IF defense, aside from Lugo and Cora’s no range job at SS during the regular season (he actually looked fine to me during the playoffs), looked excellent.

Also, keep in mind that like 300% of our CS’s were as a result of botched hit-and-runs involving Varitek.

“But indications were that Alicea had a philosophical clash with manager Terry Francona, likely leading to his dismissal.”

Luis Alicea: “You know, I think Manny Ramirez is a manifestation of the Nietzschean superman.”
Terry Francona: “What epistemological basis do you have for that?”
Alicea: “What do you mean?”
Francona: “Are you reaching that position through sensation, or have you arrived at it a priori?”
Alicea: “I’m just making a valid observation, based on reason and evidence, and my own interpretation of nihilist philosophy.”
Francona: “Well, if you can’t describe how you got there, how do you where you are going? You need a firm epistemological foundation before you can explore the ethical dimensions of player characterizations.”
Alicea: “I think that’s a logical fallacy. Anyone can make moral judgments. For example, imagine that Manny Ramirez is in Nazi Germany. If he were asked to cooperate in the Holocaust, would he demand a trade to the Soviets? Would he be ethically obligated to follow his own self-interest and moral compass, or to defer to an admittedly corrupt ruling class?”
Francona: “Look, Luis, I’ve had enough of your tangential twattle. If you don’t refine your reasoning, I’ll see to it that you don’t receive tenure.”
Alicea: “That is IT. I’m SICK of your neo-Kantian Solipsistic Objectivism!
Francona: "Fine, see if anyone else in baseball will appreciate your Regressive Post-Modern Pluralistic Positivism!”

“I guess finding another Latino to coach first base … makes sense? Obviously, being bi-lingual would be huge for a Red Sox team that has historically had a clubhouse of many languages.”

I have been a Sox fan for a looooooong time and have been questioned by many as to how I can root for a team so lacking in diversity. The questions stem from the Yawkey history & the “climate”. I am not saying diversity for diversity’s sake or race/ethnicity was an issue in this case & do not think the current owners are Yawkey-esqe but the Sox have not been “historically” known for diversity.