I
n June  2010 t h e later. “When Tom started talking
Red Sox were
slumping, and sev-
eral veteran players
were complaining—­
privately and to
the media—about
playing time or the
commitment of
some teammates to
exclusive returning from inju-
ry. In the middle of
Too Big to 
the turmoil the team’s owners
called for a meeting with their
manager. It was scheduled for
noon on the day of a weeknight
Succeed
game at Fenway Park. General
manager Theo Epstein came to
get Terry Francona to take him
upstairs to meet with principal
owner John Henry, chairman
Tom Werner and president and
Where did the end begin for the CEO Larry Lucchino. Francona
had been at the park for about an
Red Sox? Long before their historic hour and was already in uniform.
2011 collapse, the seeds were planted “Because I was in uniform, I was
probably in a little more of an ag-
by a front office that simultaneously gressive mood,” he remembered.
grew inattentive toward baseball He and the G.M. took the
but obsessed with image (More sexy elevator to the third level of
Fenway and walked to Henry’s
players like Dustin Pedroia?!) in-game suite. Werner and Luc-
chino were waiting when Ep-
By Terry Francona and stein and Francona arrived, but
Dan Shaughnessy Henry was not there yet. The
owner was invariably late for
Ph o t o g r a p h b y Stan Grossfeld/ The Boston Globe/Getty Images meetings, a habit that annoyed
the always-prompt manager.
I’ve got stuff to do too, Fran-
cona thought to himself while
the executives made small talk.
Finally Henry arrived. Sand-
wiches were served. And one by
one, the bosses told Francona
what was wrong with the Red
Sox. Henry talked about David
Ortiz being left in to hit against
lefthanded pitching. Lucchino,
as always, found fault in multi-
ple places. Werner talked about
slumping television ratings and
whined, “We need to start win-
Excerpted from the forthcoming book ning in more exciting fashion.”
­ rancona: The Red Sox Years by Terry
F That did it. Francona started
Francona and Dan Shaughnessy, to be published to get up out of his chair, but Ep-
by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on Jan. 22, 2013. stein grabbed his knee. “A good
Copyright © 2013. Reprinted by permission. move by Theo,” Francona said
50  |  S p o r t s I l l u s t r at e D  |  ja n ua ry 2 1, 2013
about ratings, Theo knew I was
getting ready to flare.
“They all gave me their ver-
sions of how things should go.
When they were done, I said,
‘Guys, I just listened to three
different opinions. All I can tell
you is that the best thing I can
do is be consistent down there.’ ”
Werner had been a wildly suc-
cessful TV producer and execu-
tive, and he owned two World
Series rings with the Red Sox, but
his contributions to the success
of the ball club were difficult to
measure. This much, though, was
certain: Werner was in charge
of NESN. The Red Sox–owned
television network’s ratings
drove the team’s revenue, and
they were free-falling in 2010.
According to Street & Smith’s
SportsBusiness Journal, the Sox
plummeted from first to fifth in
the majors in local ratings from
2009 to ’10. NESN’s Red Sox rat-
ings dropped 36% in that period.
The Red Sox were also losing
their drawing power nationally.
According to NESN’s internal
data, Boston’s appearances on
Fox and ESPN were down 32%
and 33%, respectively, from 2009
to ’10. Managing the Red Sox was
never independent of television
ratings. “One thing the players
were always asking for was get-
away day games,” said Francona.
“The owners would never go for
it. They couldn’t have more day
games because the ratings were
already suffering, and that would
have hurt worse.”
on july 21, while the team
was on the West Coast, NESN
officials met at Fenway with
Werner, Lucchino and Epstein
for an emergency “Viewership/
Team Interest Discussion.” Pri-
the shadows know
By 2010, Epstein (near right)
and Francona (far right) were
chafing under the need to keep
the Red Sox humming as an
entertainment vehicle.
m o n t h 00, 2000  |  S p o r t s I l l u s t r at e D  |  51
 Follow @SInow
as good as it got
Twice-crowned Francona (middle,
in red, during the 2007 ALCS)
seemed to be secure, but insiders
say that Henry (far right) wasn’t
enamored with the manager.
vately, the young G.M. with two
World Series championships on
his résumé was chafing at hav-
ing to sit through a meeting that
addressed “indicators of declin-
ing team popularity” and “pos-
sible factors to reduced interest.”
