Thanks to
The Boston Herald (the lone newspaper in town not in the hip pocket of
John Henry) we learn that
Larry Lucchino will leave his post as President and CEO of the Red Sox at the end of this year. Lucchino's tenure has been a stormy and—at times—controversial one. He was widely perceived to be the
Darth Vader to
Theo Epstein's
Luke Skywalker—an edgy relationship that ultimately ended in Theo's flight to
The Windy City. But Lucchino also brought his keen baseball mind to the over-arching path of the franchise. And, on balance, you have to say his stewardship was a success.
Three World Championships since the NOG interloped their way to Beantown. Not bad. And—while we think they should have built a new replicate Fenway—their upgrades to the old girl have been superb. Most of that was Larry's doing. We will never know if Lucchnio pushed the 2006 trade that got us
Josh Beckett and
Mike Lowell (at the expense of
Hanley Ramirez)—against the wishes of a gorilla-suited Theo. But, how did that work out for us? Pretty darned good, I'd say. So, as Larry goes off to build yet another new stadium (unfortunately in
Providence not Boston), we should regard his tenure as a definite plus.
