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So long, Grady

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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Page 64


Since the Sox are firing people, start with Ravirez and Martinez for their low class actions during the series. Grady did a better job than most Sox managers over the years who were given a longer time than he was. I always hated the Yankees and respected the SOx, but that line has been blurred. Overall I think the Sox lost some fan base due to the bad behavior of their "stars".

Mark, Atlanta


It is done...now get a new manager, but keep everybody else...except Pedro. 14 wins and his infantile behavior are not worth the trouble. Get Pettite and trade Pedro. Hargrove is not the answer, either.

Gerald, Towson, MD


the wrong guy left town, it should have been pedro, he wanted to be the yankee killer, he wanted all the credit for doing it alone, pedro is a baby, his feelings hurts easily, red sox fans are too stupid to recognize that, blame PEDRO not grady.

willy, bronx, ny


Grady supporters - remember this: On July 26th, playing the Yankees - and Nomar bunts - badly - and kills a potential rally. After the game, Grady states he had no idea what Nomar was doing. Now - a "player's manager" would have taken the heat off of Nomar and said something like "sometimes we try things that don't work". Instead, he threw Nomar right under the wheels of the bus. I didn't like Grady before then, but that sealed it. The one negative about the Sox making the playoffs, was the fact that Grady would most likely survive. But, of course, he's Grady and made such an obvious mistake that even my 10-year-old son was shocked to see Pedro start the 8th, after the grueling 7th. I had to reassure him that the first guy gets on and Pedro will be taken out. Unfortunately, we know the result. As for my son, he proudly wore his Red Sox cap to school the next day, no easy feat here in the heart of Yankee country!

Ed, New Paltz, NY


A lot of interesting comments here. It's a risky decision by the Sox management, but I think it's the right one. I was very offended by Grady's comments in the Globe last week. He pretty much dared the management to fire him. Nobody does that and gets away with it unless he is Joe Torre doing it to Steinbrenner. Grady never had confidence in his bullpen through the entire postseason, despite their showing night after night that they could get the job done. It should have cost him the ALDS and did cost him the ALCS. And he was thoroughly outmanaged by Joe Torre. He did nothing to shake up the lineup when the 3-6 hitters were doing nothing. You have to hand it to Joe Torre - he moved Giambi and he responded with two homers against Pedro, and he went with Rivera for three innings, which proved to be the best moves of the ALCS. Just once, I want to see a Red Sox manager make moves like that! Instead we get Grady refusing to pull Pedro, putting Embree in too late and ending up with him pitching to a righthanded pinch hitter (another great move by Torre), and not using Williamson at all in game 7. Does anyone else think Williamson gives up an 11th inning homer to Aaron Boone?? Joe Torre used all his bullets to win that game, which is what a good manager does. Grady didn't. If he had, and still lost, none of us would be so upset with him. As a previous message said, this team was put together to beat the Yankees. But it still needs a manager who can at least come to a draw with Torre. I think Grady's handling of Williamson through the entire season and postseason should be enough to get him fired. He HAD a closer, he just didn't know what to do with him.

Kay, Washington, DC


Sorry it had to happen to Grady Little, But what can you expect he was a MANager not a Robot who relied on statistics. Between managments theories, Bull Pen by committee and Bill James the Stats Guru Grady wasn't a fit. He would have been let go even if the Red Sox had Won the World Series. Grady realized he wasn't a Yes man. And so did management. A majority of the players were in support of him. Grady gets paid to coach the players and manage the game. The players get paid to play the Game and Execute. Players like Manny Rameriz and Pedro Martinez get paid incredible incomes to produce. Stats however don't really mean anything unless they are numbers that show production in the clutch. Grady Littles stats went up this year while Pedro and Manny's went down. STATS A FACT, and neither one in the end produced in the winning hit or pitch in the clutch. GO PATS.>>>>>>>>>>>>