The TV executives had agreed
to hire a market research and
consulting firm. Epstein said the
decision to hire the consultants
“was evidence to me of
In 2010, with the team’s TV ratings falling,
the inherent tension be-
tween building a base-
ball operation the way
I thought was best and
the realities of being in
a big market . . . which
had gotten bigger than
any of us could handle.”
“ T he o w a s g o o d
about shielding me from that,”
said Francona. “I don’t think
he liked that s--- about rat-
ings at all.”
Back in the dugout there was
no saving the 2010 Red Sox:
From July 4 on, they were a
sub-.500 team. They finished
89–73, in third place in the
American League East and out
of the playoffs for the first time in
four years. There were also signs
that Henry was no longer im-
mersed in his baseball team. The
owner and his Fenway Sports
Group were preparing to buy
the Liverpool Football Club for
$480 million. (The group had
paid $700 million for its base-
ball team in 2002.) Henry and
Werner would spend much of
the next two years flying across
the Atlantic to tend to matters
in the English Premier League.
Before the season finale at
Fenway, Werner passed Fran-
cona on the field and grumbled,
“What a s----- season.”
“That bothered me,” said the
manager, whose lineup had been
S p o r t s I l l u s t r at e D  |  ja n ua ry 2 1, 2013
one owner complained, “We need to
start winning in more exciting fashion.”
depleted by injuries to such key
players as Jacoby Ellsbury, Vic-
tor Martinez, Dustin Pedroia
and Kevin Youkilis. “We ground
out 89 wins. I remember think-
ing, F---, if this was s-----, I don’t
want to be around here when it
really is s-----.”
On Nov. 2, a group gathered
at Fenway to review results of
that $100,000 marketing re-
search project the Sox had com-
missioned in July. With Werner
participating on speakerphone,
Lucchino met with the bosses
of NESN. Epstein, who’d been
reluctant to participate in the
study, attended as well.
The document distributed at
the meeting listed several factors
in the public’s falling interest
in the team. Chief among them
was the “no-name” lineup the
team was forced to use in 2010
because of injuries and the lack
of major trades or signings the
winter before. In a section on
male-female demographics the
report stated, “[W]omen are def-
initely more drawn to the ‘soap
opera’ and ‘reality-TV’ aspects of
the game. . . . They are interested
in good-looking stars and sex
symbols (Pedroia).”
There was no ambiguity:
NESN’s memo was telling Ep-
stein and his baseball operations
staff what was needed to reverse
the costly downward trend in
Red Sox television ratings: star
power. The G.M. was insulted,
amused (Pedroia, sexy?) and
angry. “They told us we didn’t
have any marketable players,
that we needed some sizzle,” he
recalled. “We need some sexy
guys. Talk about the tail wagging
the dog. This is like an absurdist
comedy. We’d become too big. It
was the farthest thing removed
from what we set out to be.”
I
n direct response to the
pressure from his bosses
and the sagging ratings,
Epstein went to work
to build a sexier team
for 2011. Over the winter, in
­rapid-fire succession, he traded
for (and then signed to a seven-
exclusive: terry francona
Francona’s contract. It just a lot of frustration with a lot
was assumed he would of things. Without the voices of
be back in 2012 and the coaches and veteran players,
beyond. Even though I was doing a lot more of that
Sox i n sider s of ten work, and the players were like,
heard Henry grum- ‘F---, man, where is this coming
bling about his man- from?’ It catches up with you.”
ager during Fenway On Sept. 6 the Sox demol-
games, a sixth playoff ished the Blue Jays 14–0. Still,
appearance in eight Francona was concerned about
ye a r s wou ld m a ke the clubhouse atmosphere, and
Francona a lock to he met with catcher Jason Va-
return. Things were ritek, the team’s captain, early
simply going too well. the next day. “He told me he
T
was seeing the same things I
names and faces he 2011 Red Sox was seeing,” said the manager.
