And it starts at the top. John Henry is one of the savviest and most successful owners in professional sports, and Larry Lucchino is a power executive. But the X-factor is Theo Epstein, the young GM who began transforming the Red Sox back in 2003.
Now, two World Series titles and six years later, Boston appears poised for the postseason for many years to come. Maybe even decades. One could argue that the Boston Red Sox are the new superpower of Major League Baseball, surpassing the rival Yankees in organizational talent and use of resources.
But how did this all happen? Ever wonder what's going on behind the scenes? Curious about Theo Epstein?
If so, don't hesitate to check out my book, "Theo-logy: How a Boy Wonder Led the Red Sox to the Promised Land" on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Borders.com. "Theo-logy" is the one and only book centered on Theo Epstein, and it reveals his past, rise to prominence, and specific general managerial tactics. It's everything you wish you knew about the Red Sox's dramatic organizational turnaround, from the general to the very specific.
To those of you who have written to me about the book through the FanMail option: I really appreciate the responses, and I look forward to more correspondence in the future. Thanks all.
(For a review of "Theo-logy," go here. To see or hear the author discuss his book, follow those links. Also, check out John on Twitter.)
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Comments (16) Add A Comment
Good one, but lets see if you Sox can actually beat my Yankees in this year's playoffs. Dont let the 8-0 record fool you..... We werent playing as a team yet..... we had a lot of new players at the beginning of the season... and since then (post ARod arrival), we have had the BEST record in baseball. So dont count the chickens before they hatch...... although I must say the Sox have an excellent squad.....
UncleSam
Total Comments (35)
Yea, I'm not discrediting this year's Yankee squad at all, I'm just giving the Red Sox the slight edge at this point in time. Their roster represents more internal development and better decision-making, as opposed to tossing obscene amounts of money at the biggest names on the market. I do think both teams can win it all, though. I had them 1/2 in my preseason predictions.
JFro
L.I., NY
Total Comments (602)
Hey don't worry brotha age will aventually catch up with you to!!!!! and free agency!! Mr. Papelbon you better pay him more than we will!!
Navy_yankee
Jacksonville , FL
Total Comments (28)
Lol it's very possible, Navy. As we all know, it's mostly about the money in professional sports these days. If the Yankees offer more to Papelbon when he hits the open market, there's a possibility that he jumps ship. Johnny Damon style, haha.
JFro
L.I., NY
Total Comments (602)
You know what's funny thou all these small market teams are doing just as good as our allstars. i could only dream of the yankees having tampa's payroll and being that good. it would probably make me cry a happy tear!!
Navy_yankee
Jacksonville , FL
Total Comments (28)
Lol yup, same thing with my Mets. Although, the Mets have essentially been forced to play their young players because of an abnormal number of injuries. Unlike the Rays, our (the Mets') young organizational talent has failed to perform.
JFro
L.I., NY
Total Comments (602)
I would give the world if we had a big enough lead in the east by the time September rolls around to go here: Todd Linden, Austin Jackson, John Ridriguez take the outfielsd and show us what we are looking forward to in the future and why not just give tex the month and say go ahead Juan Miranda play first or DH! thats my perfect world!
Navy_yankee
Jacksonville , FL
Total Comments (28)
Well, you have some homegrown talent already playing: Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera, Brett Gardner, Chien Ming-Wang, Phil Hughes, and Phil Coke. Also, reaching further into the past, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, and Mariano Rivera were hatched and developed with the Yankees -- as far as I can remember.
JFro
L.I., NY
Total Comments (602)
JFro... its funny that all I hear from Sox fans is that we pay lots of money for excellent players... its not like the Sox didnt offer Tex and CC lots of money (almost as much as we did), but they decided to go with us.... now if the Sox had signed them... it would have been OK. Outbidding is not bad.... and aside from that $$$$$$ does not buy world championships.... we havent won since 2000, $$$$ didnt assure us a win.... it assured us that we would have good players... read the words carefully.... WE BUY GOOD PLAYERS.... NOT CHAMPIONSHIPS.. We buy good players in order to have the POSSIBILITY of winning a championship..... Other teams will be able to get players JUST AS GOOD for half the money.... fine and dandy.... and as u say.... look at our home-grown talent... lots of them.. and the future looks bright because of them..... who have we bought ???? CC, AJ and Tex..... ARod was bought at the time at a good price.... the money he is getting now was a RE-SIGNING..... as any other good employee, we gave him more money to REMAIN a yankee.... .. so it is NOT ALL ABOUT THE MONEY.... it is about obtaining excellent talent and excellent talent in any business has its rewards..... and if the Steinbrenners are up to INVESTING in their company to keep excellent talent, then thats a wise business decision... unlike other owners (Tampa, Marlins to name a few) who would rather split up their team than to pay their players good......
