LucchiNotes

Lucky Strikes Back, But Will Won't Quit

Lucchino Fires Back at McDonough

8.22 Lucky strikes at Tony:  Lucchinoon close games, Grady, Leadership, Bud, Strike - WEEI Sports Radio 8.22.02 with Dennis & Callahan

8.15 Lucky on the fire and brimstone:  Lucchino on strikes and streaks - WEEI Sports Radio 6.6.02 with Dennis & Callahan

6.6 Lucchino bites back:  Lucchino takes the high road on Duke's comments. Also, Fenway Magic, Wall seats, Caminiti and steroid testing, Manny, the MVP, and the ATMs - WEEI Sports Radio  6.6.02 with Dennis & Callahan

4.27 After the no-no:  "We had identified nine dates that we thought might be trouble, we call them `dog' dates. This was one of them. (dog day afternoon is right Larry) ...A fire is raging in Boston, let's hope it continues. ...As Bobby Valentine has said, you don't get any trophies doing well in April. ...We know there will be bumps in the road. We worry about injuries, worry about injuries, worry about injuries. But I think the town has embraced this team. They find it has a likeable, appealing team personality. That happens when you have special years.'' - Boston Globe 4.28 G. Edes

4.18  Larry with WEEI's Dennis & Callahan on the upcoming roster move, specifically regarding the option of keeping Offerman because of his recent production:  "There's an undeniable effect that you tend to over generalize from recent data (in baseball), we'll try to avoid that problem here, it is an issue... sure he hit well, helped us out... sure you consider the most recent data, but you've got to have a proper perspective...''

4.11  On the Yankees coming to town: ''There's a lot of high anxiety. What you want to do is play a team like that even throughout the course of the season. Are they important? Yes. They're important. It's the Yankees and the Red Sox. But we do play them 19 times, so we're going to guard against overreaction from one weekend.''

4.4  "I think there's a little bit of over analysis, people may be over thinking this (Pedro). He is human and he's not going to be perfect down the road but we need more data before we overreact. He has a slightly different body type this year and he needs to make adjustments... I saw Juan Pena (in Pawtucket on Tuesday), it was very comforting."

3.31  "I knew about the intensity and the passion there was in Boston for the Red Sox, but when you see it, when you go up there and see the day-to-day coverage and the scope and the venom of the coverage, you get a feeling that this is the biggest part of the big leagues."

3.17 On Pedro's health.  “Obviously, we are mindful of how precious and valuable and rare true aces are. This organization will do what we can to make him a happy and productive Red Sox player for as long as possible.”

3.12 On Grady's hiring.  "At the end of the day, we chose Grady Little to be the manager because Grady did it the old-fashioned way: He earned it... We're well aware of the mini-melodramas that took place last season, and we believe Grady has the right temperament and social skills to deal with those situations if they rear their ugly heads again... There's something about someone who knows your system, knows your people, knows your personalities, knows your division, knows your league, knows your media. That was a significant part of this."

3.06: You didn't give Joe a fair chance.  "I understand that point of view, it was a factor we considered, but we had to make a decision based on what was in the best interest of the franchise, so that's what we did. Question was 'Do we take more time and give Joe more of a chance? Or do we take action for the franchise?' We chose action, deciding that it was more important than affording Joe additional on-the-job training.'' 

3.05: When asked about the Manager's Decision:  ''I really don't want to get into questions or answers of that type. We're just not prepared to go into the content of our meetings and the nature of our deliberations on any of these issues. What we hope to do is be forthcoming and direct when it comes to announcements but not necessarily take you through our entire work product.

3.03: When asked about Kerrigan's status:  "We're focusing on the scouting."

3.02: "I just called Fenway and there were 200 people waiting in line at 5:00pm for ticket sales tomorrow morning. That certainly sends a message.'' On change announcements: "Edward Bennet Williams once told me "there are no secrets in baseball, only head starts."

3.01: "We debated the issue and made a decision that it was time for a fresh start, the best way to do that was with a new GM... he was very professional and very mature, it was a civil discussion. My feelings for Dan personally are generally quite positive. This is not a matter of personal animosity whatsoever.''  

2.28: "We went out to celebrate last night, walked into the Italian restaurant Carabbas, and the hostess comes over and says 'you're all with the Red Sox, is that true? I have something to give you... last week, I opened up a bottle of Nantucket Nectars and underneath the cap is says 'the Red Sox will win the World Series next year' (The Red Sox will win the World Series next year), I was waiting for Nomar to come back in, but you guys are good enough'... maybe this is a good omen."

2.27: "We have the advantage of being new and the sort of energy that comes from being new... we've certainly made an effort to reach out because we were well aware of the criticism that the previous administration was less available." On the stadium issue: "there's an old saying, `You've got to deal with the wolf closest to the sled,' so that's what you have to deal with, the things that really have to be dealt with immediately."

2.26: On changes: "I'm not going to talk about anybody, because if you talk about one person, then it seems by contrast you're saying something indirectly about others,'' said Lucchino... I think the best thing to do is just be totally neutral on the issue and make no comments about anybody in particular... we'd like to have whatever initial changes we make done by the end of spring training,'' he said, ''so you can have some degree of stability by Opening Day.''

2.25: "It's pretty exciting," said Lucchino of being with the Red Sox. "San Diego is on its way to being a very good baseball town. But Boston is special. It is a jewel of a franchise. But the level of passion has surprised me. Boston has a legitimate claim to having the best fans in baseball."