A shortage of hardware after 2007
lost 20 of their final After that lengthy talk with
drove Henry, Werner and Lucchino
(top, from left) to the $296 million 27 games, becom- his captain, Francona decided
trophy signings of Gonzalez (left) ing the first team to call a team meeting. It was
and Crawford (below).
in baseball history not a success. “You guys might
to fail to make the playoffs think it’s weird having a meet-
in Afghanistan. News reports
f rom t he wa r zone only
af ter holding a nine-game
lead in September. But even
ing after a 14–0 win,” Francona
said at the start. “But I’m seeing
made the manager worry. “I
thought about it all the time,”
before their starting pitching
collapsed, there were signs of
things that are bothering me. I
see us worrying about too much
he admitted. “I tried to stay trouble. The Sox missed some s--- that doesn’t mean any-
away from the news, but it’s veteran coaches who had com- thing. We need to stop bitch-
year contract extension) Padres always there.” manded their attention. The ing about scoring decisions,
first baseman Adrian Gonzalez For the first time in his ca- team had a lot of aging players contracts, personal goals, bus
and signed free-agent outfielder reer Francona kept his cell- in the final year of their con- times, getaway days, the media,
Carl Crawford. Combined price phone in the dugout runway tracts. It had players placing every­thing. Remember what we
tag: $296 million. during games. He’d sometimes personal rewards above team are here for.”
Francona was entering the check it between innings. “I success. On the bench Fran- Francona didn’t single any-
final season of a deal with a don’t know why I did that,” he cona no longer had veterans one out. Back in his office the
two-year club option that had during the off-season, and his said. “Who was going to call who could deliver messages for manager looked at bench coach
to be triggered within 10 days replacement knee was giving me if something happened to him—selfless role players like DeMarlo Hale and said, “That
of the end of the 2011 season. him problems, with constant my son? It was just an uneasy Gabe Kapler, Alex Cora and Eric fell on deaf ears. All they are
But, given his past success and swelling and pain. (It was not feeling for me. I’m sure people Hinske. These Sox were looking doing is wondering why I’m
f ro m top : B ra d Man g in / M L B Photos /Ge t t y Im ag es; da mian s t roh m e y er; A da m H u n g er / REUT ERS
the expectations for 2011, there unusual to see Francona with saw me checking it.” out for themselves. having a meeting when we just
was remarkably little talk about his legs propped up somewhere Months later, when he was The Red Sox also had increas- won 14–0. Everybody is going
the lame-duck status of the man- in the dugout or in the club- out of a job, the cellphone habit ingly inattentive ­ownership— their own way.”
A
ager. Folks close to Henry knew house at the end of batting might have been used to hurt Henry and Werner were con-
that Francona had been in the practice.) The pain medication him when an anonymous club sumed with Liverpool, Roush fter the Red Sox
crosshairs of the owner for a he took helped, but sometimes source told The Boston Globe Racing and ­LeBron James (the were eliminated
couple of seasons. “If anyone the pain and swelling were that Francona appeared dis- team’s parent company, Fen- f rom content ion
asked me about it, I deflected overwhelming. Francona was tracted during the season. It way Sports Group, represented with a loss in Bal-
it,” Francona said. “I had told living in a Courtyard Marriott was actually t he opposite. the NBA star)—and a general timore on the last
[ownership] I wouldn’t bring near Fenway, having separated Coping with a dissolving mar- manager who was rumored to night of the season, Francona
it up, so I didn’t. I was starting from Jacque, his wife of almost riage, a son in Afghanistan, be going to the Cubs. And they sat down with Epstein and said,
to feel that maybe they weren’t 30 years, after the 2010 season. and severe pain and insomnia, had a manager who was work- “I feel like I let you down.” The
that big on me.” During home stands he padded Francona sought refuge at the ing more hours than ever but manager was back at Fenway
The team got off to a horren- around his hotel room, always ballpark and went to work ear- feared he was losing his voice the next morning. In the wake
dous 2–10 start, but even as the keeping the television on—but lier than in any of his previous in the clubhouse. “I was worried of the collapse there were al-
Sox eventually climbed above avoiding news programs. His years in Boston. about it all year,” Francona said. ready multiple media reports
RH O N A W ISE / EPA
.500, Francona was dealing son, Nick, was a Marine lieu- By the All-Star break the Red “Somebody would strike out citing clubhouse drinking and
with physical and emotional tenant serving a six-month Sox were in first place, but there and go look at video instead of other player misconduct during
issues. He’d undergone surgery tour as a rifle-platoon leader was virtually no discussion of staying on the bench. There was the season.
ja n ua ry 21, 2013  |  S p o r t s I l l u s t r at e D
exclusive: terry francona
At 9:00 a.m. on Sept. 30,
Francona and Epstein sat at a
large oak table in the meeting
room connected to Lucchino’s
Fenway Park office. Also at the
table were Henry, Werner and
assistant G.M. Ben Cherington.
