Terry Francona; Out As Red Sox Manager After 8 Summers At Fenway

Under the stewardship of Messrs Henry, Werner, Lucchino & Epstein the Red Sox have acted bold and fearless in the face of crisis. When Grady Little failed to properly utilize his bullpen in the 2003 ALCS he was banished to the unemployment line before Halloween. When franchise icon Nomar Garciaparra became a full-fledged clubhouse malcontent in the summer of 2004 he was traded to the Cubs at the deadline in the most famous Red Sox transaction that did not involve Babe Ruth.

With the biggest September collapse in baseball history now on the shoulders of the entire Red Sox brain trust it’s all but a foregone conclusion that Terry Francona, far and away the best manager the team has ever had, will be shown the door after 8 seasons of stellar service in baseball’s toughest job.

At a Thursday’s press conference on Yawkey Way General Manager Theo Epstein had this to say about his team and the manager he hired to replace Grady Little nearly 8 years ago,

"I know we don't believe in scapegoats; in particular nobody blames Tito for what happened in September”.

"This year we weren't at our best. I can say that about myself. Tito and I talked about it, I think he would say the same about himself, and it touches a lot of people. Collectively, we weren't at our best. We need to identify the issues, sit down and identify a plan, and execute it to fix it."

"I believe in a lot of people in this organization, including Tito, including myself, and when we're at our best, I think this is the best organization in baseball.”

With reports circulating that Francona will not return in 2012 one can only wonder where Epstein stands on the departure of a man who he has enjoyed a tremendous professional relationship with during their time together. If you believe what you heard from the GM on Thursday then he believes in Francona and does not think that the blood from September 2011 should be on the manager’s hands. If you’re a cynic then you see Epstein’s Thursday presser as a straight PR move designed not to show up Francona while he’s pushed out the door.

Francona has 2 club options for 2012 & 2013 respectively. The Red Sox are likely to handle Francona’s departure by simply not picking up either of his options, making the manager’s departure seem like an amicable split. While we continue to pick up the pieces following the Red Sox meltdown it does stand to reason that after 8 wildly successful summers that Francona was simply burned out.

When asked on Thursday if 2011 was his toughest season in Boston Francona replied,

"Only because it's now, there's not a whole lot here that isn't trying even in the best of, you know, because everything is so important to people here, and that's good. But because it's fresh and raw, it seems that way, but there have been a lot of trying moments here.”

In early September when the Wild Card lead was robust and dreams of a 3^rd World Series crown were still very much alive, Francona sensed trouble. After dispatching the Blue Jays 14-0 on September 6^th Francona held a semi-secret closed door meeting in Toronto to air out his concerns about the ballclub.

"I'm not sure if anybody knew, because there were some things I was worried about," he said. "I think we were spending too much energy on things that weren't putting our best foot forward toward winning. We spent a few minutes in the clubhouse that day, talking about that. There were some things that did concern me.”

An anonymous, veteran Red Sox player told the great Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston (formally of the Boston Globe) that the Red Sox had "zero" chemistry with too many "me-me-me" guys. Could this have been at the root of Francona’s decision to step away? Only time will tell.

This story will grow in the coming days as official announcements and posturing statements are made by both sides. In a time of uncertainty surrounding the Red Sox one thing is completely certain, when Terry Francona officially walks away he will leave as the most successful skipper the Old Towne Team has ever known, and whoever his replacement is will have incredibly big shoes to fill.