A Crisis of Leadership
by alfonzo on May 3, 2010 1:07 PM EDT
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Twenty-five games into the season, there are some astonishing numbers that reveal a psychological problem taking place in the Red Sox clubhouse. In twenty-five games this season, an astonishing fifteen have been tied at some point after the start of the 7th inning. Their overall record is 7-8 in these contests—1-5 when going into extra frames, and 6-3 otherwise. As a comparison, the Yankees have only played six games that were tied at the 7th inning or later, and only one that went into extra frames. Three of these, and the only extra inning contest, were against the Red Sox themselves.
One has to wonder about Tito’s blood pressure to start things off this year. The Sox, already trailing the best-in-baseball Rays by seven games, face a brutal May approaching, with more than three-quarters of their remaining games this month against teams with at least a .500 record, including eight games against first-place teams and five against the Yankees. With no indication that either the Yankees or Rays will precipitously fall, the standard 95-win metric that Theo looks for might not be good enough this year. But even if 95 wins are enough, when do we start worrying that we won’t make it there? How many losses this month will be too many, bringing us too close to that dangerous Magic Number of 67? Ten? Fifteen? If the Sox can take ever series they play against bad teams, and can stay at .500 against good teams, they’re looking at ten losses next month, not terrible. If they only take two out of three against bad teams (sub-.500), we’re looking at a potential fifteen-loss month. If the Sox keep playing the way they’ve played in April, lacking identity, lacking focus, lacking even basic leadership and cohesion, they could see their season end remarkably quickly, watching from the back while the Ray and Yanks go off to the races.
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I agree that there is a motivational/momentum crisis
taking place with this team, but just what leadership role is actually failing? ? Is it failure at the managerial level or GM level, or is there some toxic player dynamic going on with this team that is failing to be correct is some way. Wouldn’t that toxic dyanamic also be a managment failure however??
The team’s captain isn’t even on the starting 9. The aging veterans that have traditionally carried the team aren’t elite players any more, but they’re still occupying roster spots. How can Ortiz, V-Mart or Drew help the new players and utility guys feel comfortable and settle in when they can’t help themselves?
The problem with the Red Sox’s leadership is that Tito’s totally preoccupied with keeping everyone happy and finding everyone at-bats, and the real leaders of the clubhouse, Pedroia and Youkilis, are still standing in the shadows of the team’s leaders from the past. We have too many moving pieces and too little identity as a team.
Put more simply, any time you’re relying on career minor-leaguers like Darnell McDonald to carry your team, to inject life into a stalling group of players, there’s a fairly serious crisis of leadership that extends throughout the organization.
Straight outta HP. Go MDC!!!
http://soxcentury.blogspot.com
The team’s captain isn’t even on the starting 9. The aging veterans that have traditionally carried the team aren’t elite players any more, but they’re still occupying roster spots. How can Ortiz, V-Mart or Drew help the new players and utility guys feel comfortable and settle in when they can’t help themselves?
Come on, Lackey, Beltre, Cameron, and Scutaro are veteran players. They don’t need he Ortiz’s, VMart’s, or Drew’s help to play better. However, everyone has to play better for the team to win. While Ortiz is clearly in decline, Drew and VMart were elite players as of last year. After the Trade Deadline last year, Tek (the captain) wasn’t on the starting 9 and the team won 95 games. Some teams don’t even have captains. The Sox don’t play in the NHL. A team captain isn’t important.
The problem with the Red Sox’s leadership is that Tito’s totally preoccupied with keeping everyone happy and finding everyone at-bats, and the real leaders of the clubhouse, Pedroia and Youkilis, are still standing in the shadows of the team’s leaders from the past. We have too many moving pieces and too little identity as a team.
I couldn’t disagree more. Pedey and Youk are vocal. The Sox have a lot of character guys in their clubhouse. And Tito is very good at communicating with his players. As for Francona trying to keep “everyone happy,” that’s BS. Lowell, Wake, and Ortiz aren’t happy. The fact that the clubhouse hasn’t exploded is a credit to Tito. Nobody has asked out yet. When teams are struggling nobody is happy. If they start winning, everyone will talk about team chemistry.
Put more simply, any time you’re relying on career minor-leaguers like Darnell McDonald to carry your team, to inject life into a stalling group of players, there’s a fairly serious crisis of leadership that extends throughout the organization.
Again, I disagree. The Sox came into the season with 4 OFs: Ellsbury, Cameron, Drew, and Hermida. Right now, only Drew is healthy. Darnell McDonald is only playing because the Sox have injuries. Do you believe the injuries were caused by a “crisis of leadership?”
I gotta go 'cause I'm probably definitely gonna nod out again.
by Drugs Delaney on May 3, 2010 3:14 PM EDT up reply actions
Drugs, you are the best at making excuses for this team.
