By now, most of you have already heard that Red Sox great, Hall of Fame catcher Carlton Fisk was arrested on charges of driving under the influence. He was found asleep behind the wheel in the middle of a cornfield. There was an open bottle of Vodka on the floor of his vehicle. Fisk was brought to the hospital and released from custody the next morning after posting bail.
During his 24 year playing career, Carlton Fisk is most remembered for running down the line, waving his home run fair during the 1975 World Series.
John Farrell was officially introduced as the 46th manager of the Boston Red Sox today at noon. Everyone down the line from Owners, Chairmen, General Manager, and even former and current players were on board to congratulate Farrell. Most of them even stood up to say a few words about him and everyone spoke so highly of him. With much praise about his leadership skills and intelligence all around the game of baseball, it is no wonder why the Sox made this choice so quickly, as soon as they were given permission to speak to him from the Toronto Blue Jays.
Just 17 days after Bobby V was fired, the Red Sox have hired former pitching coach John Farrell, who is 50 years old. The other day, I wrote an article asking who everyone would want as their next manager. Most people chose Demarlo Hale who was also in the organization before. However, all along, most people knew that the Sox were going to try to get the Blue Jays to allow Farrell out of his last year on his contract. We had to trade shortstop Mike Aviles, but most don’t seem to mind.
Jon Lester welcomed him back through a tweet, David Ortiz proclaimed his love for his “main man”, and I think most fans are okay with this choice. Don’t be fooled, the Sox are far away from being the team that they have been in recent years. Farrell had told the Blue Jays GM that it was his dream job, and that if someone contacted them, he would like the opportunity to speak with Boston. Shortly thereafter, Red Sox owner John Henry called Toronto’s CEO and got things moving.
While John Farrell was the pitching coach in Boston from 2007-2010, including one World Series Championship, the Sox Pitching Staff was first in the American League in strikeouts, Opponents’ Batting Average, and Shutouts, and 3rd in ERA. You don’t need to be a genius to figure out that those numbers are far above and beyond what they were this past season with Bobby Valentine at the helm.
Boston Sports Blog 