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MOVE HAD BEEN EXPECTED BY MANY [Grady Little to be fired today]
espn ^ | 10/27/03 | staff

Posted on 10/27/2003 9:59:19 AM PST by Chancellor Palpatine

BOSTON -- The Boston Red Sox, still smarting from a bitter seven-game loss to the rival Yankees in the ALCS, will fire manager Grady Little on Monday afternoon, ESPN's Peter Gammons reports.

Gammons reports that the Red Sox will announce the firing at a 3 p.m. ET news conference at Fenway Park.

Monday's Boston Herald, citing a Red Sox source, reported that two candidates to succeed Little could be former Indians manager Charlie Manuel and former Red Sox second baseman Jerry Remy, a television analyst for NESN, a regional sports network partly owned by the Red Sox.

According to the report, others on the Red Sox list are Yankees third-base coach Willie Randolph, Yankees first-base coach Lee Mazzilli, Dodgers third-base coach Glenn Hoffman and former Phillies skipper Terry Francona, now the A's bench coach.

Little's dismissal has been hinted since the series ended. Although Boston's CBS affiliate, WBZ, reported Sunday that Little would be fired Monday, Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein told ESPN on Sunday night that the report was not true.

Epstein said the team had begun its review of Little and hoped to make a decision on the manager's future "as soon as possible," but said that "no decision" had been made on whether to pick up Little's contract option for next season.

On Friday, a Red Sox official told the Herald that he would be "real surprised" if Little survived this offseason. Multiple team sources told the paper that all signs pointed to Little's option, which expires Friday, not being picked up.

"He's not (team president) Larry (Lucchino)'s guy -- if he were Larry's guy, (Lucchino) would have defended him by now," a source close to Little told the Boston Globe.

Earlier last week, Little said he was ready for the worst.

"I'm prepared for the likelihood," Little told the Globe. "I am not sure that I want to manage that team. That's how I felt when I drove out of town."

Little has been criticized for his decision to stick with tiring ace Pedro Martinez in the eighth inning of Game 7 against the Yankees. Martinez failed to hold a 5-2 lead, and New York won in the 11th inning on Aaron Boone's homer off knuckleballer Tim Wakefield.

The Red Sox have insisted that Little's future will not be determined by the one decision, but according to the Herald, the team was concerned about Little's lack of reliance on stats.

Many key Red Sox players, including Todd Walker and Manny Ramirez, publicly expressed support for Little's return.

In Little's two years as Red Sox manager, Boston was 93-69 and 95-67, and the Sox qualified for the playoffs this season for the first time since 1999. Little became the Red Sox' 43rd manager on March 11, 2002, after Joe Kerrigan was fired.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Massachusetts
KEYWORDS: gradylittle; pedroisstillapunk; redsox; thiswonthelp; yankeessuck
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To: EDINVA
You have a point - announce the replacement, and just let the implication hang. Everybody is much happier that way.
21 posted on 10/27/2003 10:21:15 AM PST by Chancellor Palpatine
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To: Chancellor Palpatine
So if they announce it beforehand like this, why does Grady even need to bother showing up?
22 posted on 10/27/2003 10:26:00 AM PST by Prodigal Son
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To: Prodigal Son
He ought to show up, stinking drunk, with a bottle of whiskey in one hand and an arm around a cheap blond he picked up in a bar. As they're making their announcement, he should go into a profanity laced tirade against the ownership for being feckless.

Heheh- I'd pay to see that.

23 posted on 10/27/2003 10:28:33 AM PST by Chancellor Palpatine
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To: VeniVidiVici
They should hire Zimmer!

Err, that would be "re-hire"...

Red Sox: 1976-1980, total record 411-304 (.575)

Exceptional choice, though. I sure would add a new angle to the Pedro-is-a-Punk Curse! ;^)

24 posted on 10/27/2003 10:30:03 AM PST by Teacher317
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To: StatesEnemy
With only 2 front line starters (Burket and Wakefield are not that stable), a POS bullpen and no team speed they managed to win the wild card and win a tough series against Oakland. Yes, there were some career years but Nomar slumped for almost two months and Manny continued to play like the selfish pr!ck that he is.

