Echoes. Who is to blame for the Red Sox’s misfortunes. Published on 01/13/2023

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Sports Musings Who is responsible for the Red Sox’s misfortunes? Dick Flavin Friday January 13th, 2023Culture Help us extend our reach! Please share this article on social networks

Bloom is, and has been since his first day on the job, in a lose-lose situation. But if not him, who should be the next logical target? What about the people who control the purse strings, who give Bloom his orders?

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Dick Flavin

If Red Sox fans had known two decades ago that their team would win four World Series trophies in 15 years, more than any other baseball franchise, they would have been giddy with joy. That’s exactly what happened, but today the Red Sox Nation is disillusioned; in fact, it’s crazy. People, even those who support the Red Sox, have short memories. We tend to forget what life was like before the glory years of Ortiz, Ramirez, Betts, Martinez and Schilling – yes, that Curt Schilling. Sox fans have passed through generations haunted by the ghosts of Bucky Dent and Bill Buckner; some of us still had nightmares about Enos Slaughter and Denny Galehouse. Hardly anyone could remember the days of the early 20th century when the Red Sox were the scourge of the baseball world, winning championship after championship.

We got used to winning. Now that the win has stopped – at least for the foreseeable future – we are looking for someone to blame. The first target in our sights is Chaim Bloom. After all, he was the one who traded Mookie Betts, putting us on the fast track to mediocrity and below. But wait a minute. Turns out Bloom was under orders to close the deal. Well, what about Bloom letting Xander Bogaerts go as a free agent, when Xander would rather have stayed here? Bloom’s defenders, who seem to be dwindling these days, counter that he never had the financial leeway to make a competitive bid. Whatever the reason, he’s a man with a target on his back, and if the team is off to a slow start next year, he’d be wise not to buy green bananas. at work, was put in a lose-lose situation. But if not him, who should be the next logical target? What about the people who control the purse strings, who give Bloom his orders? The owners. That would be the Fenway Sports Group, led by John Henry. John Henry is the man who made those four World Series titles possible in the first place. He’s the one who spent the big bucks to reverse the curse, make the Red Sox champions and make their payroll one of the largest in all of baseball. This would never have happened without him and his financial commitment. Now he’s the bad guy? Truly? The Fenway Sports Group (FSG) and Henry stopped spending big on baseball just when everyone went on a spending spree. Many believe the reason is that she set her sights on an NFL or possibly NBA team as a way to expand her professional sports profile and is saving her pennies with that in mind. Just last year he bought the Pittsburgh Penguins from the NHL, so that theory makes sense. But has anyone thought of the possibility that John Henry and his cronies know something the rest of us might not? After all, he amassed his vast fortune by reading the financial markets faster and more astutely than anyone. The millions he spent on the Red Sox when he first took control turned out to be a very wise investment. His franchise is now worth more than three times what it was when he first bought it (it is now over two billion dollars). Is it time not to spend big, just when everyone else is doing it? The San Diego Padres, one of the biggest spenders this year, play in one of MLB’s biggest cities, but in one of its smallest markets. Immediately to the south is Mexico and less than a hundred miles to the north is the Los Angeles mega-market. Will they be able to maintain their high level of spending over the long term? We won’t know the answer next year or even the year after that, but 10 years from now, with Xander Bogaerts still getting those big paychecks, we’ll all know the final verdict. This is all just speculation on my part. None of us can predict with certainty what the future holds. Who could have predicted in 2004, for example, that Curt Schilling, one of the great heroes of this post-season – his game of “bloody socks” is a monument of bravery under pressure; we all thought he punched his ticket to the Hall of Fame, and rightfully – would end up talking about his election exit. He seemed unable to restrain himself from making controversial comments about minority groups. The last straw was when he directly insulted the motivations and morals of the Baseball Writers of America, the same people who voted for his candidacy. He still received 71% of their votes. That’s a lot, but not enough to get the 75% needed for the elections. He received almost no support when the veterans committee met last month. This makes him the only man to have shot himself in the foot on his way to the Hall of Fame. It’s not something he should be proud of; on the other hand, his record as a big game thrower is.

– Dick Flavin is a New York Times bestselling author; the “poet laureate” of the Boston Red Sox and the recently established sports columnist for The Pilot.

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