Let the Finger Pointing Begin

Let the Finger-Pointing Begin

Time for The Blame Game in Boston

Somebody Gotta Pay for One of the Biggest Fiascos
in the Fiasco-Filled History of the Boston Red Sox

"I'm not sure [Theo's contract extension] will be [finalized on Monday]. It's up to Theo ... I don't think the money is the issue here. I think the question is: Is this what he wants to do for a living?

"And I don't think this is Larry's doing ... it's not about the Red Sox; it's about Larry Lucchino and a lot of Dan Shaughnessy's [column about the Colorado trade where Lucchino supposedly fell on his sword to kill the deal at Theo's request] ... was lies ... because Dan doesn't know; he was just told that by Charles [Steinberg] ... a lot of inaccuracies in there. I said to myself, "You know, there�s a lot of issue here."

"And there's no respect for baseball people. It's all about selling sod and Red Sox Nation hysteria and making money, and it's not about practical baseball ... I think he will end up staying, but I'm not sure he will. I'm not sure that he won't just take some time off and go to a place where baseball actually matters and that egos and hype and hysteria don�t matter as much, which would be tough because Jed Hoyer and Peter Woodfork ... there wouldn't be anybody left because they'll all go immediately to Arizona with Josh Byrnes ... but they don't care about that upstairs. There's such a disconnect in this front office between the upstairs offices and the people downstairs in the bowling alley, the baseball [people] ... They don't think the baseball is important." -- ESPN�s Peter Gammons on 96.9 WTKK-FM Calling All Sports program Sunday night

"What is alarming -- for the future of the Sox franchise -- is Theo's sudden need to distance himself from those who helped him rise to his position of power. Lucchino and Dr. Charles Steinberg are a pair of Red Sox executives who 'discovered' Theo when he was a student at Yale ... And now Theo 'bristles at the notion of Steinberg and Lucchino taking credit for his success.' The above sentence appeared in a book I wrote on the 2004 Red Sox championship season and it was the only line Theo objected to. He thought it would get him in trouble with Lucchino. But it didn't. Lucchino laughed when he read it, and seemed genuinely amused that Theo would worry about any publicity regarding their relationship. That was in March. And now we are in October. And a considerable amount of misinformation has been spilled." -- 10.30, Dan Shaughnessy, Boston Globe