Theo Epstein knows the score. Always has. If there is any doubt I suggest you read the novel San Remo Drive by Leslie Epstein, Theo’s novelist father and B.U. creative writing professor. The autobiographical tale is set in 1940s and 50s Hollywood and describe’s Epstein’s childhood as the oldest son of one half of the big time Hollywood screenwriter brothers Philip and Julius Epstein. Casablanca, Arsenic and Old Lace, The Man Who Came to Dinner, and a few more. Everything was peachy with big shots like Tony Curtis and Gregory Peck common sites at the house and in the neighborhood.
Then came the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)and studio honcho Jack Warner – probably an anti-semite- dished them up. Suddenly life as they knew it came to an end. To make matters worse Philip, Theo’s grandfather, dropped dead soon after when Leslie was twelve. Leslie saw things go from bad to worse as friends disappeared and a slime ball boyfriend or two took off with most of what money his mother had.
That 12 year old grew up to sire and raise Theo (you like the horse racing reference?) Along with two others. One’s a public school teacher and the other is a television producer in Los Angeles.
So knowing all this I see Theo in a different light.
Theo gets the break of his life when Larry Lucchino takes him under his wring and in a short time sky rockets the kid to the general manager’s job of the Boston Red Sox. And holy shit, they win the World Series. (What if Dave Roberts was out?) Theo cannot get any higher. He is king of his hill. Just like his grandfather and great-uncle were at one time. So the poised beyond his years 29 year old sits back and watches as everyone takes their victory laps. He doesn’t like what he sees and tells ownership he wants out if some things don’t change. The some things were the LA like obsession with fame and the media driven atmosphere.
Theo stayed and yesterday he was the good and loyal soldier sitting slumped between two men with weak character. Loyalty above all. Not a problem for him. Replacing Francona as manager? Again, not a problem for Theo. Managers get fired. Part of the job. The way ownership handled it? Big big problem, but of course not surprised.
Typical Red Sox ownership bullshit. First start feeding Peter Gammons and others that there is a rift between Theo and Francona. Gammons is good because he plays in that band with Theo. People will think Theo started this.
Anyway, Theo’s seen this too many times before. I bet he got a kick of the Globe’s editorial today backing ownership and pointing out flaws in Francona’s performance. Just like he has too many times before when the sports media sycophants followed the party line. Well it seems that the inevitable has happened. The press s turning on the holy trinity. Did John Henry really need to be in hospital?
Of course a few wins in a row next year will change everything back to the happy horse shit we’re use to.
Well now Theo’s pushing 40 and watching his family grow. Yes he’s seen Larry and Tom as slimy lame-os for some time and he always knew it would end. He just doesn’t know how bad it will be as he pretends to have respect for these rich and self-indulgent clowns.
I bet he’s planning his escape. Before or after an new manger? I don’t know. Theo could decide to take it easy and go work for Fox or the MLB Network. He knows he can always get back into it. But it’s not about that. It’s about living with yourself.
judy-meredith says
Thanks. Now I want you to write the novel.
And I don’t care who you are.
johnk says
just sayin’ ….
Mark L. Bail says
miserable during the presser–don’t know if it was a knife in the back or the overpriced d-bags he hired to drink beer in the club house or the owners that wants the Red Sox run along the same lines MCAS–that did in Francona.
My biggest surprise: Ortiz, who still hasn’t figured out that batting average and IQ aren’t well-correlated, was one of those who created the toxic atmosphere.
JimC says
n/t
jconway says
I have a few friends in minor positions at a few MLB organizations including ours, and apparently he can be kind and generous in public and self absord, self righteous, and downright mean in private. In any case, I feel he has long outlived his value and is sticking around due to fan loyalty, it’d be nice to drop him and his overinflated payroll next season. We need to seriously rebuild and it should be around the likes of Pedroia (good team captain candidate IMO), Yuk, Ellsbury, and other talented men of good character. This team od dbags made me miss the cowboy up antics of guys like Milar, Mueller, Kapler, Arroyo, and other dudes who wanted to have a good time but also wanted to play to win for their teammates. Team chemistry has been gone awhile and we need to rewire it.
Mark L. Bail says
was a problem around the club house. Aside from one of my former students having dated him, I don’t know anything about him personally though.
JimC says
I’m not sure what to believe, because there’s so much crap flying around. Manny pushed Youk a while back, and at the time everybody blamed Manny, but who knows?