TITO!!! CALL ST. LOUIS NOW!!!

The World Champion St. Louis Cardinals have a job opening!
Their Hall of Fame manager is leaving on top.
They have the foundation of a great team being left behind.

They can hand the reigns of the team over to a coach like Jose Oquendo or Dave McKay or Joe Pettini.

Maybe long time pitching coach guru Dave Duncan can manage the team.

Or 800 pound gorilla Mark McGwire.

OR they can insert a respected manager who happened to have a bad month.
Someone with two World Series titles of his own... including one at the expense of the Cardinals.

Terry Francona... Cardinals manager.
St. Louis is just as great a baseball city as Boston without the grief or inferiority complex.

The inferiority complex is in Chicago... and who is running the Cubs now? THEO!

Oh this could be a NEW wrinkle in the Cubs/Cardinals rivalry!!!

Become the Cardinals manager, win a World Series title in St. Louis... be beloved forever and rehearse your Cooperstown speech.

Give them a call.

I will write a lot more about Tito and Theo...

I will write a LOT on this subject. But you will excuse me that I am actually interested in the teams that MADE the playoffs, not the former pennant contenders imploding from within.

But I'll say 2 things right now:

1) The character assassination of Terry Francona is despicable. To try and portray him as a pill popping bad husband is deplorable. To bring his son fighting over seas is disgusting. I will root for whatever team will hire him. (I think he should go to Washington.)

2) Epstein has had a rough few years but before everyone throws him under the bus and says how rotten he is, can he get some credit for the moves that put the Red Sox over the top in ways we NEVER imagined?

More later.

Terry Francona... the greatest manager in Red Sox history

That's the only way Francona should EVER be referred to by a Red Sox fan.
Yes he inherited a good team that could have won the 2003 pennant had Grady Little not been the manager.

Sometimes, despite what Billy Beane and the producers of Moneyball think, the manager DOES matter.

Sometimes part of a managers job isn't to check up the latest VORP or WAR or whatever algebra is trendy now. Sometimes it is managing the egos, the pressure and the media market.

Little wasn't the guy. He proved that not with the Red Sox but when the Dodgers fell apart under his watch.

Francona learned from his rocky tenure managing the Phillies and became Joe Torre lite in Boston. Doesn't get too high or low. Manages the insane Boston media and a fan base that was literally about to commit mass suicide in the wake of 2003.

And the city was going to burn to the ground when they were down 0-3 to the Yankees with Rivera on the mound. And Francona had the calmness and peace of mind to give Dave Roberts a wink when he came in to pinch run for Millar.

This guy was different.
He didn't bring in Jim Burton instead of Dick Drago in the 9th inning of Game 7 like Darrell Johnson did in 1975.
He didn't bench Bill Lee in favor of Bobby Sprowl and wear Butch Hobson and Carlton Fisk down the stretch like Don Zimmer did in 1978.
He didn't bring Calvin Schraldi into every pressure situation in 1986 like John McNamara did.
He didn't make a series of absolutely bizarre decisions long before he left Pedro in too long like Grady Little did.

He made the right ones.
He pushed Keith Foulke and Curt Schilling.
He out managed Joe Torre BADLY in 2004.

He won 95 games the next season without a reliable 3, 4 or 5 starter nor a decent closer.

He came back from 3-1 AGAIN in 2007, never losing faith in struggling J. D. Drew and having it pay off with his series turning Grand Slam in Game 6 against Cleveland.

And he nearly came back from ANOTHER 3-1 hole against Tampa in 2008.

Yes Joe Cronin won more games as a Red Sox manager, but Cronin never had to manage with the pressure of the 24 hour media.

Cronin never had the burden of the Curse.

And Cronin never won ONE World Series, let alone TWO!

Francona's main job was to manage the clubhouse and the media. And he felt he couldn't do it anymore and he is gone.

The 2011 collapse wasn't Francona's fault. The blame should lie on the front office who assembled this mismatch of players.

But Francona, oozing with class right until the end, took responsibility and blamed nobody but himself.

He will wind up somewhere else. (Baltimore? The White Sox? The Cubs? The Astros?) But he should have been a Red Sox lifer.

I really thought a third pennant would put him in a Hall of Fame discussion. Maybe it will.

But when he returns to Fenway in another uniform, there had better be a 20 minute standing ovation for him.

