Dan Duquette has a wonderful family and a $3 million golden parachute
and he got to do a job he said he loved for eight years. He got to run the
Boston Red Sox. Good luck in the next job.
But spare us the tears, Dan. Where was all that emotion when you
heartlessly bulldozed dozens of people in the organization and ran the
team in a completely bloodless, corporate fashion?
Duquette did some good things. He got the Red Sox into the playoffs
three times - twice with the help of the wild-card system. He drafted
Nomar Garciaparra, traded for Pedro Martinez, and signed free agent Manny
Ramirez. He locked them up for a long time. He got Derek Lowe and Jason
Varitek for Heathcliffe Slocumb. He signed Johnny Damon.
But his management style made the Red Sox the most arrogant, disliked
organization in baseball. His mistreatment of nice guys like Jimy
Williams, Johnny Pesky, Sam Mele, Mike Stanley, Jeff Frye, John Valentin,
Grady Little, Rich Zawacki, B. J. Baker, Jim Samia, and a raft of others
was disappointing and inexcusable. He backed Carl Everett when every other
person in baseball would have backed the manager. And his reputation as a
builder of farm systems turned out to be a myth.
Traveling in Arizona the last few days, I've encountered dozens of
baseball players, scouts, and general managers. Duquette has no allies. He
wouldn't talk to ballplayers. He wouldn't return calls from other GMs. He
insulted all of baseball with that ''I'm-smarter-than-you'' attitude.
Duquette was already on shaky ground when the new owners were announced
in December. He did little to help himself by immediately asking for the
club presidency and a contract extension. He was making demands when he
should have been making them coffee.
His intransigence this spring didn't help. Larry Lucchino didn't like
hearing that Duquette expected to remain general manager. Lucchino didn't
like it when Duquette said the new owners had told him they looked forward
to working with him.
Lucchino is a no-nonsense executive. He is plugged into the baseball
world and has been for 23 years. He knew Duquette's reputation. And he
knew keeping Dan around in another capacity would be detrimental.
''We debated that internally,'' Lucchino said via telephone last night.
''But there is a need for a fresh start and frankly his area of greatest
expertise was as a general manager.''
Anything Dan could have done to save himself?
''We actually felt the need for a fresh start is paramount, a fresh
approach in a variety of ways.''
Translation: Anything short of firing Duquette would have sent the
wrong message to Red Sox fans and all of baseball.
Sad, but true. This was the momentous day that had to happen. Despite
all of his last-minute kindness, the Duke had already sealed his fate. His
pal, Les Otten, is a small player in the new group and there was no way
Duquette could survive in a group where Lucchino makes the calls.
Duquette expedited his firing yesterday morning. He called the new guys
and asked for a meeting. They met in a conference room at the Sanibel
Harbor Hotel. That's where the Duquette Era ended.
''He took it professionally and maturely,'' said Lucchino. ''He
certainly expressed disappointment, but I thought it was a very
professional reaction. And we told him about the respect we had for him
and his accomplishments. We all have a lot of respect for a career
baseball guy. But it's time for a new direction and a fresh start and that
wouldn't have been possible had we not made this decision.
''This was not an easy thing to do and frankly, as much as some people
in the media may feel it was an obvious thing to do, it was not an easy
thing for us. But we firmly believe it was the right thing to do.''
Next on the agenda is the fate of manager Joe Kerrigan. The Sox owners
and Lucchino will meet with interim GM Mike Port at 10 this morning and
discuss the next move. In the meantime, there is no comment about any
other position or person. Just as there was no comment about Duquette
until he was fired.
We warned you. In the minutes after the closing, we expected something
reminiscent of the final scene in ''The Godfather.'' Duquette is gone.
There will be many others. Soon.
Time for a fresh start.
This story ran on page E1 of the Boston Globe on 3/1/2002.
Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.