There’s lots of interesting points made by Theo Epstein in this WEEI interview. I particularly liked his point on the personality of the team (emphasis added):
“It’s basically the same team that we had in 2008. If we get one clutch hit in the 2008 ALCS Game 7, we’re going to the World Series, probably winning it . . . if the 2004 team, if Tony Clark’s ball doesn’t bounce into the stands, and we lose that series, you’re saying this team had too much personality. This personality was out of control. I understand it. There’s a human phenomenon where you want to sort of attribute personal characteristics to groups and say that they have this personality or they lack this characteristic. The reality is we can’t build a team based on, sort of, psychobabble. We build a team, try to get 25 high character guys. The bottom line is this team had a great personality. It was just calm outwardly, on the field, very professional. Behind closed doors they had a ton of fun. There were a lot of leaders. They showed up hard to play every single day. We won 95 games in a really tough division. Had we performed better in the playoffs, no one would be talking about our personality.”
If you read the whole thing, you’ll understand how fortunate the Red Sox are to have this person running baseball operations.
Posted by David Pinto at 12:42 pm | Management | Permalink | 7 Comments
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October 22nd, 2009 @ 3:08 pm
I am becoming increasingly convinced that poaching Epstein from the Sawx is the only hope the Cubs have of fielding a championship team in the next decade.
Break another curse, Golden Child.
October 22nd, 2009 @ 3:44 pm
The funny thing is, the hosts and callers have been beating up on him ever since he got off the phone for refusing to concede that JD Drew is a worthless, overpaid waste of space. With all that he gave us this morning, that’s been the sole source of conversation since he finished.
It’s one of the big reasons that some of us are thrilled to have an alternative to WEEI, even if the execution has been spotty thus far…
October 22nd, 2009 @ 4:49 pm
“If we get one clutch hit in the 2008 ALCS Game 7, we’re going to the World Series, probably winning it..”
“Probably winning it”?? That’s quite a leap. The Rays lost the WS in 5 games. Were the Red Sox THAT much better than Tampa Bay? If so, they shouldn’t have needed ‘one clutch hit’ to beat them. THe ALCS shouldn’t have even needed 7 games in that case.
A little presumptuous, Theo, especially since the Sox are sitting out the 2009 WS as well. All they needed this time was ‘one clutch pitch’.
October 22nd, 2009 @ 6:19 pm
I will give him this, as the town was giving him props for the moves to get Victor Martinez and Billy Wagner, he went out and said,
“These moves were just as smart as the move to trade for Gagne, which didn’t work out because he was a very good pitcher before we traded for him, and a terrible pitcher afterwards, so I’m not going to say I’m a genius now. Sometimes the moves work and sometimes they don’t…”
October 22nd, 2009 @ 7:16 pm
Lyford,
Wait, what??? What’s the WEEI alternative?? I will be greatly indebted to you if you’ll tell me…
I heard that interview live. I was practically giggling as I imagined what Red Sox Nation was going to say in reaction. They haven’t disappointed me.
My own reaction matches David’s, only from the point of view of a Yankee fan. I thought, “Damn, they’re going to be really good as long as he’s at the helm.”
October 23rd, 2009 @ 7:49 am
James,
The Sports Hub, 98.5 FM, went on the air (WBCN’s old signal) in August. They’re the Patriots and Bruins flagship, and sports talk the rest of the day.
October 23rd, 2009 @ 11:52 am
Thank you, Lyford!
Probably nobody’s reading this thread, but just in case: the WEEI site has an article by Alex Speier explaining why Theo was right about Drew:
http://tinyurl.com/weeispear