We wanted one title before we died.
Tito made sure we had two.

I for one will miss our manager.

Terry Francona to leave the Red Sox... STUPID STUPID Red Sox

Terry Francona is not coming back to the Red Sox.
It is a monumentally stupid decision.

Terry Francona didn't assemble this pitching staff.
Terry Francona didn't make a series of bone numbingly stupid moves.
Terry Francona isn't an incompetent pitching coach.

Had Dan Johnson and Nolan Reimold swung and missed he would have had the Red Sox in the playoffs using four pitchers with ERAs over 5 in the month of September.

This wasn't Terry's fault.
And the man who outmanaged Joe Torre in 2004 and won the only 2 World Series the Red Sox have won since World War I is being booted.

Stupid stupid stupid.

Games like this give me NO pleasure

OK, two things pissed me off about the game last night.

(And when I say "The Game" I am referring to the Red Sox game.)



First of all the Red Sox fell behind 5-0 in the first. And I thought "OK, tonight's a blow out" and I watched "Tangled" with my wife and kids.



Then I find out the final score was 5-4!

In other words if the first inning was merely bad and not grotesque, then the Sox could have won the game.



So that's what got my teeth grinding.



But what REALLY got me mad was the play at home plate. The ump called Ellsbury safe for reasons unknown even though he was out. Then the call was reversed as well it should have been.



But guess what?

How much time was wasted on Wedge arguing, Hernandez arguing and Francona arguing and getting ejected?



If there was replay, not only would the call be correct but everyone could be shown the evidence.



But we can't have that. Calls being correct and people having information is bad for baseball... or something.



Ugh.

Tally time.

DODGED BULLET GAMES - 40

April 8 - 9-6 win against the Yankees. (The Sox end their 6 game losing streak with a slugfest. John Lackey stinks but Phil Hughes stinks even more.)

April 10 - 4-0 win against the Yankees. (Beckett and Sabathia duel in a game that was 1-0 until the late innings.)

April 20 - 5-3 win in Oakland. (Red Sox survive a lead off homer and two bases loaded situations and facing the tying run at the plate to win their first road game.)

April 21 - 4-2 win in Anaheim. (The Red Sox stranded 15 men on base and Josh Beckett's went 8 strong with no decision. But the Sox rallied in the 11th to win.)

April 22 - 4-3 win in Anaheim. (Peter Bourjos makes a 2 run errors and the Red Sox survive a bizarre passed ball by Jarrod Saltalamacchia that let a run scored from second.)

May 1 - 3-2 win against the Mariners. (Ichiro loses a ball in the sun that turns into a 9th inning triple for Lowrie. Crawford singles him home for the win.)

May 8 - 9-5 win against the Twins. (Dice-K lets up 3 runs in the first but settles down as the Red Sox clobber Carl Pavano.)

May 9 - 2-1 win against the Twins. (A bullpen breakdown cost Beckett the decision but Cark Crawford ended the game with an 11th inning walk off hit.)

May 13 - 5-4 win in the Bronx. (Youkilis homers off of Joba and Bard and Papelbon make it more interesting than it needed to be.)

May 15 - 7-5 win in the Bronx. (Sox fall behind 4-1 but come back as Youk, Papi and Salty all homer.)

May 16 - 8-7 win against the Orioles. (Down 6-0 after 6 innings, the Sox rally and win it with a 2 run walk off double by Adrian Gonzalez)

May 18 - 1-0 win against Detroit. (With 2 outs in the 8th, Salty doubles home Crawford from first for the only run. Papelbon gets himself in and out of 9th inning trouble.)

May 19 - 4-3 win against Detroit. (Bard blows Beckett's lead but Carl Crawford wins it with a walk off hit.)

May 24 - 4-2 win in Cleveland. (Varitek throws two runners out and homers as the Red Sox win their first game against the Indians.)

May 29 - 4-3 win in Detroit. (The Red Sox blow an early 3-0 lead but David Ortiz wins the game with a pinch 9th inning homer.)

June 3 - 8-6 win against Oakland. (Buchholz lets up 4 runs in the first but the Sox come back thanks to Carl Crawford's 2 run single.)

June 4 - 9-8 win against Oakland. (Red Sox blow a 4 run 9th inning lead and trail in the 11th before Ellsbury ties it and Drew wins it in 14.)

