Lucchino leaves with a mixed Legacy

            As the word came out on Saturday night that Larry Lucchino would be stepping down as the Red Sox President and CEO, it brought about mixed emotions. After all, Lucchino is the man who is ultimately responsible for bringing in the disaster that was Bobby Valentine, who managed the Red Sox to a dismal 69-93 record in 2011. But at the same time, he’s widely thought of as the man who was behind putting together the World Series championship teams of 2004, 2007, and 2013.

            Ultimately, Lucchino’s legacy will probably be remembered as a good one, but while he did deliver three trophies, all in all, his results have varied, and he’s made some very costly decisions.

            Just this year, Luchhino locked Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez into long-term deals, and right now those deals aren’t making him look so good. Sandoval is currently hitting .260, which shouldn’t a surprise. The Panda hasn’t hit for anything better than .280 since 2012, and you should expect him to be producing much more than he is. The Red Sox, however, seemed to think in the offseason that he would be better, and locked him into a five-year, $95 million contract. It seems clear now that Lucchino’s decision to sign Sandoval was based on a knee-jerk reaction that was the result of his 2014 postseason performance.

            Perhaps Lucchino’s greatest failure came in 2011, when he put together what seemed to be a World Series caliber team, and somehow the squad finished in last place. If you’re not familiar with the situation, it was basically the result of one man: Bobby Valentine. The Sox hired Valentine, who, to put it mildly, is a complete idiot, in the offseason per Lucchino’s orders. In fact, Lucchino even overruled newly named general manager Ben Cherington, in the decision to hire Valentine, and has since taken the blame for it.

            Over the past four years, it’s been hard to claim that the Sox front office has really had a plan. While what they did worked in 2013, they have been so bad in the surrounding seasons that you have to put some blame on the folks up top.

            With that said, Lucchino has done some good things for the Red Sox. Principle owner John Henry even went so far as to say in an interview with WBZ that Lucchino “is a Hall of Fame baseball executive who has left an indelible mark on Fenway and the relationship between the Boston Red Sox and New England.”

            About that, he’s right. Lucchino is a marketing genius. He’s the main reason why when you turn on NESN every night, you see a chalk-full Fenway Park. In fact, he’s the reason why you see Fenway Park at all. If Lucchino wasn’t at the helm, there’s a good chance that the Sox would have torn down Fenway, and if that were the case, they’d be playing in some spruced-up modern park right now. Lucchino has to get credit for that.

            The ownership has also used Lucchino has somewhat of a punching bag for fans to use when things don’t go so well. Granted, a lot of that may be warranted, but he’s the only one who seems to take the blame when things aren’t going well for the team.

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            On the local front, the Vermont Mountaineers smothered the Laconia Muskrats yesterday afternoon in game one of the opening-round best-of-three series of the NECBL playoffs. It was quite an offensive showing from the Mountaineers, who notched 13 runs in the game.

            The Mountaineers look to be in great shape going into game two of the series, but it hasn’t been an easy road for the Mountaineers to get there. Almost 20 Mountaineers have come and gone due to injuries and coach’s requests, but somehow the team has been able stay on top of it, having to sign new players all the time. “Even though we’ve had so much turnover, it’s been incredible chemistry in the dugout,” Mountaineers GM Brian Gallagher said. “It’s been a roller-coaster season with guys leaving and getting hurt. We were losing key players that I thought we’d never be able to replace, and we’ve had guys come in and really fight hard.

            Gallagher also credits a lot of the success to manager Joe Brown, who coaches a small-ball game that is difficult for some players to pick up mid-season. “It’s been a challenging summer,” Brown said. “I have a certain way that I like to coach the game so I’m not just looking for bodies, I’m looking for the right bodies.”

            The success that the squad has had is a major credit to the recruiting work that Brown and Gallagher put in throughout the winter and into the summer. The ‘Neers look to do it again tonight as they take on Muskrats in Laconia for game two of the series.

Contact Jasper Goodman at jgoodman@radiovermont.com. Follow Jasper on Twitter @Jasper_Goodman.

Rose Deserves a Second Chance

            Last week Major League Baseball hosted one of the most successful and entertaining all-star weeks in recent memory. Almost everything went right for them. Severe weather held off, hometown Cincinnati heroes performed at their best, and a Reds fan-base was engaged and energized.

            The Home Run Derby was highlighted by a huge performance from Cincinnati’s Todd Frazier, who hit 15 dingers in the final round of the Derby to take home the hardware. In the past, the Home Run Derby dragged on a bit, and it didn’t always make for great TV. But with an all-new format this year, that changed in a big way. The MLB put together a head-to-head bracket that gave each player four minutes to hit as many shots as they could. This added a whole new energy to the Derby, and it made it so that players couldn’t take pitches, which is what made it lag before.

            The game itself was also a success. The American League won 6-3, and AL stars Mike Trout and Manny Machado both had big games. Cincinnati looked like a hopping baseball town, and it was a great week for the sport. I think that much of this success is a credit to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, who is in his first year on the job, but has taken big steps forward in order to make the game more appealing.

            As should be expected, the ratings provided mixed results. Viewership of the Home Run Derby was up 32% from 2014, and it came through with the highest rating since 2009. The numbers on All-Star Game, however, dropped from last year. The game received a 12 share from Nielson, which means that 12% of televisions in use were tuned into the event. That is down from a share of 13 last year, and the total viewership numbers were also down from 2014.

            While the MLB had to come away from last week thinking it was a success, there was also a much more complicated narrative behind the All-Star Game being in Cincinnati that stirred up lots of controversy with executives, former players, and especially fans.

            Since Pete Rose was banned from baseball and the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989 due to gambling allegations, MLB executives haven’t said much at all about re-instatement. But with the game being in Cincinnati, where fans are dying to get Rose into the hall, it would have been impossible for Commissioner Manfred to ignore the topic.

            Manfred appears to be open to the idea of re-instating rose, but undoubtedly there are a lot of negotiations that need to take place before he makes a decision. At least for the time being, though, Rose supporters got what they wanted. Prior to the game, Rose was honored as one of the four greatest Reds out on the field, and he received a huge round of applause from the hometown crowd. Rose served double-duty at the game, as he was also there as a pre and postgame analyst for Fox, who hired him this year.

            While Rose made some huge mistakes, there is no denying that he is one of the greatest ballplayers of all time, and for that reason, I think he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. There’s just no arguing with his numbers. He had a .303 career batting average with 4,256 total hits, which is the most ever. He is a 17-time all-star, a three-time World Series champion, an NL MVP, a World Series MVP, a Rookie of the Year, and the list can go on.

            Nobody denies that Rose bet on baseball, which is one of the game’s highest crimes, but you just can’t keep a guy like that out of the Hall of Fame. It is a place where baseball’s best players are honored, and Rose is among the best of all time.

            With all of the support behind him, I think Rose will eventually find himself in the Hall, but at age 74, Manfred would need to act relatively quickly if he wants this to happen within Rose’s lifetime.

Contact Jasper Goodman at jgoodman@radiovermont.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jasper_Goodman