Boston Red Soxs went 7 and 20 in September and the Soxs were up 9 games lead in the wild card standings at the beginning of September and it costed Terry Francona his job as he stepped down because he had lost the team and was not able to get through to some players who did not live up to exception including John Lackey, Carl Crawford, Mike Cameron, and Bobby Jenks. News reporters have pointed out that pitchers on their day off were drinking and the starting pitching was horrible this season and were 28th in the league in quality starts and burnt out the bullpen that collapsed completely down the stretch. Francona made a comment and said "I passed along my frustrations at my inability to effectively reach the players" and also said "I ultimately felt that, out of respect to this team, it was time for me to move on" while general manager Theo Epstain "Nobody at the Red Sox blames Tito for what happened at the end of this season; we own that as an organization".
Terry Francona won 734 and lost 531 which is a 580 winning percentage and made 5 appearances in the playoffs in his 8 seasons and won two World Series rings including the ring for Boston since 1918 in 2004 and then did again in 2007 but in the other three appearances he won the AL division series but the other two the team lost the AL division series in three straight games.
The Red Soxs have spent the second most money in league as they spent just under 446 million dollars since 2009 and have no playoffs wins and the Rays spent just over 176 million dollars in the same span and has two wins and are in the playoffs this season. John Lackey (15.95), Carl Crawford (14.86), and J.D. Drew (14) made 44.81 million which is more than the complete roster as the Rays whose payroll is 41.92 million.
The first names to be the next Red Sox manager are Bobby Valentine and Lou Piniella along with current Royals manager Tony Pena and Davey Martinez but don't forget Joe Torres who is working for in the league office right now as Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations and knows how to press the right buttons and what better way to get back at the Yankees then getting the manager that won them 4 titles in just over a decade.
Terry Francona will diffidently land on his feet and maybe a manager next season with the Chicago White Soxs or the Cubs or even the Dodgers if they could ever figure out who owns the team but in the end whereever he lands he will be a very very rich man until then he can get a suit and a tie and go to Fox for the playoffs.
He will be always remembered as the guy that brought the World Series back to Boston
Tom Mehegan
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