UncleSam
Total Comments (35)
In some regards, yes. But you're forgetting the many instances where the Yankee organization threw millions and millions at the wrong pieces (Jose Contreras, Hideki Irabu, Rondell White come to mind right away), when they could have saved that cash and improved from the interior. Player development, within the organization, is essential.
JFro
L.I., NY
Total Comments (602)
yes JFro but we are talking about the 2007-2009 Yankees, cause that's where all the fuss is about "paying zillions for good players", all this talk about paying lots of $$$ is referring to the 2007-2009 Yankees, especially the 2009 Yankees.... .. u mentiond Jose Contreras, Irabu, White.... etc that was decades ago and what did Boston pay for all those Japanese pitchers they have (recently...) ? and wanted to pay lots of $$$ for Tex but he signed with us ? sure, you have good home grown players and so do we.... ..... ... this is the same fair market for all teams.... equal opportunity for all... now if people dont want to invest in their teams... that's sad...... if you had a business of your own, and had the money, you too would invest to get the best employees, the best products etc.... no different in baseball.... and the business owners who dont invest will end up on the losing end...... thats why the NY Yankees as well as the Boston Red Sox are prosperous franchises and if one gets the better of the other one because it obtained a better product or employee... they could go out there and do the same thing instead of frowing and fretting because they got beat..... easy as that....
UncleSam
Total Comments (35)
UncleSam, I like the Yankees' roster this year, so I don't really have much to say. People have been getting on them about Sabathia and Burnett at times, but those same people aren't factoring in how difficult it is to be a successful pitcher at the new Yankee Stadium. Stuff wise, Sabathia and Burnett are as good as it gets from the left and right side, respectively.
JFro
L.I., NY
Total Comments (602)
My Dad and I were discussing the Yanks FA deals made this year and for the first time in a very long time we (and I assume most other yankee fans) are happy with the results. CC, Burnett and Tex are doing very well and I expect all to continue that through the entire season. The other big difference this year is that the yanks are also brining along some younger players that are actually contributing - Joba, Hughes, Gardner, Melky, Cano, Cervelli and Pena. This team would be in first place if Wang was right. Hopefully this guy can get it straight for next year.
And you're point about how difficult it is to be successful in NY is not just due to the new stadium. Over the years countless pitchers and players have had success before coming to the yanks and after playing for the yanks but have not lived up to the incredible expectations while in pinstripes. While this does not excuse the yanks for making deals with guys like Jaret Wright or Carl Pavano, it does prove that with big $$ comes big expectations and not all of these men are up to the task.
ME DUM DUM
Total Comments (13511)
Agreed that some players -- doesn't matter whether it's pitchers or hitters -- just aren't fit for New York. Don't have the confidence, don't have the mentality, and don't produce the positive results. But hey, that's a given at this point.
The old Yankee Stadium wasn't an elite pitchers' park, but it didn't play anything like it does now. Derek Jeter has 10 home runs at the all-star break, a handful of them have been opposite field short porch. Just one example of many new developments.
JFro
L.I., NY
Total Comments (602)
Oh, I agree with you. Damon is going to shatter his career high at such a late stage in his career. Its a 3 homer a night stadium and I hope there is something the yanks can do in the offseason to change that. Perhaps they could get that death star to hover around during games to shift the wind currents!
ME DUM DUM
Total Comments (13511)
Lol anything to change things up a bit. Unless of course, they want to play 10-8 games throughout the postseason. That puts an awful lot of pressure on the offensive players, though.
JFro
L.I., NY
Total Comments (602)
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