Mientkiewicz loved 4 months with Red Sox
Mud Hens manager reminisces about 2004 World Series run
PAWTUCKET – Doug Mientkiewicz was hit up for autographs as he walked out of McCoy Stadium a few nights last week, proof that being a member of the curse-breaking 2004 World Series champion Boston Red Sox commands a certain gravitas that doesn’t fade away with time.
Now 43 and giving off the impression he could still serve as a late-game defen- sive replacement at first base, Mientkiewicz was in town as the manager of the Toledo Mud Hens. He may have played only 60 games for Boston counting the regular season and one memorable October postseason ride, yet his place in New England sports lore was etched the moment he secured Keith Foulke’s underhand toss in St. Louis on October 27, 2004.
“Being in this part of the country brings back a lot of good memories,” Mientkiewicz said. “I joke around all the time and say that the only four months I spent in Boston were all bliss. I didn’t know what it was like to be in misery and failure. If you could pick the four months to be there, I picked the best four.”
Sitting in the visiting manager’s office at McCoy with roughly an hour to go before first pitch between Toledo and the Pawtucket Red Sox, Mientkiewicz was told that he missed being in the same baseball setting as Foulke by a day. Now in his third year as a Red Sox player development consultant whose specific concentration is working with minor-league relievers, Foulke spent time with the PawSox two weekends ago and concluded his stay the day before the start of a series with Mientkiewicz’s Mud Hens.
Told the hope was to take a picture of the two participants involved in the most famous final out in Red Sox history, it was clear Mientkiewicz was briefed about his former Boston teammate being in Pawtucket. Another time then … perhaps when Toledo makes its 2019 sojourn to McCoy.
“That’s what I heard,” said Mientkiewicz when told about Foulke’s presence.
A Toledo native, Mientkiewicz is in his first season as a Triple-A manager. It’s also his first in the Detroit organization after spending the previous five years managing in Minnesota’s farm system. For roughly 15 minutes last Tuesday, he took a trip down memory lane and revisited the 2004 Red Sox and the challenging yet fun parts that go with the territory of being the manager of a group that yearns for permanent big-league employment.
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The only World Series that Mientkiewicz had tickets for was the 2003 Fall Classic at the Florida Marlins’ ballpark in Miami, where he played high school baseball. Specifically, Mientkiewicz was going to root on former-Minnesota-teammates-turned-Red Sox David Ortiz and Todd Walker. There’s no need to revisit a painful episode other than to say the Red Sox never made it to South Florida. Instead, it was the Yankees who went.
“I’m a baseball nut and seeing what happened (in 2003), unless you’re a Yankees fan, was pretty awful,” Mientkiewicz said.
Several months after the Marlins disposed of the Yankees in six games, Mientkiewicz joined the Boston baseball ranks as part of a flurry of July 2004 moves by then-general manager Theo Epstein. After seven big-league seasons in Minnesota, he entered a clubhouse that didn’t look the part of being bogged down by a lengthy title drought. Instead, Mientkiewicz along with fellow deadline deal acquisitions Dave Roberts and Orlando Cabrera felt at home immediately.
“The best thing that Theo did was to get a bunch of guys who personality-wise could handle what we were up against. Baseball-wise, there were probably more talented Red Sox teams, but mentality-wise we were off the charts. We bonded together pretty quickly and that’s the one thing I always say about that group,” Mientkiewicz said. “By the second game, it felt like we had been there for months and that made the transition very easy. It wasn’t a hard group to follow. It was fun to go to work every day. We enjoyed each other’s company. When we played, it was like, okay, it’s business. That group got after it as hard as you possibly can for all nine innings.”
The post-2004 World Series celebration took a turn to the incredulous when Mientkiewicz found himself embroiled in controversy over the baseball that he caught for the final out. He had the famous ball, yet the Red Sox wanted it for their trophy case. A power struggle ensued with Mientkiewicz saying the entire affair weighed on him during the 2005 season he spent with the New York Mets.
“Absolutely,” said Mientkiewicz when asked if the ball controversy was blown out of proportion. “If he (Larry Lucchino, current PawSox chairman and former Red Sox president/CEO) would have just asked for it from Day 1, I would have handed it to him in the clubhouse. He didn’t do that, but it is what it is. I was thrown under the bus from the get-go, but live and learn and you move on.”
In response to Mientkiewicz, Lucchino said, “We have absolutely no ill will towards Doug. I do remember reaching out and speaking with him about this. There was a genuine misunderstanding about who had ownership rights to the baseball, but ultimately it is where it should be – in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.”
As for remaining in contact with his 2004 Red Sox ‘mates, Mientkiewicz runs into Ortiz the most now that they both call Miami home. Every now and again, he’ll cross paths with Tim Wakefield in the Florida Keys. In 2016, he spent a considerable amount of time in Jason Varitek’s company when the Red Sox staged a salute to the soonto-be-retiring Ortiz during the final weekend of the regular season.
“Baseball players and teammates can go years without seeing each other and pick up where they left off,” Mientkiewicz said. “That’s what makes that group so unique.”
As for the 2004 World Series baseball, Mientkiewicz hasn’t seen it since it went on display in Cooperstown, though said his son has.
“Hopefully when I’m done with my managerial career,” was Mientkiewicz’s response to if he has plans to someday check out the ball in person. ***
Mientkiewicz credits the short time he was around Red Sox manager Terry Francona for helping to shape his post-baseball venture following a dozen years in the majors.
“I try to pull from what Tito did with us as far as keeping us together and everything status quo. It’s tougher for these guys [the Toledo players] because they’re so close to the majors, but it’s about keeping their mind right,” he said. “Whether it was myself coming in as a defensive replacement or Dave Roberts pinch running, Tito’s managerial style was one where no job was too small.”
Life as a minor-league manager in the lower levels was about Mientkiewicz conveying the importance of making sure young ballplayers go about each day the right way. Now that he’s in the International League and dealing with guys who have tasted big-league life, the goal is about taking the existing package and refining it.
“Each guy is different and you have to learn what makes them go, but the Triple-A level is more mental. You’re not hitting three million groundballs. You’re fine tuning stuff and you can have an honest rapport with them,” said Mientkiewicz. “We’re trying to get them over the hump. A lot of guys who play at this level can play in the big leagues. It’s a lot of responsibility, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
The presence of Ron Gardenhire as Detroit’s manager has been a major asset for Mientkiewicz, who played for Gardenhire in Minnesota. Managing in Toledo became a real thing after the Twins fired him last season after piloting Class A Fort Myers.
“I know what Gardy wants in a big-league player,” Mientkiewicz said. “No one wants to be fired, but to end up where I’m at, I can’t complain.”
As the interview wound down, Mientkiewicz stated his case as to why he thoroughly enjoys the managerial aspect.
“I always say I was lucky to play as long as I did, but I was born to do this,” he said. “I could always tell somebody else what they were doing wrong, but I couldn’t tell myself.”