June 7 - 6-4 win in the Bronx. (Papelbon strikes out A-Rod to end the game with a runner on base.)

June 9 - 8-3 win in the Bronx. (Down 2-0 to Sabathia in the 7th, the Sox score 7 runs as Papi exacts revenge after getting plunked. A 3+ hour rain delay pushed the game past 1:30 AM)

June 15 - 3-0 win in Tampa Bay. (Youkilis homers in the 7th for the only runs in Beckett's 1 hit masterpiece.)

June 16 - 4-2 win in Tampa Bay. (Papelbon wiggles out of a 2 on, nobody out jam in the 9th thanks to Youk's diving catch.)

June 26 - 4-2 win in Pittsburgh. (The Pirates make 4 errors and the Red Sox score 2 in the 7th to avoid a sweep by the Bucs.

June 30 - 5-2 win in Philadelphia.(An injury to Cole Hamels leads to the Red Sox bats waking up.)

July 1 - 7-5 win in Houston. (The Sox score 6 in the 7th inning to come back and win.)

July 3 - 2-1 win in Houston. (The Red Sox score a run in the top of the 9th on a walk to break a tie.)

July 5 - 3-2 win against Toronto. (Lester gets hurt but Darnel McDonald throws out the tying run at the plate to end the game.)

July 6 - 6-4 win against Toronto. (The Sox score 4 in the 4th to take the lead and Wakefield and company hang on for dear life.)

July 10 - 8-6 win against Baltimore. (The Orioles score 6 runs off of rookie Kyle Weiland in the second, but the Red Sox hit three homers in the bottom of the second to tie the game and hold for dear life.)

July 16 - 9-5 win in Tampa. (Lackey puts the Sox in a 3-0 first inning hole, but 3 Sox homers bring them back for the win.)

July 17 - 1-0 win in Tampa. (Beckett throws a masterpiece and the bullpen throws 8 amazing innings. But the Sox bats go dead, leaving 17 men on base before Pedroia drove in a run with 2 outs in the 16th inning.)

July 18 - 15-10 win in Baltimore. (The Sox blow a 6-2 lead but score 8 runs in the 8th to take the game.)

July 22 - 7-4 win against Seattle. (John Lackey beat Felix Hernandez and Mike Carp's error helped the Red Sox score 5 in the 7th to give them some breathing room.)

July 23 - 3-1 win against Seattle. (Ellsbury gets Beckett off the hook in a tight pitchers duel when he got a 2 out, 2 strike 2 run go ahead single in the 8th.)

July 26 - 13-9 win against the Royals. (The Sox trailed in the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th before the bats exploded in the 5th.

August 2 - 3-2 win against Cleveland. (Youk tied the game with a 6th inning homer and Salty dove home for the winning run in the 9th.)

August 3 - 4-3 win against Cleveland. (Ellsbury hits a walk off shot in the 9th.)

August 7 - 3-2 win against the Yankees (The Sox rally off of Rivera in the 9th and win on Josh Reddick's 10th inning single)

August 8 - 8-6 win in Minnesota. (Down 5-1, the Red Sox rally back, then score twice in the 9th to give the Sox the win.)

August 9 - 4-3 win in Minnesota. (Darnell McDonald's homer ties the game and Ortiz singles home the game winner as Bard worked out of trouble in the 7th.)

August 12 - 6-4 win in Seattle. (Reddick and Ortiz homered to bail out Lackey.)

TEETH GRINDER GAMES - 32

April 1 - 9-5 loss in Texas. (The Sox tie Opening Day in the 8th with an Ortiz homer only to have Bard implode and the Sox let up 4 in the bottom of the 8th.)

April 5 - 3-1 loss in Cleveland. (The Sox drop their 4th straight as the bats are dead in Cleveland.)

April 7 - 1-0 loss in Cleveland. (Sox blow a great Lester performance on a squeeze bunt and Darnell McDonald overrunning the bag to end the game.)

April 12 - 3-2 loss to Tampa Bay. (A solid Lester performance is wasted as Kyle Farnsworth of all people shuts down the Sox.)

April 15 - 7-6 loss to Toronto. (Bobby Jenks implodes with a 4 run seventh inning as the Red Sox waste Pedroia and Youkilis homers and a clutch RBI double by Scuatro.

April 19 - 5-0 loss in Oakland. (Pedroia gets picked off, the Sox bats go dead and waste a solid Lackey start.)

