Those of you who have been following the Terry Francona situation in Boston have probably lost some respect for Red Sox owner John Henry. After the team announced that it would not be picking up Francona’s 2012 option per the request of Tito himself, Henry was supposed to appear at a press conference with some of his fellow Red Sox brass. Reports then surfaced that Henry had suffered a minor injury while going down the stairs on his yacht and would not be able to attend.
I don’t doubt that Henry took a fall and was unable to address the media, but he claims to be doing just fine now, yet he still has not shown his face to the public. Instead, he released a series of tweets on Tuesday regarding the managerial search. Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe shared the tweets with us, which have been grouped together for easier reading.
“Thanks to all of the well-wishers,” he wrote. “I’m fine. But it makes one appreciate health. Rushing downstairs is dangerous for an old guy. Another productive day this week at Fenway. Tom [Werner], Larry [Lucchino] and I were briefed by Theo [Epstein] and Ben [Cherington] on the managerial search. Due diligence this week. Calls and maybe interviews next week. Excited to once again bring in smart, creative, hands-on leadership. We have the right people looking. We got the manager’s search right eight years ago with Tito and Maddon as finalists. We’ll secure a great manager this time as well.”
As you can see, Henry did a tremendous job of stroking his own ego but failed to thank Tito in any way. We all know Francona was pushed out the door by Red Sox ownership, but Henry and company are so desperate to make it look like a true resignation, that he can’t even muster up the courage to praise Tito for breaking an 86-year championship drought. In fact, Henry even blamed Francona for his accident after one of his followers called him a fraud.
“It was sort (Francona’s) fault,” Henry responded. “He was in a hurry and I was trying to make it there. Believe it or not. I just ended up in the hospital trying to get to a press conference. I’ve always preferred talking with fans.”
The whole “Tito was in a rush” thing was a main theme of the press conference Theo Epstein, Larry Lucchino, and Tom Werner held to discuss the departure of Francona. The trio insisted that they asked Terry to take the weekend to think about his future with the team, but the manager had already decided to move on.
As a Red Sox fan, I think cutting ties with Francona was the right thing to do. Whether it was his fault or not, he obviously lost his locker room over the course of the 2011 season. The way the front office has gone about dealing with the move is embarrassing. The ownership group and Epstein have done their best to make Tito a scape goat for the worst meltdown in team history, and they’ve done it in a cowardly fashion.
