boston.com Sports your connection to The Boston Globe

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?

Response pages:  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  21  22  23  24  25  26  27  28  29  30  31  32  33  34  35  36  37  38  39  40  41  42  43  44  45  46  47  48  49  50  51  52  53  54  55  56  57  58  59  60  61  62  63  64  65  66  67  68  69  70  71  

Page 66


Let's face it, Grady reached his moment of truth in Game 7 of the ALCS and he choked. Who needs a guy who can't handle big game pressure and who's just going to help the team fall short of the World Series again? Guys like that are a dime a dozen, we've had them since 1918. And spare me the 90-plus wins garbage, any manager of a team with a $104 million payroll that plays the Devil Rays 19 times a year and DOESN'T win 90 should be fired on principle.

Ray, Newton


The question is not whether the Red Sox are making the right move. The weeklong aftermath of "The Loss" to New York set the table for the inevitable. You can debate all night long whether Pedro should have been pulled, but the facts are some people see it as a bad non-move by Grady, while others see it as the right decision. Even the players are split on their opinion. We could have called it , "A Nation Divided". No, Grady can't come back. Unfortuantey, he is a nice guy, and will be missed. However, with Management, the players, and the almighty fans being split on should he stay or not, there is but one decision. Somebody new has to enter the picture, pick up the pieces, and pretend they have no opinion about wheter Grady got the shaft. Perhaps the incident was the excuse that Managment needed to move forward with the decision that they had already made two months ago, perhaps not. I always liked Jim Fregosi, maybe we will see him in the Spring.

Tom , Chesapeake, VA


This is another in a long line of Red Sox disgraces. The team has allegedly sited differences in the philosophy for the future of the team. This "new" philosophy must not include winning, because that's what Grady Little's Red Sox have done. The fans were supposed to be angry after. They were supposed to call for his job. That's the nature of the beast. But management is supposed to have a cooler head and see the bigger picture. Maybe Epstein isn't mature enough for the job after all. Firing a popular manager who wins will put a damper on the players and throw next year into a dark cloud of uncertainty. If there's one thing we do well in Boston it's ruin things. Here we go again. Good job Theo. Maybe we'll be a .500 team next year.

Barry, Barstow, CA


Hello!! The answer is Cito Gaston, master of the American League East. Why is he always overlooked? He knows pitching, he's a stat man and he has two championship's under his belt.

Ryan, Los Angeles


I like the management's decision to remove a guy that proved time and time again he wasn't suited for such a high profile city as Boston. The players loved him, that's great. Did they win the World Series for him? Of course they tried, but no, they did not. They were unable to, because Little did not have the best man on the mound come crunchtime in the Bronx. Over the couse of the season there were countless headaches about the bullpen, but much of the blame has to go to a manager that doesn't know who he should go to in a certain situation. I like the idea of Jerry Remy as a replacement, and I'm sick of the talk revolving around Bobby Valentine. Just because he's made himself popular on Baseball Tonight doesn't make him a baseball god. There were as many complaints of him in New York as there were praises. The only other guy I see is Jimmy Leyland, who's proved he can lead a team all the way. He's got a strong presence in the dugout, he knows how to handle players, and Jack McKeon's already proved that old guys can still manage. Whoever gets the job, let's hope Red Sox nation supports the decision. The last thing this team needs is a fan base that's living in the past.

Pete, Surry, ME


Pitino was right and he is my hero for speaking the truth. The negativity in Boston really does "suck".

Rob, Hartford, CT


Grady could no longer manage in Boston and had to go. Image the reaction when he had to go to the mound next year. His late game moves throughout the season left a lot to be desired and his game 7 non-moves were in

jim, stale.excusabfford va


I have to admit that after that game 7 I was after Grady's scalp. But on further reflection, I think this a bad decision. There was much Little did right keeping this team together and competitive at a high level for two years. Unfortunately, the team is now owned by statistics wonks. Maybe they should hire a computer as manager. As I recall Torre went with his money closer against Arizona and lost. This was not as bad as '86. THAT was bad.

Rob, Milton


I heard Charlie Moss is still looking for work. He was are best trainer ever.

bubba, Winter Haven, Fla


shortsighted stupidity. nobody will want this job, nor should they. the red sox will wind up with scraps, free agents will flee fenway in droves, and theo will be fired by 2005. only then will dan shaughnessy and bill simmons be happy men.

casey, boston


Response pages:  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  21  22  23  24  25  26  27  28  29  30  31  32  33  34  35  36  37  38  39  40  41  42  43  44  45  46  47  48  49  50  51  52  53  54  55  56  57  58  59  60  61  62  63  64  65  66  67  68  69  70  71