April 26 - 4-1 loss in Baltimore. (Buchholz pitches tentatively and the Sox let Kevin Gregg of all people to close out the 9th.)

April 27 - 5-4 loss in Baltimore. (The Sox tie the game with a 3 run 8th only to have Bard lose it in the bottom of the 8th.)

April 29 - 5-4 loss to Mariners. (Bobby Jenks blows a 7th inning lead, wasting 2 Mike Cameron homers.)

April 30 - 2-0 loss to Mariners. (The Sox strand 11 runners and let Milton Bradley double home the go ahead run.)

May 4 - 5-3 loss to Angels. (7 hours with rain delays and stranded runners. Marco Scutaro was thrown out at the plate in the 12th)

May 10 - 7-6 loss in Toronto. (8th and 9th inning heroics, including a homer by Adrian Gonzalez, are undone by a walk off sacrifice fly by David Cooper.)

May 21 - 9-3 loss to Cubs. (Up 3-1 in the 8th inning, the bullpen and defense implode. The Cubs score 8 runs while both teams wear their 1918 uniforms.)

May 23- 3-2 loss in Cleveland. (The Sox blow a 2-1 8th inning lead when the Indians rally with 2 outs. Crawford ends the game on a double play.)

May 29 - 3-0 loss in Detroit. (Verlander keeps the Sox off base and prevents the sweep.)

June 1 - 7-4 loss to White Sox. (Konerko drives in three, spoiling a game tying Ortiz homer.)

June 14 - 4-0 loss in Tampa Bay. (Wakefield's solid outing is spoiled. Longoria scores on a passed ball.)

June 18 - 4-2 loss to Milwaukee. (The Brewers hit three homers early off of Lester and hang on.)

June 21 - 5-4 loss to San Diego. (Ortiz hits a double play in the 9th to stifle a potential winning rally.)

June 24 - 3-1 loss to Pittsburgh. (The Red Sox strand 7 runners in scoring position.)

June 25 - 6-4 loss to Pittsburgh. (The Red Sox fall out of first as Pedroia's error leads to a Pirates run.)

June 29 - 2-1 loss in Philadelphia. (Vance Worley duels John Lackey and slumping Raul Ibanez drives in both runs.)

July 4 - 9-7 loss to Toronto. (John Lackey's miserable start puts the Sox in too big a hole to climb out of.)

July 19 - 6-2 loss in Baltimore. (Scutaro gets thrown out stealing and the Orioles tack on 3 big runs late.)

July 25 - 3-1 loss to the Royals. (Scutaro botches a potential game winning squeeze play in the 12th as the Red Sox lose in 14.)

July 28 - 4-3 loss to the Royals. (Crawford's bid for a walk off homer falls just short.)

July 29 - 3-1 loss to the White Sox. (Sox blow a late 1-0 lead and spoil a solid Wakefield start.)

August 1 - 9-6 loss to Cleveland. (Asdrubal Cabrera's second home run was an 8th inning tie breaking shot off of Daniel Bard.)

August 4 - 7-3 loss to Cleveland. (Carlos Santana's homer broke a 3-3 tie.)

August 5 - 3-2 loss to the Yankees. (The Sox leave the bases loaded in the 5th and the Yankees score 3 in the 6th to take the lead.)

August 10 - 5-2 in Minnesota. (The Twins score 3 in the 8th, spoiling Ortiz's game tying homer.)

August 13 - 5-4 loss in Seattle. (Mariners score 5 in the first and the Red Sox come back falls short.)



Down to +8.

Win today and win the series...



But I STILL say this "No Instant Replay" is bad for the game.

VIVA FABIO CASTRO!

When it looked like Clay Buchholz was going to go on the DL, the Red Sox summoned Fabio Castro from Pawtucket to help out the bullpen.

But when it was clear they needed more infield depth with Pedroia going down, Theo pulled off a deal with the A's to bring in utility man Eric Patterson and Castro was designated for assignment without appearing in a game.

How could you do it, Tito?
How could you NOT bring in Fabio Castro?

You have the ability to have the P.A. announcer say "Now pitching... FABIO CASTRO!"

And you passed that up?
For what? For Manny DelCarmen to get another appearance?

I hope nobody claims him... I have no idea if he sucks or not. I just want to hear the words "Fabio Castro gets the out."

And be honest with me... you do too.