Paul, Austin Texas


YOU ASK IF GRADY LITTLE SHOULD GO. MY ANSWER IS YES, A RESOUNDING YES. JOE TORRE SHOWED HIM HOW IT IS DONE IN THE FOURTH INNING, HE WENT TO THE TOP OF THE STEPS AND SIGNALLED FOR A NEW PITCHER, WALKED UP TO HIS ACE, ONE OF BASEBALL BEST PITCHERS AND PUT HIS HAND OUT FOR THE BASEBALL, NO QUESTIONS ASKED. HE IS THE BOSS, HE MAKES THE CALL, AND DID SO, RIGHTLY I MIGHT ADD. NOW WE COME TO THE EIGHTH, MARTINEZ TELLS THE MANAGER HE WANTS TO PITCH, AGAINST BETTER JUDGEMENT AND STATISTICS THAT SAID OTHERWISE HE (MARTINEZ) GETS HIS WISH. OUT HE GOES INTO THE TEETH OF BASEBALL'S MOST FORMIDABLE LINE-UP. HE HAS FACED THEM THREE TIMES BEFORE IN THIS GAME, THESE GUYS ARE AMONG THE BEST FASTBALL HITTERS IN THE GAME, THAT IS WHAT THEY DO, MARTINEZ DID NOT HAVE ANTYTHING LEFT TO GET THEM OUT WITH, NO OFF STRIDE STUFF, NO MAGIC, NO MAKING THEM WONDER WHAT HE WAS GOING TO DO NEXT. HE THOUGH 95MPH FASTBALLS WOULD DO THE TRICK. AT THIS JUNCTOR HE NEEDED 105MPH FAST BALLS TO GET THESE GUYS OUT. YOU HAVE TO KEEP THEM OFF BALANCE, PEDRO HAD NO IDEA HOW TO DO THAT AT THIS LATE JUNCTURE. HE GAST TANK WAS ALREADY ON EMPTY, LITTLE SHOULD HAVE KNOW THAT. UNFORTUNATELYFOR HIM, PEDRO AND ALL OF THE RED SOX FANS EVERYWHERE HE DID NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO, IT WAS CLEAR TO ALMOST EVERYONE ELSE - GO TO THE BULLPEN THEY HAVE PROVEN THAT THEY COULD DO IT. WELL, THEY NEVER GOT THE CHANCE, I WOULD RATHER SEEN THE RELIEVERS COME IN, SET SHELLED AND LOSE THE GAME, THATS BASEBALL. I DON'T THINK ANYONE WOULD HAVE FAULTED LITTLE IF HE PLAYED THAT PERCENTAGES THE WAY THEY ARE PRACTICED IN BASEBALL TODAY, YOU TAKE HYOUR BEST SHOT. LEAVING MARTINZ OUT THERE WAS NOT THE BEST OF OPTIONS. I WILL CLOSE WITH THE FOURTH INNING OF JOE TORRES, I WOULD SURPRISE ME IF HE WOULD HAVE LET PEDRO GO OUT FOR THE EIGHTH INNING, BUT I WILL GUARANTEE HE WOULD HAVE PULLED HIM AFTER THE JETER DOUBLE. IF MARTINEZ HAD BEEN PULLED IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN A DIFFERENT STORY. BUT HE WAS NOT AND SO WE GO ON, I DON'T THINK THERE ARE MANY MORE CHANCES LEFT FOR ME.

RJ, WEYMOUTH, MA


Hey, Grady won 95 games this year and he's fired? Are the Sox saying that there was no use discussing strategy with him to perhaps allow him to get a better feel for what they expected? Why is it that Theo has a sounding board of ownership but it's Grady who is left out to dry with no one for support? I think the decision he made in Game 7 stunk, however, we can all second guess until the cows come home. As New England sports fans, we're great at that. Even though he said publicly that he would have done the same thing again, I doubt he really would have and besides, whose to say we'll even get that close next year with the Mr. Perfect everyone thinks is going to manage next year?

Ron, Salisbury


A less obvious mistake by Grady Little was the use of Tim Wakefield. He had 2 short guys in the bullpen and Rivera had only one inning left in him. Wake could have been better used if game went 2-3 more innings and ends up unfairly being the partial fall guy

Jay, Falmouth


Jerry Remy should get consideration as the new Red Sox Manager - I have been very impressed with his analysis of games. I think he is popular with the players, but most of all most of his observations seem to correct prior to the execution of the play. I tend to like catchers and infielders because I think they understand pitching and the routine circumstances in baseball that calls for instinctive managerial decisions. I know Remy has no prev managerial experience but I would give him a chance to get on the list. Maybe I'm just nuts, but I used to believe that Hawk Harrelson would have made a great manager.

Phil, Abbot, Maine


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