Hindsight Artists Attack Terry Francona

October 12th, 2009 | by Darryl Johnston |

Time To Start Second-Guessing Francona

Why did you walk Torii Hunter? Why was Jacoby Ellsbury playing so deep? Why did you pinch hit for Alex Gonzalez? Why didn’t Hideki Okajima face Bobby Abreu?

Why, why? why?

It’s inevitable that Red Sox fans will pose these Monday morning quarterback-type questions, but is some of it fair to ask? I think most people would say yes.

When Jonathan Papelbon intentionally walked Hunter it seemed like a good move. Hunter was the spark plug in this series and the idea of facing the free-swinging Vlad Guerrero made sense. They key was just not giving him something to hit. Easier said than done as Vlad has the highest percentage of pitches outside the strike zone in baseball for anyone with over 350 plate appearances. If Vlad had played the full year, he would have the official title with more at-bats. In short, Vlad swings at everything. A fact everyone who has a baseball pulse is well-aware of.

Regardless of his free-swinging, Guerrero didn’t need a fastball down the middle of the plate, but that is exactly what he got and the Red Sox got exactly what they sowed – a series ending loss. Ellsbury was playing so deep in center that any chance of keeping Abreu from scoring the go-ahead run was removed by Francona.

What was the reason? Ellsbury does not have a strong throwing arm and although Abreu is no longer a 40 stolen base threat, he can still run. With Vlad lacing that ball to center, two runs scored and it was the final curtain in 2009.

It’s easy to sit here and speculate, asking the redundant questions repetitively, but if we were to just sit back and brush off the series, then it would be taking the passion out of the fan base. Baseball in Boston is as important as anything else. No one should be surprised in the next two weeks when fans are calling 98.5 or WEEI asking for the heads of Francona, Papelbon and whoever else they want to pin their frustrations on. That’s the way it is in the Hub. Ask Rick Pitino.

Despite the final results, this was still a 95-win team with more flaws than most teams in baseball. Yet, they still held off the Texas Rangers and gave themselves another chance at a World Series. It came up short and it ended quick, but just remember you could be stuck rooting for the Baltimore Orioles. Keep it in perspective.

Now back to attacking Francona.

Darryl Johnston is the Red Sox correspondent for Fanball.com. He has many years of sports writing under his championship belts. Email him – redsoxdj@gmail.com