After two years, 188 regular season wins, and a trip to the American League Championship Series, the Red Sox have parted ways with Grady Little. Are the Sox making the right move? Who should get his job?

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Larry Lucchino has heard the way the wind blows: Let it not be said that he too does not also blow.

Mayor, Springfield

Being a players coach isn't always the best way to be. Sure the players like him, but if they win it all with another manager I am sure they will learn to like that person, too. You should worry when all the players like their coach, they may become less competitive and lack the fear that is needed to be successful.

Mike, Philadelphia, PA

Please no Fregosi! He's the same guy that kept going to Mitch Williams in the World Series against Toronto, when Williams was spent, and couldn't get anyone out, and Roger Mason was doing great. Fregosi's battlecry was "we're going to go with what got us here." It was a pigheaded and foolish strategy which he continued to defend, and if Little's worth dumping, Fregosi is Exhibit A of whom we should NOT be going after. In addition to a clubhouse leader, we need someone who has a head on his shoulders and won't just stick to stupid philosophies or spent superstars out of sheer commitment. Joe Torre can't be the only one.

Jake, Trieste, Italy

The Red Sox made the same mistake you did Grady - they kept YOU in the game too long! Go back to the minors or quit and become a comedian - the press always loved your jokes.

Greg, Boston

Gradt got a punch of pampered millionaires to play hard for two years in a row. That's no easy feat. He deserved another year.

John, Dedham

Grady Litlte managed a team which won a lot of games over the past two seasons, I believe he was very responsible for the hustle and competitive fire of this years club I believe the players truly wanted to play for him and if the hitters hadn;t gone into a post seaon swoon, Nomar and Mueller most noteably, then the situation regarding Pedro in game 7 would have been moot, true he was struggling but we got beat on a bleeder Considering who else is out there and knowing that the Yankees will re-tool quickly I believe we (Red Sox nation) are adotping many of the unfavorbable traits of the evil empire

bob, norton

I agree completely with Kris from Agawam. If I had a penny for every time I screamed "fire that moron!!" during this regular season--and last for that matter--I would not have to be at work today. Grady Little is a nice guy, and he created a pleasant clubhouse atmosphere for this veteran team. But I firmly believe that having "team harmony" does not necessarily equal victories, and having "team disharmony" does not necessarily equal defeats. Think of the 1970's A's and Yankees--Five World Championships between them, and there wasn't one happy member of either clubhouse. The A's even FOUGHT each other in the lockerroom before World Series games for God's sake! So the "he kept a peaceful clubhouse" argument rings hollow with me. The bottom line is that he is a very, very, very, very, VERY poor game manager. His unbelievably quirky and bizarre moves did in fact cost this team at least 6 victories during the regular season, cost them Game 1 of the Division Series (Adrian Brown vs. Chad Bradford???), almost cost them Games 4 and 5 of the ALDS, hurt their chances to win Game 2 of the ALCS (not having Kapler bunt; not playing Walker and Nixon against Pettitte); and cost them the crucial Game 7. He is a POOR field manager who was simply overmatched when the games became important. What's with this argument that he won 93 and 95 games the past two seasons? Hello people!! He had a payroll of well over $100 million each season!!! What did you expect....75 wins per year with that kind of high-priced talent around?? A chimp with sunglasses on could have won 90 games with this team the past two seasons. As for the players on the team not being happy with this move....don't think for one minute that the 2004 Red Sox will resemble the 2003 version all that closely. There are a lot of big decisions to be made on a lot of players this off season. Also, I don't believe that Theo and Co. will allow their marquee guys to leave as free agents in 2005 and get nothing in return, so look for some possibly high-profile trades this winter (the shortstop will be shopped--you heard it here first). So, this clubhouse will look different next year, and VERY different in 2005. The loss of Grady's influence in the clubhouse will be minimized by this fact. If I had a vote, I would go for Jim Fregosi as Grady's replacement. A veteran guy, a solid strategist, and someone who did a pretty good job handling a volatile Phillies clubhouse on the way to the 1993 World Series.

TC, Malden

Well I am sad to be a Red Sox fan today. Hard to be proud of team that rewards a manager that won 93 and 95+ games by firing him. It is about heart...and soul...but Theo and the trio missed that. Good luck Grady..and thank you for the best season the Sox have ever had.

Julie, bedford

The series with the Yankees was only one example of why Grady had to go. He was the WORST game manager in baseball -absolutely clueless most of the time - and that is why management held back on giving him the endorsement that many wanted even when the team did so well in the playoffs. To me the quintessential example of what a brain-dead manager Grady was is the game against the Phillies in mid-summer when the Sox had rallied and carried a lead into the bottom of the ninth, with Jim Thome coming up and Marlon Byrd on deck, two out. Thome needs no explanation. Byrd at the time was in a horrendous slump, batting under .200 for the season, with either 0 or 1 HR (I can't remember which). No other manager in baseball (at any level from T-ball on up) would even think about pitching to Thome in this spot. Clueless Grady, does, and the game is tied up in one swing. Bad enough? Later in the same game, in extra innings, a similar situation arises, and AGAIN Grady elects not to pitch around the one player who could hurt him, and the game was over in another swing. We're not talking about proactive decisions, such as sending a runner to keep him out of a double play, or bunting a runner over, or positioning a fielder near the line to prevent a double in a late inning, or substituting for a weak fielder. We're talking about a NO-BRAINER . . . the kind of decision that , when a manager fails to make it, you have to wonder if he is watching the game at all. With Grady, you never knew if he was or not. I have been in favor of letting him go since July. As far as a replacement, this team has demonstrated that it plays for a players' manager, and the Sox management should be sure that whoever they hire has the temperament to maintain as much of this season's chemistry as possible. One name I haven't heard mentioned is Cito Gaston, who only managed the Blue Jays to two pennants in two years. Why hasn't he ever had another chance since he lost that job? I don't know if he is a players' manager, but if he is, he should be considered.

Prince, New York

The players backing is no small thing and keeping big paid egos together is a talent that outweighs number crunching! Of course Pedro was an error, but even the bull pen's disasters don't warrant firing. The Steinbrenner mystique is affecting our Sox too much! Maybe Don Zimmer will manage!!!

Dave, Fayetteville NY