- my love of the game and desire to be near it was enhanced. So for that, I hope Francona wins the World Series every single season.

I don't even care that he manages the Red Sox.

Tidbits * One name missing from everyone's lips as the Red Sox go to the World Series is Nomar Garciaparra. Apparently, the deal to send him to the Cubs to get Orlando Cabrera from Montreal and Doug Mientkiewicz from Minnesota worked out pretty well.

* Check this out: My grandmother was born on Jan. 10, 1918. She was nearly eight months old when the Red Sox won their last World Series in Sept. 1918. My son was born April 15, 2004. If the Red Sox win the World Series this week, he'll be close to the same age as my grandmother was when the Sox won their last title. Crazy huh?

I wonder if my son will have to wait as long as my grandmother did to see another Red Sox title... yes, I just assumed the Sox will win. Now they're really jinxed.

* Lost in the shuffle of the Red Sox-Yankees series has been a marvelous NLCS. Tonight is Game 7 of that series, which has had much better ball and even closer games than the ALCS. If the Cardinals win, the World Series will be a former Phillies convention.

* Along the former Phillies line, wdid all the Philadelphia fans know that Scott Rolen, Curt Schilling and Francona would one day make it to the World Series. Now ask those same Philly fans if they are surprised that they did it with St. Louis and Boston.

* How cool would it be to see Roger Clemens pitching in the World Series against the Red Sox?