Red Sox to Fire Manager Today

[VermontDem2004]

Move had been expected by many

BOSTON -- The Boston Red Sox, still smarting from a bitter seven-game loss to the rival Yankees in the ALCS, will fire manager Grady Little on Monday afternoon, ESPN's Peter Gammons reports.

Gammons says the team has yet to schedule a news conference to make the announcement.

Monday's Boston Herald, citing a Red Sox source, reported that two candidates to succeed Little could be former Indians manager Charlie Manuel and former Red Sox second baseman Jerry Remy, a television analyst for NESN, a regional sports network partly owned by the Red Sox.

According to the report, others on the Red Sox list are Yankees third-base coach Willie Randolph, Yankees first-base coach Lee Mazzilli, Dodgers third-base coach Glenn Hoffman and former Phillies skipper Terry Francona, now the A's bench coach.

Little's dismissal has been hinted since the series ended. Although Boston's CBS affiliate, WBZ, reported Sunday that Little would be fired Monday, Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein told ESPN on Sunday night that the report was not true.

Epstein said the team had begun its review of Little and hoped to make a decision on the manager's future "as soon as possible," but said that "no decision" had been made on whether to pick up Little's contract option for next season.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1647772

[DrGonzoLives]

1. Is anyone surprised?

I'm not.

I would point out that Davey Johnson, Mike Hargrove, Cito Gaston, and Bobby Valentine are all available, and all are proven winners.

[underpants]

6. I'm a Little surprised

No not Valentine I like rooting for the REd Sox. I would like to see them succeed.

[DrGonzoLives]

7. Valentine did well with the Rangers

The RANGERS for God's sake. If you can do well with the Rangers, you can take a talented Red Sox team to the World Series.

[LeftistGorilla]

10. Cito?

naaaa...
they wouldn't make such a smart move....

[tsakshaug]

2. bring back the gerbil

Zimmer is leaving the yanks, what the heck. Maybe he would hire Bill Lee as pitching coach

[VermontDem2004]

3. What was Zimmer's job with the Yanks btw?

[DrGonzoLives]

4. Bench coach

I'm not sure what they really do, I think it's basically just an advisory role to the manager.

[Braden]

25. bench coach

gives the manager hare brained ideas that no sensible sane manager would try so that Joe Torre is free to more frequently make good decisions.

It's more like a food taster.

on edit: hare not hair

[StopTheMorans]

5. Good Riddance to Bad Accents:)

and anyone who speaks of him/herself in the third-person doesn't deserve to be managing a major-league club anyways:)

[Yavin4]

8. Bad Decision

Grady was really good with his players. This will please the fans, but it will tear the team apart.

[wysimdnwyg]

9. Wouldn't mind Willie Randolph

It's about time someone gives him a shot. He's been mentioned for many jobs over the past few years. And if the O's don't hire him, Eddie Murray would be an excellent choice.

Mazzilli, Hoffman and Francona would not be high on my list. Neither would Valentine or Margrove. Sure, both have won in their careers, but both have taken teams with a lot of talent and run them into the ground, as well. (Witness the Mets and O's.)

[Whitacre D_WI]

11. I agree about Randolph.

It's his turn at bat.

Also, his approach should be better in line with the more sabermetrically-inclined members of the Sox front office, like Epstien, and especially Bill James.

[chiburb]

15. Willy would have to:

1. Learn that in most cases a base is NOT worth an out. That means few sac bunts, and recognizing that more runners score from 1st base with none out, than from 2nd base with 1 out.

2. Same applies to stolen bases.

3. A "save" can occur in ANY inning, and it makes little sense to save your best pitcher for the 9th inning and only with a lead.

I don't know enough about him, so maybe he already knows those things. This was a response to your comment on Epstein and James....

(Are there ANY managers who know those things?)

[Whitacre D_WI]

17. "Are there ANY managers who know those things?"

I refer you to one Weaver, Earl.

Not that Earl's itching to come out of retirement or anything; but if he did, he'd probably be the best manager in baseball from day one.

In his absence, I present to you Mr. Willie Larry Randolph, he of the 1243 career bases on balls, .373 lifetime OBP, and 74% stolen base success rate (break even these days is 70% or higher, but 74% was damn good in the '70s and '80s).

I think Willie could be a good fit. Frankly, I think they're looking for a rookie manager, one who won't have iron-clad ideas about how a team should be managed and will instead listen to the suggestions of the front office.

[DrGonzoLives]

19. Weaver is good

The one problem I have with him is his almost violent opposition to playing any kind of small ball. His philosophy is to swing away for the three-run home run, and I just can't get behind that.

Other than that, yeah, he's a fuckin' genius.

[Whitacre D_WI]

22. I wouldn't call it "almost violent."

Bottom of the ninth, tie game, Earl would play for one run. Thing is, as he used to say, "if you play for one run, that's all you're going to get." Well, bottom of the ninth, tie game, one run is all you need.

I prefer to WATCH "small-ball." Bunts, steals, hit-and-run -- these are fun plays to watch. Ususally, however, it's the three-run homers that win.

Ultimately, however, it depends on the team. Florida got it done this year small-ball-style, as did Whitey Herzog's Royals and Cardinals. Weaver wrote that he probably would have been a different manager if he'd been in charge of Herzog's Royals (in that big stadium) instead of power hitters like Frank Robinson, Powell, Singleton, Murray, et. al.

[GOPFighter]

13. Sorry to see Grady go...

...he's a class act. I don't think Eddie Murphy would do well in Boston. He is extremely introverted around outsiders...not good for a manager ina big market. Baltimore is the only place Eddie can succeed as manager. Hargrove took a talented Cleveland team to within an out of the World Series in '97. I think he would be a good choice for Boston.

[Braden]

24. you mean Eddie Murray right?

Eddie Murphy is NOT on my short list.

I think its sad that Grady is being sacked for one bad decision. Thats what it comes down to. I am sure we will half love and half hate the next poor bastard who takes this job.

[Pliny The Younger]

12. Casting Blame

As a long, long suffering Red Sox fan, I'm not sure whether to blame George Bush or Babe Ruth for yet another collapse.

Oh well...at least I won money on the Breeders Cup races.

[WilliamPitt]

14. Jerry Remy??!!??

The WEEI announcer for the games?

Bizarro World.

[GOPisEvil]

18. It worked for Larry Dierker...

...for a while anyway...

[DrGonzoLives]

20. Larry Dierker

was also a long-time Astros pitcher, one of the best that franchise has ever had (right behind J.R. Richard, Nolan Ryan, and Mike Scott) so that move actually did make some since.

ON EDIT: Remy did play for a while for the Angels and Red Sox, so he's not just some schmo with a broadcast journalism degree:

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=remyje01

[MaineDem]

21. Not -EEI, NESN

He's the tv guy.

How odd that he was mentioned. I like him well enough ont he broadcasts but as a manager...?

:shrug:

[HEyHEY]

16. good

Point fingers? Blaming? Fuckin right I am!

[MaineDem]

23. It's official

SPORTS UPDATE: Red Sox officials have officially confirmed that Grady Little's contract has not been renewed for next season. The decision was not made based on any one decision Little had made over the season, Red Sox president Larry Lucchino said at a press conference minutes ago.