The Resurrection Part 1

Well loyal readers it's been a while since I've imparted my knowledge and opinions of all things Red Sox and baseball on you. I shouldn't have left so abruptly but I swear I was really busy but I'm back now and I promise I'll treat you better this time. First things first, I don't know where my 24 page views from Russia came from but my best guess is a combination of Alexander Ovechkin, Mikhail Prokhorov and Vladimir Putin as research for their eventual invasion of our great nation.
But now to business. As we all know our beloved Red Sox closed out August on pace for 100 wins and a postseason run until it came crashing down in a waterfall of beer, fried chicken, lack of pride and a slew of issues relating to Francona having to play out the final year of his contract. The primary reason for the collapse as we all know was a horrendous pitching staff that was plagued by poor conditioning. Most people blamed the Lackey, Beckett and Lester drinking buddies for the pitching staff woes but that was just one part of it. In spring training everyone, including myself, was talking about a 100 win season and when it became apparent in August that it was a real possibility many of the players started reading the press clippings and took their foot off the gas pedal. This is where the Francona contract comes into play. A manager's job is to maintain a good clubhouse and don't fuck up the starting rotation or bullpen. With a lot of players signed to long term deals and a growing feeling that Francona wouldn't be back he lost credibility within the clubhouse which gave him no chance to rectify the rapidly detieriating situation. But we all need to remember it comes back to the players not taking pride in their work and being a team that didn't have any fight. Three players have earned the right to be completely absolved from accusations of trying to coast into the playoffs: Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury and Marco Scutaro. Those three players played hard from game 1 through 162.
The offseason came amid turmoil with most players speechless except Adrian Gonzalez who knew the real reason our Sox didn't make the post season... It wasn't in God's plan. Agon's attitude epitomized the end of the season collapse: no accountability and a losers mentality. Let's pause for a moment while I pat myself on the back for being right that Agon just didn't seem like a winner or true Red Sox deep down (http://boscriley.blogspot.com/2011/05/from-heart-of-fan.html). With the offseason came a major overhaul in the front office. Theo left for Cubs, Francona was sent packing for losing control of the players, long time Theo protege Ben Cherrington took over as GM and Bobby Valentine took over as manager for Tito. Cherrington should do a good job and there should be a good amount of continuity unless Lucchino decides to flex his Baseball Ops muscles or John Henry tightens his purse strings. Bobby V is a bit of a wild card. He is definitely closer to Rex Ryan than Belichick when it comes to the media which I promise you will become tiresome very quickly. Baseball managers is have the least amount of impact on games so all Valentine has to do is keep the pitch staff motivated and in shape. Part 2 is coming soon and will cover personnel moves and a look forward to spring training.