Boston Red Sox: 5 Things the New Manager (Whoever He May Be) Must Do

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE NEW RED SOX MANAGER:

Dear Mr X,

Congratulations on your selection as the 45th manager in the storied history of the Boston Red Sox. For what it's worth, less than half of your predecessors had a winning record. Hall of Famers Cy Young, Frank Chance, Billy Herman, Lou Boudreau and Hugh Duffy all were unable to win more games than they lost while leading this franchise.

You are succeeding a man who was arguably the most successful Red Sox manager ever, Terry Francona, who leads them all in games over .500, winning 192 more games than he lost. He is second only to the immortal Joe Cronin in total games managed with 1296. (Cronin had 2007 from 1935 to 947.) Francona is ninth in winning percentage (.574), and then, of course, there are those two World Series victories ...

Will you be like Francona, Cronin, Hall of Famer Joe McCarthy (.606 winning percentage), or will you follow the forgotten footsteps of Lee Fohl, who lost 139 more games than he won from 1924 to 1926? 

And what about your tenure? Fourteen managers lasted one year or less. More spectacularly, nine managers were in charge for less than 50 games—the most recent being Joe Kerrigan in 2001.

Before you run out and start hitting fungoes to your fielders, I think we should have a little chat. We're going to guess that Red Sox ownership hired you more for your perceived ability to handle the clubhouse rather than your tactical and strategic ability—which, come to think of it, is not all that important in the American League.

While I don't mean to underestimate the importance of managing the bullpen effectively, what else do you really have to do after turning in the lineup card? Send in a pinch runner every once in a while, or a late-game defensive replacement?

Tim Britton of the Providence Journal hit the nail on the head when he wrote that the more important aspect of managing in the 21st century is "how one handles his clubhouse—a talent that is subtler, more difficult to gauge and, as we discovered at the end of this Red Sox season, not necessarily consistent over time."

Personally, I hope for your sake that you are a former player, like Kirk Gibson, who commands automatic respect in the Arizona clubhouse for the way he played the game himself.

Former Red Sox pitcher Dick Drago agrees. He told me, “Really strong teams, like the Big Red Machine in Cincinnati and even the Red Sox a few years ago had veteran players who stood up and were not afraid to call someone out—rookie or veteran—if he was not pulling his weight.” 

Drago added, "If the players do not step up, and there is a problem in the clubhouse, then the team needs a manager who was a former major league player with enough stature to at least get the attention of everyone in the clubhouse.”

I get his point—it’s similar to the military. Those of us going into combat felt better if those leading us had already experienced a taste of battle. 

I know this managerial search thing has been a nerve-wracking process ... well, maybe not for you, but it sure has been for those of us watching this hiring odyssey unfold.

So, to help soothe our angst, I hope you will take a few moments to reflect on the suggestions to follow.

Come to think of it, action, not reflection is what is needed. For your own sake as well as ours.

1. Clearly Understand Your Authority and Limits

This sounds like a no-brainer, but how many people (not just baseball managers) have gotten swept up in the euphoria of a new job, only to learn later that things were not what they seemed?

Come to think of it, if you're the manager, It's already too late to make this point.

We hope, however, that before you signed the contract, you had a clear understanding of what your limits will be. We wonder if new GM Ben Cherington is second-guessing his own situation, especially in light of how he is perceived by many to have been undermined in the process to hire you!

Remember, your true bosses will be the owners–the same bosses who caused GM Theo Epstein to exit Fenway in a gorilla suit on Halloween, 2005.

At the same time–and here's the tough part–we hope you will be strong enough to "speak truth to power". This is especially important in light of the disconnect that Red Sox ownership demonstrated at the end of the 2011 season.

2. Establish Credibility with Fans and Media

As you well know, you're coming into a tough situation.

The negative way the season ended has been exacerbated by some relatively inept PR work at the front office level.  For weeks Boston area talk radio has been akin to a play-by-play of Christians vs. Lions in the Roman Coliseum. Even though this is football season, the local "Boys of summer", the best team in MLB for four months, continue to be savaged in the press

The effect is compounded by an ineffectual response by the team–not just the players, but also ownership.

Compounding the problem is a distinct sense of a lack of communication among the front office leaders. First of all, "Francona's not going", then he does. 

John Henry says the Carl Crawford signing was a baseball deal. Ben Cherington says it was a business deal.

"We're not interviewing any more managerial candidates…", and then they do. 

So, you must make every effort to get off on the right foot with media (and by extension, the fans).

How do you do this?

Be open, available, frank and honest from day one.

