Comments on: FranconShank!

By: Lyndsay

Lyndsay — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 05:01:12 +0000

I'm betting that no one else in the Boston sportswriting market was willing to co-author such an ownership smear piece. Shaughnessy, on the other hand, has been pissing off the team, Carl Everett, and fans for years and for some reason gets a free pass from the Globe to make outlandish, obviously agenda and pageview-driven and just plain stupid claims in his columns. Globe sportswriting has lost all credibility IMO.
What seemed kind of obvious to me about reading the excerpts about "sexiness" was first, how can Francona, a veteran manager who has been around and worked with more than a few ownership groups, not realize that the Red Sox are first and foremost a revenue-driven business?? Does he think the readership is naive enough to buy his "the only reason to do this is for the love of the game!" war-cry? Do we really think Pedroia would hop around on a broken foot out there if he were being paid in peanuts? The bottom line is that every player is an asset on a spreadsheet, and it's always been that way. The only person who actually prefers the days of last-place finishes with "stars" like Canseco and Clemens while sitting in the worst seats in baseball and being laughed at by New Yorkers consistently is my father, but he also wishes Fenway franks were still 15 cents. The marketing and promotion of this team completely transformed it from a laughingstock to a yearly contender that I was actually PROUD for once to be a fan of, and completely energized the fanbase.
Second, if what they were after was "SEXY SEXY SEXY"….they would have signed Jacoby Ellsbury to a long bloated contract years ago. He gets the ladies in the seats easily (and me, admittedly), and his shirt is one of the biggest selling on the team. I'm pretty sure ownership's research would have shown that Ellsbury sells, especially to women, the way that Johnny Damon did, and they would have made damn sure to keep their hot commodity for a good long time, especially since his 2011 runner-up MVP season. But that didn't happen. (They also would have gone after Ethier for that matter).
Third, and I say this as someone who has only read the excerpts and not the book…if he's going to argue that marketability and revenue drives the decisions of the team (like it does ANY OTHER SMART BUSINESS), he should make a case for why Dice-K got such a long leash here in Boston. It should be obvious to anyone who follows the team that the guy frustrated the hell out of Francona. They made a huge investment in him and expected a huge return, but not only from his production – most definitely they endured and indulged him to get a good foothold in the Japanese market, and to market Red Sox products overseas. Does Shank mention Dice-K in the book?

By: Gerry

Gerry — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 19:51:55 +0000

Sadly accurate view of anything CHB writes. Fact is he turns a nice phrase, well enough to grab readers' interests even as he drags them inexorably into his odiferous subterranean world. Result? He (to be fair, others like the talking heads) spawn the angry, hate-filled blogger and phone caller, the vocal minority who so dominate comments sections and talk shows. This book is an unfortumate part of a vicious and escalating cycle. Let's hope Ben and crew can stay the course and build the next great Sox team. That isn't marketing, it's a strategy that even haters can buy into.

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 14:44:13 +0000

Tito is a smart guy and sadly, he choose the perfect guy to write this book. He knew how it would be slanted, knew how the tough parts of his time here would be expanded and magnified, and choose to go along with it anyway. He'll make some money off of it, but its hard not to be a little disappointed in him and the whole scenario. The excerpt you didn't include in this article is where he gets fired. And that part i can very much see being the way the book says. Tito is still the greatest sox manager of all time i just wished the dirty laundry would get washed already.

By: Multi-Vitamin For Her Overview

Multi-Vitamin For Her Overview — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 12:49:58 +0000

[...] = 'none'; document.getElementById('singlemouse').style.display = ''; } FranconShank! function xViewState() { var a=0,m,v,t,z,x=new [...]

By: Why a State of Mushin (No Mind) is Necessary to Self Defense | Maine Martial Arts

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 12:05:30 +0000

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