It was an awkward, passive-­
aggressive session lasting al-
most an hour. Francona knew
the owners didn’t want him
back, but no one was willing
to express this uncomfortable
truth. Henry, Werner and Luc-
chino all took turns speaking.
None would voice the plain truth
that Francona was not being of-
fered an extension. Henry and
Werner routinely recoiled from
confrontation, but it was un-
usual for Lucchino to hold back.
The CEO traditionally played
the heavy in awkward situa-
tions and had a Rolodex of en-
end of an empire
Francona had a reflective moment
with Pedroia before the final game in
2011, when Boston blew a nine-game
AL playoff lead in September.
After the 2010 season, a memo
from NESN officials made it clear: The
Red Sox needed more sex symbols.
emies to prove it. Not this time.
Nobody wanted to be the man
who fired the two-time World
Series–­w inning manager, not
even after the worst collapse in
baseball history.
An exasperated Francona fi-
nally said, “If you don’t know
what you are doing about me,
why am I here? This is a silly
meeting. If you don’t want me,
just tell me.”
“We want you to wait and
think about it,” said Lucchino.
“Take the weekend. Sleep on it.
See how you feel.”
“We had not come to any con-
clusion about whether to move
forward with Terry or not,”
S p o r t s I l l u s t r at e D  |  ja n ua ry 2 1, 2013
Werner insisted. “I thought we
needed to have a conversation
with [Francona] about what
went on in September and how
it happened and how we were
going to move forward in the fu-
ture. It was at that meeting that
he said that he had lost control of
the clubhouse . . . that he was not
the right person to continue as
manager. I had kept a very open
mind about what to do going for-
ward and was hopeful that he
would be not only specific about
the problems but how to correct
them. He said, ‘I’m not the guy to
move forward with you.’ ”
“I never said I lost control
of the clubhouse,” countered
Francona. “I said I hadn’t been
able to reach some of the guys. I
was just trying to take account-
ability. But I kind of viewed that
meeting as a charade.”
A few hours after the meeting
ended, the manager’s cellphone
rang. It was Epstein. “I talked
to them after you left,” said the
G.M. “It’s pretty clear that the
decision has been made.”
At 5:19 p.m., the Red Sox
released a highly n ­ uanced
statement to the press—the
word fired was never used—
announcing that Francona
would not return as manager.
The release included expansive
statements from the ownership
trio of Henry, Werner and Luc-
chino, plus Epstein and Fran-
cona. Press conferences with
Francona and team manage-
ment were scheduled for that
evening—though Henry would
not attend; that afternoon he
had been injured in a fall on
his yacht and transported via
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Which teams can’t wait
for Opening Day, and
which should be dreading
it? Joe Lemire weighs
in with his off-season
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ambulance to Massachusetts
General Hospital. The next
morning Henry’s wife, Linda
Pizzuti, tweeted, “Happy John
is home! He slipped down stairs,
injuring his neck. Kept at hos-
pital as a precaution, but was
home for the derby.”
The owner, who’d been un-
able to attend the press con-
ference announcing the firing
of the manager who brought
two World Series titles to Bos-
ton, made it home in time to
watch Liverpool beat Everton
2–0 in the Merseyside derby.
O
n Oct. 21, Epstein
officially resigned
from the Red Sox.
“In a way, I’ll never
recover from Sep-
tember,” he said in 2012. “For
us to lose not only our competi-
tiveness and our place in the
standings, but also our iden-
tity as a team was painful to
watch. I’ll never really ever get
over that. . . . As the dynamic
shifted and the Red Sox became
too big, it became less fun for
everybody. It was time to move
on for both of us.”
“When people ask me if I left
the Red Sox on my own or if
I was fired, I don’t even know
how to answer that,” Francona
said later. “I tried my ass off to
help put the team in position to
win, and I worked my ass off
that last year more than ever.
“Our ow ners in Boston,
they’ve been owners for 10
years. They come in with all
these ideas about baseball, but
I don’t think they love base-
ball. I think they like baseball.
It’s revenue, and I know that’s
their right and their interest
because they’re ­owners—and
they’re good owners. But they
don’t love the game. It’s still
more of a toy or a hobby for
G Fiu m e /Ge t t y Im ag es
t hem. It ’s not t heir blood.
They’re going to come in and
out of baseball. It’s different
for me. Baseball is my life.” ±