Media Blitz by John Molori: Another Sox star chased out of town
http://www.projo.com/redsox/content/projo_...itz.19cdfb.html
01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, August 7, 2004
With all due respect to Ross Greenburg and the folks at HBO, I now realize that there is no "Curse of the Bambino." HBO's 2003 documentary had convinced me that there was such a phenomenon.
The trade of Nomar Garciaparra to the Chicago Cubs kills that notion. Curses are formed from beyond. The bane of the Red Sox is much more earthly.
Garciaparra has joined an exclusive, yet ever-growing club.
Carlton Fisk, Mo Vaughn, Roger Clemens and Wade Boggs are waiting for Garciaparra in the game room, ready to teach him the secret handshake.
Call them the Dead Sox, a select group of lost souls who were built up by the Red Sox and the Boston media, then torn down like Ebbets Field.
It is an insipid process whereby a hero becomes a foe. In truth, the media is only part of the issue. It starts with the ball club. A new regime comes in and decides that a certain ballplayer just doesn't fit its style.
Dan Duquette did it with Vaughn and Clemens. Vaughn was an outspoken power-hitting first baseman. Clemens was equally outspoken, a brash flamethrower, far too expensive and bold for Duquette and former Red Sox CEO John Harrington.
Vaughn and Clemens had legions of New England fans. They were destined to stand alongside Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski as career Red Sox stars. Duquette planted the seeds of negativity: Clemens is done, he's too old, he's mailing it in. The media, not fans of the candid right-hander anyway, ran with it. Many fans jumped on board. Clemens went from hero to villain.
Vaughn's departure was similar. Duquette planted the seeds: He's overweight, he is one-dimensional, he goes to strip joints, he wants too much money. Suddenly Vaughn, a man who invested in the Boston community more than Bobby Orr, Larry Bird and Williams combined, became a malcontent. During his last game in Boston, he was booed by the same fans who once cheered him. On talk radio, they mocked Vaughn by constantly repeating his stance that it was not about the money.
In sports talk, bad is more fun than good. Fisk was difficult. Clemens was washed up. Vaughn was a criminal. Boggs was selfish. Garciaparra was a cancer.
Ah yes, Nomar, the latest Dead Sox. The five-time All-Star, two-time batting champ and all-the-time class act made the mistake of getting hurt. From that moment on, the new Red Sox regime planted the seeds: He's recovering too slowly, he's trying to stick it to us for going after A-Rod, his teammates don't like him. Of course, the media jumped on board.
WEEI's Steve Buckley spoke out against Garciaparra. Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy viciously attacked Garciaparra before and after this week's trade. WEEI's Ted Sarandis said that people had told him that Garciaparra was difficult to deal with.
After the trade, even normally objective commentators like Sean McDonough and Jerry Remy towed the company line. McDonough labeled Garciaparra a pouter. Remy agreed.
No surprise, really. Remy is making millions off of the Red Sox coffers and McDonough had a celebrated public feud with Garciaparra several years ago. Greed and grudges are powerful forces. It was McDonough's father Will, the legendary Globe columnist, who led the media charge to rid Boston of Clemens.
Garciaparra never did fit the Billy Beane, Bill James philosophy. He is not selective. He swings at the first pitch. He is aggressive, and oh yeah, Johnny Pesky once compared him to no less than Joe DiMaggio.
The Red Sox did to Garciaparra what they did to ex-manager Grady Little. In both cases, fate was on management's side. Like Garciaparra, Little was not their type of guy. He made decisions based more on competence than computers.
Believe the media spin if you want, but Little was gone no matter what happened in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS. Aaron Boone's game-winning home run gave the Sox' brass a fortuitous excuse. Now, they are left with Terry Francona, an incompetent manager who was nothing more than the bait that boated Curt Schilling.
Garciaparra's Achilles injury was his Aaron Boone. It conveniently gave credence to ownership's desire to rid themselves of the free-swinging shortstop. Sadly, many Boston fans bought into it.
Boston has a curse, but it has nothing to do with Babe Ruth. It has to do with trashing the dignity of good players. It has to do with chasing Hall of Fame players and Hall of Fame people out of town. Don't blame Harry Frazee. Blame Haywood Sullivan, John Harrington, Dan Duquette, Theo Epstein and Larry Lucchino.
John Molori's Media Blitz column appears on alternate Saturday's in the Providence Journal. He can be reached via e-mail at JOMOL3 [at] aol.com
I think the fans should "run with this."
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