No doubt, Farrell must go
Sox need to realize it’s best move for future
Let the record show the Red Sox made a spirited comeback in Game 3, and that they did a lot of things in yesterday’s Game 4 showdown against the Houston Astros to keep Fenway Park rocking and anticipant.
But now that it’s over — the game, the series, the season — it’s time for the Red Sox to end John Farrell’s managerial tenure.
While it’s true Farrell’s résumé will show him as a success in his five seasons as manager — three division titles and a World Series championship — it is also true that 2017 was yet another campaign of unfulfilled expectations.
It was also the season of the David Ortiz hangover. The Sox missed his bat, sure, but they also missed his clubhouse presence. The result: It became the sullen, insecure, finger-pointing David Price clubhouse. Not only was Farrell unable to do something about it, but he appeared also to endorse it with his line about how accountability is a two-way street, this after Price’s sorry Yankee Stadium temper tantrum in June.
Now it is John Farrell who must be held accountable.
That’s not entirely fair, of course. It’s not his fault president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski didn’t replace Big Papi’s bat. It’s not his fault Price got hurt, that Dustin Pedroia seemed to age 10 years, that knuckleballer Steven Wright missed most of the season, that Eduardo Nunez injured his knee.
OK, then. You want to limit this discussion to strategy? We shouldn’t, because managing is so much more than that, but since you asked: Why was lefty Chris Sale, despite his heroic relief pitching yesterday, allowed to return to the mound in the eighth inning? Am I only the person who felt he might have been spent by then?
Besides, Houston’s leadoff man in the eighth was Alex Bregman, a right-handed batter who hit .331 against lefties this season. He homered off Sale in Game 1. Sale remained in Game 4, and Bregman walloped a game-tying homer. Craig Kimbrel didn’t exactly mow ’em down when he took over, but one wonders about an altered course had the eighth started with the Sox ace closer facing Bregman.
Managers like to stay with the guys who got them there, sometimes with disastrous results. Grady Little made that mistake with Pedro Martinez in 2003. Farrell made that mistake with Sale yesterday.
So, does Farrell expect to return in 2018?
“We just walked off the field 10 minutes ago,” he said.
Not exactly. By the time the game ended Farrell was already in the runway, having been ejected in the second inning by plate umpire Mark Wegner.
One way to explain away Farrell’s ejection is to applaud the man for coming to the defense of Pedroia, who had been rung up by Wegner on a Charlie Morton pitch on the inside corner.
As Farrell put it, “I said I’m trying to get my player away from him. It was more important to me that Pedey remain in the game, and the rest took care of itself.”
While the pitch indeed looked inside, the call wasn’t so atrocious that an investigatory panel should be convened. And Pedroia, a veteran of 12 big league seasons, shouldn’t have been jawing to the degree that he was on the cusp of getting tossed in the second inning of a do-or-die playoff game.
Farrell said, “. . . there was nothing derogatory or directed straight at (Wegner). I never argued balls and strikes. It was a really quick hook.”
Perhaps. But think about that: Farrell got himself tossed
of an elimination game. He couldn’t just pull Pedroia back to the dugout and be done with it?
The symbolism here is striking. Once again Farrell went to extraordinary lengths to protect one of his players, only to have the cigar blow up in his face. It happened during the season when he made himself the guardian at the gate after Price verbally assaulted NESN analyst Dennis Eckersley. By not offering any remotely conciliatory words to Eck, other than saying over and over that “we have a professional relationship,” Farrell came across almost as culpable as was Price.
Same with Pedroia getting rung up. He overdid the arguing, and so Farrell, again, overdid the defense. And if he winds up getting fired this week, it’ll mean he ended his days as manager of the Red Sox wandering up and down a runway in back of the first base dugout as the season was slowly slipping away.
Pedroia was asked if he believes Farrell should return as manager. In response, he offered a press release.
“I thought John did a great job,” he said. “We won the division and, you know, there was never any quit in this team. I’m proud of everybody in here. We’ve dealt with a lot. And our fight continued every single day. We didn’t achieve our goals, but I’m proud of how everybody went about his business and showed up for everybody and played to win.”
Farrell was pitching coach of the Sox’ 2007 World Series team. He was manager of the 2013 World Series champs. He spoke eloquently in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings. Let us never forget he took time away as manager to beat cancer. And who among us wasn’t deeply moved to see Farrell take a day off so he could see his son Luke make his major league debut with the Kansas City Royals?
But mark my words: If they don’t find a way to rein in David Price, the Sox are going to suffer a major disconnect with their fan base in the years to come.
This is the challenge facing the next occupant of the corner office in the Fenway Park clubhouse.