Tag: baseball

Could you thank the people who just fired you? Red Sox manager John Farrell did.

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The Boston Red Sox fired their manager John Farrell yesterday. He then made a surprising statement thanking everyone he worked with, including the ownership and management team that just fired him. You need a little context to fully understand his statement. Farrell’s five years with the Red Sox featured extremes, including a surprising World Series … Continued

What’s so great about Big Papi

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David Ortiz, “Big Papi,” played his final game last night. The warmth I feel about this player has no limits. Why? How did I come to admire a black man from the Dominican Republic with a heavy Spanish accent? What could I possibly have in common with this man? And why is Ortiz so popular with so … Continued

Christopher L. Gasper’s passive voice approach to fixing the Red Sox

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“Something must be done.” It’s the passive-voice cry of the handwringing editorial or the concerned memo. And it’s vacuous and worthless, since it doesn’t say who must do what. I’ll illustrate with Christopher L. Gasper’s article in today’s Boston Globe: “It’s time for the Red Sox to call for a changeup.” The story so far: despite a high payroll, the Boston … Continued

David Ortiz: Big Papi without the bullshit

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The Boston Globe did a whole section focused on Red Sox slugger David Ortiz today, including a Q&A interview. I was struck by just how direct Ortiz is, especially in contrast to the bullshit-laden interview with an NBA Players Association official that I wrote about last week. Athletes of this stature usually have two modes: … Continued