There is far too much emphasis on stats today. The Marlins won the series based in part on some of the gut calls made by their manager. Back in 2001 the Diamondbacks's manager, Brenley (sic?) made some curious decisions that worked out in his team's favor.

Little did a good job with what he had to work with. He went with his money pitcher and Pedro failed. Recall that Clemens came out in game 6 of the 86 series vs the Mets and after the Sox lost that game he took heat forever as a guy without the stones to finish a game.

Sometimes the decisions go against you. That's baseball. And I'll take baseball over Moneyball any day.

25 posted on 10/27/2003 10:32:24 AM PST by misterrob
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To: Chancellor Palpatine

Little Out As Red Sox Manager

Handful Of Candidates Named As Possible Replacements

 

POSTED: 1:04 p.m. EST October 27, 2003
UPDATED: 1:16 p.m. EST October 27, 2003

 

Grady Little is apparently out as manager of the Boston Red Sox. The team has called a news conference Monday when it's expected they will announce a decision not to exercise the option on Little's contract for 2004.

 

 SURVEY
Do You Agree With The Red Sox's Decision?
Yes
No
I Don't Know

  Despite leading the Red Sox to their first playoff appearance since 1999, Little has come under fire for his decision to leave in starting pitcher Pedro Martinez in the eighth inning of Game 7 of the American League Championship Series. The Yankees scored three times in that inning to tie the game and won 6-5 in 11 innings on Aaron Boone's home run off Tim Wakefield.

 The Boston Herald reported Monday that former Cleveland Indians manager Charlie Manuel, who is currently a roving hitting instructor for the Phillies, is a candidate to replace Little. Little had been the Indians' bench coach for two seasons under Manuel before getting the Red Sox job.

  Another name being mentioned to replace Little is former Red Sox second baseman Jerry Remy. He currently works as a television analyst for NESN, which carries Red Sox games. Others believed to be in the running are Dodgers third base coach Glenn Hoffman, former Phillies manager and current A's bench coach Terry Francona, Yankees third base coach Willie Randolph and Yankees first base coach Lee Mazzilli.

  Little, 53, led the Red Sox to second-place finishes in the AL East in each of his two years with the team, both times behind their nemesis, the New York Yankees.

  In 2002, Boston finished 93-69 but was 10.5 games out of first place. This season the Red Sox went 95-67 and settled for the AL wild card.

  Boston rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat Oakland in the Division Series but then fell apart in Game 7 to the Yankees. That kept intact Boston's curse of not winning the World Series since 1918. The team was also denied its first World Series appearance since 1986.

  Little's winning percentage of .580 was the best by any full-time Boston manager since Steve O'Neill's .602 (150-99) in 1950-51.


26 posted on 10/27/2003 11:05:00 AM PST by b4its2late (I just want revenge, is that so awful?)
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To: RabidBartender
No....please hire Bobby Valentine, so I can start watching Baseball Tonight on ESPN again. He is one of the most annoying analysts they've had and I refuse to watch the show.

I agree re: Valentine (although I still watch the show).

Actually, having watched Baseball Tonight during the playoffs, it sounds like Bobby V. is seriously considering going back to Japan to manage having received a serious offer.

27 posted on 10/27/2003 11:31:45 AM PST by gdani
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To: Chancellor Palpatine
My greatest hope is that the Remdog takes the job.
28 posted on 10/27/2003 11:34:46 AM PST by Hemingway's Ghost
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To: Chancellor Palpatine
Grady...


29 posted on 10/27/2003 11:53:35 AM PST by ambrose
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To: RabidBartender
On the worst manager of all time: Bob Valentine. His eye job is so darling. Hey Bobbie, I got a great idea. Pitch Al Leiter for 9 innings of shutout World Series ball and then trot him back out there for the 10th. That's genius.

On Grady Little. He seems like he handled the pressure of playing the yankees very well. He shouldn't have been booted. It'll turn out about the same as the 49'ers giving Steve M. the boot. Nothing better out there worth trading.
30 posted on 10/27/2003 11:55:32 AM PST by kinghorse
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To: Huck
Winnie. Gallops away.
31 posted on 10/27/2003 11:57:14 AM PST by kinghorse
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To: ambrose
"I feel you will have to deal with this matter in the harshest possible way, Mr. Torrance"
32 posted on 10/27/2003 12:02:49 PM PST by StatesEnemy
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