![]() ![]() Epstein would leave the Red Sox and sign a contract to run the Chicago Cubs on the very day the Globe story was published. Theo Epstein’s judgment in signing Carl Crawford and Bobby Jenks - the former of which stunk and the latter of which had his season and his career ended by an early-season injury - was called into question.Adrián González - who had an excellent season on the field - was accused of “providing none of the energy or passion off the field that the Sox sorely needed.” David Ortiz was accused of being a clubhouse disruption and.It was said that Kevin Youkilis became increasingly frustrated and detached as he battled injuries, and that he withdrew from interaction with most of his teammates over the course of the year.There was a report of considerable acrimony and resentment on the part of the players surrounding the scheduling of a double header against the A’s in August due to Hurricane Irene with the team’s failure to just keep calm and carry on laid at Francona’s feet.Francona vehemently denied the charges and, quite reasonably, called the whole thing an exercise in blame-shifting And, in fact, the club did not exercise the 2012 option. Sources also said that Francona increasingly took on the role of a lame duck manager with his effectiveness at reaching his players reduced as his suspicion that the team would not exercise his 2012 option grew. Team sources claimed that Terry Francona’s marital problems and his alleged abuse of pain medication affected his performance.Manager Terry Francona and the Sox’ biggest stars got the sharpest treatment. “Individuals familiar with the Sox operation at all levels” told Hohler “a story of disunity, disloyalty, and dysfunction like few others in franchise history.” The knives were out for everyone, but the dullest ones were reserved for ownership. Or, at the very least, the details that the Red Sox front office wanted the public to know as it began the time-honored process of scapegoating players and coaches for the misfortunes of the club. Soon after the season ended, Bob Hohler of the Boston Globe wrote a story laying out the sordid details of the Red Sox’ 2011 season. Then they finished the month with a 7-20 record and suffered an ugly loss on the final game of the season to the Orioles, making them the first team in the history of baseball to not make the postseason after having a nine-game lead or larger in September. And, while that division lead would disappear by early September, they remained in excellent position to make the playoffs, leading the Rays in the Wild Card race by nine games on September 2. Indeed, the Sox went 80-41 between April 15 and August 27. The Sox were five games back within a week of Opening Day but soon righted the ship, tying for first place late May and building as much as a three-game lead in the division. The thing was, after a slow start, they played really, really well for a really long time. Between those two and the return of the core that had given them so much success - including Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Kevin Youkilis, David Ortiz, and a pitching staff led by Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, John Lackey, closer Jonathan Papelbon and newly-acquired reliever Bobby Jenks - most observers assumed the AL East was theirs to lose. Following a disappointing 2010, the front office traded for Adrián González and signed free agent outfielder Carl Crawford. The 2011 Boston Red Sox were supposed to be unstoppable. No matter where the story broke, however, these were the stories baseball fans were talking about most over the past ten years. Some of them took place on the field, some of them off the field and some of them were more akin to tabloid drama. So, instead of counting down the Top 25 stories of the year, we’re taking a look at the top 25 baseball stories of the past decade. We’re a few short days away from the dawn of the 2020s. ![]()
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