Owners hurl opening pitch
AS ANOTHER Opening Day draws near, Red Sox fans can be certain that someone on the roster knows how to throw heat: the owners.
Sox management dealt pitcher Bronson Arroyo to the Cincinnati Reds for slugging outfielder Wily Mo Pena. Now the Sox are talking about ending the team's contractual relationship with sports station WEEI.
That is one nasty pitch.
Earlier this month, The Boston Globe reported that the Sox are negotiating with the owner of WBOS to take an ownership stake in the station and move its radio broadcast rights there. Such a switch would clearly hurt WEEI, Boston's dominant sports station, which broadcasts Sox games and more.
WEEI's trademark personality is the angry male host, who rails and rants about the sports controversy of the day. The genre was on full and entertaining display after Theo Epstein temporarily left his job as Sox GM in a huff and a gorilla suit. The airwaves curdled with contempt hurled by the station's talk show crew. It was fun to listen to, as long as you weren't a Globe sports writer or Sox CEO Larry Lucchino.
Bad blood between the Globe and WEEI dates back to 2001, when Globe sportswriters were banned from the ''Dennis & Callahan" show, because then-editor Matthew V. Storin did not like the tone of the commentary. The station retaliated by banning all Globe staffers from its airwaves. Now, the Globe is denigrated as the Sox house organ because its owner, the
On WEEI, Lucchino was blamed for Epstein's decision to flee, especially by Glenn Ordway, WEEI's afternoon personality. Last December, at a party at the Boston Harbor Hotel, Lucchino homed in on Ordway in a way that one guest describes as ''embarrassing." The next day, the Boston Herald's Inside Track reported that Lucchino and Ordway ''went at it" verbally at the party.
The guests of honor were Boston Magazine executive vice president Dan Scully and his fiancee Julie Kahn, a top executive at
The Sox parent organization already owns a controlling interest in NESN, an all-sports TV network. If the Sox become part owners of a radio station such as WBOS, they have another media venue where they control content and style. The boys at WEEI can still bark, but Lucchino can ignore them -- or bite back at will from his own friendly airwaves.
Tempting as that sounds, it is not the main reason the Sox are contemplating a deal with WBOS. Everything they do revolves around cash. They always want more of it. They are expanding Fenway to increase ticket revenue. On Beacon Hill, they are still lobbying for $55 million in public money to improve infrastructure around Fenway and make it more attractive for development proposals, including their own.
As they negotiate, Sox ownership is trying to squeeze more money from WEEI -- ballpark estimates range from $10 million to $14 million. How does that guaranteed revenue stack up against the hassles and market risk of radio station ownership? The Sox will have to weigh it all. Right now, WEEI is one-stop shopping for Sox fans, who enjoy blanket coverage of on-field play and off-field antics, delivered with testosterone-laden attitude.
The Sox are basically introducing a new team for the 2006 season. The team that finally won a World Series championship for long-deprived fans no longer exists.
Just a few players from Johnny Damon's beloved band of idiots remain -- and fan-favorite Damon is not one of them. The new season looms, with new fan expectations.
On the positive side, Sox pitching looks promising and stronger than the New York Yankees'. Curt Schilling seems to be back in pre-injury form. Jonathan Papelbon could be the next Schilling. Josh Beckett is already a rising star. Tim Wakefield is a dependable veteran. And David Wells could yet win a dozen or more games if his head is in the right place.
Fans can only hope the team will throw as hard as its owners.
Joan Vennochi's e-mail address is vennochi@globe.com. 
