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Scapegoats

There are many worse management teams in sports than the crew in charge of the Red Sox. They do, however, have one flaw that sticks out in times of adversity. If it's you or them baby, you're going off the back of the sled. Say hi to the wolves for Mssrs. Henry, Lucchino, and Epstein.

Let's be blunt. There couldn't be a more chickenshit reaction to missing the playoffs than dumping the pitching and hitting coaches, especially when pitching coach Dave Wallace missed much of the season with a serious medical problem. Until yesterday, Ron Jackson was an avuncular clubhouse figure who received credit for helping David Ortiz patch up the holes in his swing. Jackson's big role seemed to be talking about Manny Ramirez when the outfielder had a big game but didn't feeling like speaking to reporters.

Now Jackson's a liability? Sorry, that idea seems straight out of Denny Haestert's damage control playbook.

The untidy lynching of Grady Little after the 2003 ALCS remains the troika's most flagrant effort to round up the usual suspects, since their public rationale for firing him was an obvious, childlike lie. If the brain trust had concluded IN JUNE Little was a liability, didn't they have an obligation to fire him then, rather than let the season play out?

The truth of the 2006 is no big secret either. The Sox' major off- and in-season front office moves didn't work out. Josh Beckett's pet gopher grew to the size of Godzilla. Coco Crisp was something less than an adequate replacement for Johnny Damon. Boston's older players got hurt, as has been known to happen, and its young pitchers, with the exception of Jonathan Papelbon, struggled, another rather routine development. Epstein didn't like the price of available trade deadline talent, and his prudence burned him.

None of those unhappy facts mean EPSTEIN should be fired. Bad years happen, and standing pat in July 2006 may seem a stroke of genius in July 2008. But if the guy near the top of the flow chart deserves to return, so do his minions. Firing coaches (assistant coaches in the other sports) isn't shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic, it's more like working on the seating chart for the captain's table.

After pondering, I can come up with only one reasonable explanation for Jackson's departure. It must be the Sox have concluded they have no further need for a spokesperson for Ramirez. If that's the case, God help the NEXT hitting coach.

posted by Michael Gee @ 8:31 AM