Answer questions to the best of your ability. If you don't know the answer, don't fake it. Say, "I don 't know, but I'll find out and get back to you." And do.

3. Find the Right Mouthwash to Get Rid of the Chicken and Beer Taste

Somehow, some way, the Red Sox must overcome the flow of rumor, innuendo and criticism that is still prevalent in New England media (especially sports talk radio). 

Not until that is done will the Red Sox be able to move on to actually resolve team (and eventually on-field) issues.

This issue is so big it totally overwhelms all the others. Making it worse, this media frenzy took place in a vacuum of leadership, with field general Terry Francona booted out the door and GM Theo Epstein already with one foot in Wrigley Field.

With the exception of one John Henry impromptu appearance on a local radio show, ownership's attempts at damage control have been woefully inadequate. Even then, it took Henry several days to respond publicly to the damaging charges still swirling around his team.

This is still a PR disaster, and without being effectively blunted or refuted it will fester for months like a dead critter under your porch.

As the new face of management, a big portion of this task is on your shoulders.

And you must address this problem before players report to Florida.

If not, the launch of spring training will be a media circus, with the focus being on the end of 2011 instead of the beginning of 2012. Reporters will still press for more dirt, and to identify the clubhouse sources who leaked the damaging reports in the first place. That's not the environment you want to have going into a new season.

There's no easy solution here, but a good first step would be for you to reach out to every man on that 40 man roster. Go on a barnstorming tour if you have to, but the more players you have frank conversations with over the next three months, the more prepared you will be.

Armed with this information, I suggest you encourage the ownership team and GM Ben Cherington to host an open, no-holds-barred press conference, where you commit to answer all questions frankly and to the best of your ability. Stay and answer every question, and respond to every criticism, with the condition being that once the conference is finished, everyone moves on. That's the end of 2011 post mortem, and the focus for the future will be 2012.

4. Hire Good Coaches Who Will Also Have the Respect of the Players

Please work hard to select coaches who will provide clubhouse leadership as well as a link between players and management. 

As mentioned earlier,  Arizona Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson commands automatic respect for the way he played the game himself. Gibson also surrounded himself with a coaching staff made up of former players, such as Don Baylor (hitting), Alan Trammell (bench), Matt Williams (third base), Eric Young (first base) and Charles Nagy (pitching).  These coaches have a combined 16 All-Star appearances, two MVPs and eight gold gloves.

This staff has been widely praised throughout MLB. Gibson was named the Sporting News NL manager of the year after leading his over-achieving team to the playoffs in 2011. The Diamondbacks rewarded the entire group with contract extensions, adding an extra year to each member of the coaching staff.

According to Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic, General Manager Kevin Towers said, "From Gibby to all the coaches, they're a big reason we ended up where we did," Towers said. "It starts with leadership in that clubhouse and changing the culture. They did a great job. Gibby, I think, was recognized by his peers for the job he did. It wasn't just us; other people within the industry recognize it as well."

And one other thing–to get such coaches, you have to convince ownership to pay them well.

5. Make a Call to Carl Crawford

The one player who can have the greatest impact on your success or failure as a manger in 2012 is Carl Crawford. Even the best starting pitcher can only win every fifth day; a multi-tool star like Crawford can help you win every day.

You should bend over backwards to help get his head on straight for spring training.

Unlike some other players whose long track records of injury and/or mediocrity can reasonably be expected to predict future performance, Crawford’s 2011 results are a stunner. I’m not going to rehash here the oft-repeated litany of his underperformance. I think it’s more important to focus on the monster seasons he had in Tampa, because they are more likely to be repeated than 2011 will.

Former Red Sox pitcher Dick Drago and I were discussing Crawford’s unexpectedly bad year. Drago, who now lives in Tampa, said that Crawford in Boston did not look like the same player he was in Florida.

Drago believes the attitude in the clubhouse may have had more to do with Crawford’s difficulties than most people think. In Tampa, Crawford was one of the leaders on the team. Crawford had once confronted Pat Burrell about his lack of professionalism and poor attitude, and threw Burrell up against a locker to make his point.

Crawford’s opinion was so well thought of that management got rid of Burrell shortly thereafter. 

When he came to Boston, however, he was the new guy—an outsider in someone else’s clubhouse, and was apparently unable to affect the existing culture.

Mike Giardi of ComcastSportsNE did an excellent story about Crawford. He wrote, “Finally, late in the season but before the team entered its death spiral, Crawford had had enough. He launched into an impassioned speech, imploring teammates to get it together. It fell on deaf ears.”

You are the one person who can most affect the clubhouse culture going forward. If you do, chances are you will get your superstar back.