“Larry Lucchino runs the Red Sox.” John Henry, 2011.
Once upon a time, Boston and its baseball fans were unhappy with Red Sox. It happened way back in 2011, when the team went 7-20 in the month of September. Boston missed the playoffs that season despite having a 9 ½-game lead for the wild card with a month to play – the worst mathematical collapse in baseball history.
That was followed by weeks of chaos. News of “Chicken and beer gate” broke, Terry Francona was fired/resigned and Theo Epstein would leave town (minus the gorilla suit) all in the span of a few weeks.
During all this, legend has it, principal owner John Henry was driving around Brighton and decided to refute charges Red Sox ownership was involved in a “smear campaign” against Francona. He stopped by the 98.5 The Sports Hub studios – uninvited and unannounced – and sat down for nearly 90 minutes live on the air with hosts Michael Felger and Tony Massarotti.
During the conversation, Henry dealt with a number of topics – including who was calling all the shots at 4 Yawkey Way. Henry’s quote about Lucchino remains a definitive part of Red Sox lore as they move into a new season and era.
John Tlumacki
