Sox 88 – Departure of Bruce Hurst

In early November 1988, an item from Dan Shaughnessy was entitled "Hurst Files

 

for Free Agency". The piece states that after two weeks of negotiations without an agreement for the lefty, he announced that he was "testing the waters". According to Shaughnessy, Bruce was looking for three years guaranteed, while GM Lou Gorman was offering two, with some incentives to renew for year three.

 

At age 30, the Utah native had had by far his finest year with the Sox in 88. His 18-6 mark made him the team's ace late in the year, as Roger Clemens, who also won 18, battled injuries. His performance put him among the Cy Young leaders, and his 3.66 ERA was a vast improvement from the previous year. His work had earned him a pair of starts in the ALCS, where he got no run support in two defeats of a 4-0 Oakland sweep.

 

As Sox fans from 25 years ago remember, Hurst ended up leaving to sign with the San Diego Padres. There are at least two versions of why he departed. In his book One Pitch from Glory,  Gorman states that the team had basically reached financial agreement with the hurler. However, he writes that the Padres matched the offer and also put in an incentive that in the event of a strike or lockout, the contract was guaranteed. Along with John Harrington and Haywood Sullivan, Gorman felt that the Sox could not include the clause. In Gorman's words, "shockingly the Padres agreed to the incentive, and Hurst signed with them. I was devastated." Uncle Lou added that Hurst told him later that he had made a huge mistake in leaving Boston.

 

Not surprisingly, Shaughnessy had a different take. He quotes Ellis Burks, another unhappy Soxer, as saying that lack of discipline on the team, including the amount of drinking on the club charter, contributed strongly to Hurst's move. There were also stories that the Margo Adams affair offended the lefty's Mormon sensibilities.

 

Whatever the reason, both Hurst and the Sox suffered. Bruce would have four winning years on mediocre Padres teams, but never again reached his 88 level. On the other hand , a healthy Hurst might have aided the team to compete in the late 80's and early 90's. Perhaps another four-game sweep to the A's in 1990 could have been avoided.

 

The inability to sign Hurst, like the failures to re-sign former heroes Carlton Fisk and Luis Tiant shows the longstanding problems in the Sox front office. The people in those jobs could never properly deal with free agency.