I must say that I disagree with you on a lot of this, but you do make it sound comforting.
I actually really do hope you are correct so I can get my money’s worth out of the comcast MLB package that I have already purchased for this year. No fun watching losers!!
by NG on May 3, 2010 3:39 PM EDT up reply actions
I'm not making excuses
I’m just dealing in reality. There’s a chance the Sox will finish 3rd this year. But, baseball teams don’t look to captains for leadership. The Sox aren’t relying on Darnell McDonald to carry the team. He is only playing because the OF is decimated by injuries. Some very good players are struggling. They may have bad years. It happens, you know. Francona is a very good manager who communicates well with his players. For all the talk about his loyalty to “his guys,” he has pinch hit for Ortiz, moved Wake to the pen, and generally made the necessary moves. I know many people love all the Hollywood crap where manages kick lockers or give grand pep talks. But the reality is most of that stuff is BS. Baseball players are professionals. The Sox have a veteran roster of players who have played on winning teams. If they need Tek to start because he’s the captain or Pedroia of Youk to emerge from Big Papi’s shadow in order to win, then they suck. Players are human. Players struggle from time-to-time. It’s as simple as that.
I gotta go 'cause I'm probably definitely gonna nod out again.
by Drugs Delaney on May 3, 2010 3:55 PM EDT up reply actions
about the captain thing
the captains in the MLB right now are: Varitek, Jeter, Konerko, and Derrek Lee. So 26 teams can function fine without a captain, it’s a pretty meaningless title. It could be that he’s usual a vocal, enthusiastic clubhouse leader who is down and out from playing part time, but none of those attributes really seem applicable to Cap’n Tek.
+1 Zillion.
Drugs – your two posts above are full of WIN.
All this ‘leadership’ and ‘chemistry’ criticism is BS at this point.
This is a veteran team with proven chemistry guys and proven leadership at all levels with a very successful track record of working together.
The ‘problem’ is simply statistics. Slumps happen. Give it time.
How much time?
If we start June still back by 7 games it’s going to be a bad season.
I think you should check the Mariners’ blogs and see how happy their fanbase is with the team carrying 2 washed out DHs (Sweeney and Griffey) because they are keeping the clubhouse happy!
Westmoreland recently asked his son how he was feeling, and the response the father received didn't surprise him. "I'm going to be in Portland next year," Ryan said.
I wish
everyone who wanted to jump off the cliff would, so that the rest of us can prepare for the enevitable turn around and game of catchup we need to do with the MFY and TB
Whoever said it doesn't matter whether you win or lose, probably lost.
We All Want To See a Turn Around
But reality is what you are seeing out there. We’ve been watching contending Sox teams since 2003. And this current team looks NOTHING like any of those teams. I’m actually shocked that nobody saw this coming after our post season debacle last year. It comes down to a total lack of talent on the field. And we haven’t even played in Yankee Stadium yet. This team is not accustomed to losing. The core players have all been on thise winning teams. I don’t think that it’s a ’’Captain’’ issue either, but I do believe SOMEONE needs to step up and be that emotional leader in the clubhouse (weather it’s a player, the manager or a coach). This team was never made for rebuliding; they prided themselves on reloading with a good farm system and smart off season moves.
If this thing doesn’t get turned around someone is going to end up being the scapegoat (fairly or unfairly) and will get traded or lose his job. We fired Grady Little after he won nearly 190 games in just two seasons and look what happened the next year. Either way, we all want to see a winner and I for one don’t want to go back to the lean years of the early 80s and mid 90s (minus ‘95 of course). Baseball season is brutal when your team sucks. Remember ’92? Let’s get one back today. Go Sox.
I don't see the Sox scapegoating anyone--and Grady was not a scapegoat
Grady was an interim manager without the interim tag. The Sox’ ownership had very little time to hire a GM and manager when they took over (they weren’t going to keep Duquette or Kerrigan). Mike Port was made the interim GM. They weren’t allowed to talk to any of their first managerial choices. So they settled on Grady.
Theo became the GM in 2003, and he inherited Grady. There was a lot of friction between the FO and the manger. Grady refused to look at scouting reports. He preferred to manage by the seat of his pants—and it showed. The FO wanted Grady gone midway through the 2003 season. Little was an awful manager. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened if the Sox won it all in 2003. But it’s clear that the FO didn’t want Grady to continue as manager.
Tito is a different story. Theo inherited Grady. He chose Francona. By all reports, Tito and Theo are very close and on the same page on most issues. Francona isn’t likely to be fired—even if the Sox finish third. Also, nobody was scapegoated after the 2006 debacle.
I gotta go 'cause I'm probably definitely gonna nod out again.
by Drugs Delaney on May 10, 2010 10:04 AM EDT up reply actions
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