BUDDY SYSTEM NOT THE WAY TO GO
The Red Sox fired (free registration) Triple-A manager Buddy Bailey immediately following the PawSox’s 6-5 win over Scranton yesterday, to finish 73-71 and the last team to be eliminated from playoff contention. He had won the International League’s Manager of the Year twice, the most recent being last year.
Last year, Bailey had taken the Pawtucket Red Sox to the finals for the Governor’s Cup (think AAA World Series) but lost to the Durham Bulls. Last year, Bailey was not interviewed for the managerial vacancy, which Terry Francona filled. While I have no records on Fire Brand to back me up, I can say with certainty that I was questioning why the Red Sox did not interview Buddy Bailey at the time. Well, now we know why – he didn’t fit. It’s kind of hard to fire a manager who takes your team to the Governor’s Cup too, is it not?
Bailey had been the PawSox manager twice, from 1993-1996 and from 2002-2004. He has a career managing record of 1,168-1,083. He’s like Grady Little in this sense – over 1,000 wins, and hailing from the South. Bailey was the bench coach in 2000 for the Red Sox and held other jobs with the Red Sox before returning to the AAA helm in 2002. He is also from the South, and according to Ben Cherington, the Red Sox’s director of player development, Bailey and the Red Sox had “a difference of opinion … on certain ways to manage a Triple-A team.”
THEO’S TRICK
Before trading Nomar, the Red Sox were 56-46 (22-22 when Nomar was on the active roster). Since the deal, they’ve gone 27-8 to boost their overall mark to 83-54. The Red Sox lead the wild card by four games over Anaheim and have won 13 of 14 and 19 of 21. Is this better than Morgan’s Magic?
[Morgan] rallied the Red Sox to 12 straight victories out of the gate and 19 of 20. Before fans knew it, the team had come back from nine games out to move into first place in the American League East.
Check out the Red Sox this year. So far they have stormed back to 2.5 games back, 8 games better than where they sat on August 19th. A floundering Yankees corps are hanging on by their nails, but they’re not getting any help from the Sox – the Sox just keep winning and surely must be salivating at the six games left against the Yankees. There is a poll currently at the top of this page, asking if Theo’s Trick is better than Morgan’s Magic. Vote, and let your opinion be heard. Come on, don’t be afraid. I know there are readers who don’t leave comments – that’s all well and fine, but no excuses not to vote! Warm up for the national presidental election, get the voting mind in shape.
I apologize for the short nature of the posts recently, but quite frankly, there’s no choice in the matter. There’s no controversy, I can’t post about how a player is struggling when none are, and I’ve already covered how well everyone is doing. Let’s just sit back and enjoy the ride.
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