by Mark Lawrence, Down-Under Editor
Sydney, Australia—Nov. 8, 2011. The somewhat surprising news that Mike Maddux has retrieved his baseball cap from the ring regarding the 2012 manager role got me cogitating - a bad habit I know, but once I start I can't stop. The idea foremost in what passes for my mind these days is that the position of Red Sox Manager could be seen by those in the know as probably the toughest, most thankless and - as we edge closer to the 2012 season - the least desirable role in all of baseball. The positives of the role - excellent salary package, free parking right there at the Park, and I'm guessing a pretty good dental plan - are nowadays drastically outweighed by all these suddenly perceived negatives. And fellow citizens, it could be argued that these negative aspects are largely a product of the good old Boston Media Pack. Maddux may have thought he'd wind up wrangling with KFC delivery boys and that roly poly Budweiser truck driver from TV, rather than getting on with the business of baseball - and after all the hype of recent weeks, who could blame him? He must've compared the relative tranquility of Arlington to the gibbering chaos of Yawkey Way and thought Nuh-uh, No Way. So where is Mikey going to attend an actual interview? 1060 West Addison, that's where - and it looks to me like Maddux would far prefer a managerial role in a town where not only the fans are diehard but the local media - unbelievably - seems to give the club a fair and balanced shake most of the time.
I'm predicting that the Red Sox won't get the manager they really want - whoever that guy may be - and wind up having to settle for a lesser candidate, some guy who might not yet be quite seasoned enough or tough enough to meet the Everest-like expectations of the city of Boston, let along the NOG. And that poor sap will inevitably fail. Which is part of the Ouroborus-like conundrum facing the franchise right now - and here's how it works: No one really wants the gig because it's suddenly way too hard - so the new appointee will likely be someone less than qualified - which means he'll probably fail - which in turn will prompt an early dismissal, which will in turn convince others that Boston is no place to manage if you want to retain your credibility in the Major Leagues - phew! Got all that? Good. Now think hard about how this ridiculous situation actually developed, post September. How did this poisonous perception of Boston come about? Ask the various scribes and rabble-rousers of the Media Pack - it's the Boston media more than anything else that has whipped up this chicken and beer brouhaha into something that stands a pretty fair chance of damaging the Club's reputation for years to come - and as citizens of the Hub, those writers ought to be ashamed of themselves.
And as I sit here, enjoying a little fried chicken and beer myself, I wonder if we'll ever truly recover from all this unnecessary nonsense - as fans, we'll need to grasp the nettle next year and tough it out, no matter what happens. We'll need to support the team regardless of the win-loss numbers and we will especially need to support the new skipper - remember, on the toughness scale right now, the role of Red Sox Manager is probably one or two short rungs below that of President. And I'm not talking Il Duce, either. So get ready to suck it up in 2012, because the recovery is likely going to take a while.