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Question about Francona and Epstein

I'm coming from the Cubs page here on SB Nation.  As you probably know we're looking for a manager and we have lots of debates about how the manager should use statistics to manage the team.
The reason that I am posting this is people bring up Francona's role on the Red Sox all the time.  Here's what I think: I remember reading somewhere that the reason Little got fired was because he left Pedro in despite the fact that the statistics showed that he loses his effectiveness after about 90 pitches, and thereby disregarding Epstein's instructions.  The way I remember it, Francona got  hired because he basically told Epstein that he would listen to his instructions and pay attention to them and Epstein pretty much handed him a binder of statistics to follow and Francona managed the games based on them and ended up winning the world series.

Can anybody confirm this for me?  Does anybody know where a source about this might be?
I think I'm probably right but maybe to a greater extreme than I think.

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Re: Question about Francona and Epstein
For the most part, that is true -- or at least what we've read/heard in the media. "The Numbers Game" by Alan Schwarz shed some light on the Little fiasco in 2004.

And, for the most part, Tito has been a "Yes" man when it came to Theo telling him what to do.

by Randy Booth on Oct 7, 2006 11:57 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Re: Question about Francona and Epstein
Little's decision to leave Pedro in was egregious no matter how you looked at it.  You didn't have to be a stat junkie to think Pedro was done on that day - he'd barely made it through the prior inning and it was clear to everybody watching he had nothing left.

Well, clear to everybody but one.  

I saw a quote in the paper last week about a Dodgers game where Greg Maddux wanted out of a game, but Grady Little insisted he pitch another inning.  Have fun, Dodgers fans!

by RickD on Oct 7, 2006 12:33 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

I found this interesting ...
It's from today's Herald:
Firing lines drawn?

    Red Sox manager Terry Francona went out of his way to stress that neither hitting coach Ron Jackson nor pitching coach Dave Wallace was being made a scapegoat as the Sox announced the dismissal of both coaches on Monday, but that doesn't mean anyone has to like it.

    Jackson is the same hitting coach who helped the Sox lead the major leagues in runs scored for three straight years, remember, and the absence of Manny Ramirez had more to do with the Sox' second-half struggles than anything else.

    As for Wallace, does anybody have an even remotely plausible explanation for that one? Throughout baseball, Wallace is regarded as a highly intelligent, knowledgable and versatile baseball person, as evidenced by his range of jobs in the game. Lest anyone forget, Wallace missed much of this season to illness, which only makes the Sox' actions all the more deplorable.

    By all accounts, Francona was largely responsible for the dismissal of Jackson and general manager Theo Epstein for the ousting of Wallace, which raises the question of whether there was some petty, tit-for-tat exchange between the manager and the front office. Such jousts are not unprecedented in baseball, as Sox fans learned when then-manager Jimy Williams went to the front office and said that he preferred to remove then-coach Dave Jauss from his coaching staff after the season because of a perceived loyalty to then-GM Dan Duquette.

    So Jauss went and, in turn, Red Sox management forced out Williams' chief ally, then-bench coach Grady Little. The irony now is that Jauss has built his own reputation in the game and currently serves as Little's bench coach with the Los Angeles Dodgers, though the two were nothing more than victims in the deteriorating relationship between Williams and Duquette.

    Understand? If the dismissals of Jackson and Wallace were some type of exchange between Francona and Epstein, it is relevant only because it would suggest a crack in their relationship. The two have been together in Boston for three seasons now, of course, but this is the first time that they have had to deal with the fallout of a season that failed to end (one way or another) with a postseason appearance.

I gotta go 'cause I'm probably definitely gonna nod out again.

by Drugs Delaney on Oct 8, 2006 11:17 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Re: I found this interesting ...
I'm almost certain the Dave Wallace move was reported in several other places as being mutual, with Wallace citing health reasons (not entirely surprising)

That being said, I'll miss both.  I can't imagine a world in which Nipper > Wallace as a pitching coach, and not sure who can fill Papa Jack's shoes.

by Allen Chace on Oct 9, 2006 12:28 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Re: Question about Francona and Epstein
I hear that Dave Wallace may consider a job as the Anaheim Angels' pitching coach.
"You know you're having a bad day when the fifth inning rolls around and they drag the warning track." - Mike Flanagan, Baltimore Orioles pitcher, 1992.

by SoxDevil on Nov 10, 2006 9:20 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

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