Blue Jays protect John Farrell

The Red Sox desperately missed the guidance and voice of John Farrell in 2011 -- and it showed down the stretch as Josh Beckett led a Beer and Wings Tour de Force. Once the Blue Jays learned that Farrell was might be targeted to manage the Red Sox, they changed a policy and will no longer grant permission for lateral moves.


No, Boston, you can't have Farrell. He's under contract for two more years. We like him. Take a hike. That's essentially what the Jays said by making a policy change. Bob Elliott wrote a terrific piece on this topic today, saying if Farrell left Toronto, it would leave the Jays feeling like "second-class citizens in their own division."


More Elliott: "The Jays would have been like the Kansas City Athletics in the 1950s and 1960s, when K.C. served as a farm team for the New York Yankees, although both were in the American League."

NH native Ben Cherington has his day

BOSTON -- After rising through the franchise as a scout, farm director and assistant GM, Ben Cherington officially replaced Theo Epstein Tuesday afternoon during a press conference at Fenway Park. This where Cherington, of Meriden, N.H., watched his first game from the bleachers as a 5-year-old. The highlights:

• Cherington came across as genuine when saying he felt the anguish and "pain" along with Red Sox fans during a tumultuous September and into the off-season. "We've let our fans down in some important ways recently," he said.
• Sad news for other teams: John Lackey won't be pitching in 2012. Boston's overpaid, TMZ-hating starter is undergoing Tommy John surgery any day.
• The Red Sox have a "handful" of candidates for manager. Cherington wants “someone who cares about players, but is also willing and ready to have tough conversations with them ... I want someone who’ll collaborate with the front office and ownership but also is willing to make an argument when he disagrees.”
• When addressing the team's downward spiral and questionable clubhouse behavior, he said, "There is a great motivation to clean up what needs to be cleaned up.”

                                                   Michael Ivins/Boston Red Sox

Question for TLR: What are you thinking?

To quote a kneecapped Nancy Kerrigan, "Why? Why?" What was Tony La Russa thinking in World Series Game 5 while making all those boneheaded moves, leading to a 4-2 Texas win? 


The 9th inning alone was nuts. Allen Craig was thrown out trying to steal second base, sucking the life out of St. Louis with Albert Pujols at the plate. Yes, it was a hit-and-run and La Russa was trying to open up a hole at second base, but that's not a risk worth taking with Pujols hitting. Pujols struck out on a high-and-outside pitch, and Mike Napoli gunned down Craig by a mile. Craig was caught stealing twice in a World Series game for the first time since Billy Martin in 1955.


The bullpen debacle: I'm a big fan of Marc Rzepczynski. Big fan. But "Zep" needed to be on the bench watching Jason Motte pitch against red-hot Napoli, who ended up ripping a two-run double. La Russa later said there was some miscommunication when he called the bullpen and asked for Motte to warm up. 


"I called twice. I called back for Motte, and we got the wrong guy," La Russa said in postgame.


What? In this day and age of human rain delays, if La Russa wanted Motte, he could've gotten Motte. Don't blame it on the phone line or bullpen coach.


Also, why was Craig sac-bunting in the third inning? Pujols simply was intentionally walked (one of three times), and The Machine never really had a chance to hit all night.

Chris Carpenter: "There was a lot of angst."

When the Cardinals were 10-1/2 games back on Aug. 26, following a sweep by the Dodgers, Chris Carpenter stepped forward and gave the team a tongue lashing. This is a story about true leadership. The Red Sox should take notes:


"We just weren't playing well. We didn't look good when we were playing, and it wasn't just me that felt something needed to be said," Carpenter told the media before World Series Game 4. "It was about continuing to play hard, doing the best we can. At that time, Milwaukee was doing their thing ... and there was a lot of angst in what was going on in our clubhouse with the race, with our team, and the expectations of what we had. We didn't want to lose those expectations, even though everybody had written us off. We might not catch Milwaukee, we might not catch Atlanta, but let's go ahead and do everything we can to, one, not embarrass ourselves because we have a great ballclub.


"Let's not embarrass our coaches that worked their butts off to help us win. Let's not embarrass our organization and our fans. Let's at least make it look respectful. And that was it. A few other guys spoke, and we started playing better."

From the bleachers to the front office

I sat with Ben Cherington's mom, Gretchen, and looked at family pictures of her only son last week. In each picture baseball picture of Ben, he was completely focused on the action -- even as a 5-year-old watching his first Red Sox game from the bleachers.


“Ben was just riveted,” his mother, Gretchen, said. “I think every other 5-year-old wasn't paying attention, but he just watched what was going on. There was a focus and passion for the game way back then.” More on a Lifetime of Preparation for Ben Cherington in my full story here.