The Curse of Theo Epstein

"I am still hoping that Theo
comes out at 1 o’clock and tells us that he is staying with the Sox"

Dan Shaughnessy at 8 this morning on WEEI

You can bet your ass he was hoping Theo would change
his mind, because as it stands the Curly-Haired Boyfriend (Shaughnessy’s
nickname) is about to enter baseball history as The Man Who Drove the
Red Sox Down, the second time.

What did this famously egotistical and unscrupulous
scribe write to deserve such a dastardly fate? Well, it appears his column
in the Boston Globe on Sunday, was almost single handedly
responsible for the decision by Boy Wonder Theo Epstein, the 30-year-old
General Manager who guided the Sox to the World Championship last year,
to quit. At 1 o’clock Theo did resign, and said Shaughnessy had nothing
to do with it. Sources say otherwise.

The
column, which featured slanted opinion, confidential
team information and leaked material from one side about an on-going negotiation,
contained incendiary tidbits like:

Larry taught Theo too well and now he is looking in
the mirror as he tries to hammer out a deal with the GM he made in his
own image. Both are merely doing what they are trained to do. In Theo’s
case, he’s doing what Larry trained him to do.

What is alarming — for the future of the Sox franchise — is Theo’s
sudden need to distance himself from those who helped him rise to his
position of power.

With the team falling apart around us, management
in disarray, Manny jumping ship and no rotation or bullpen, now the architect
and his building crew have walked off the lot. And Dan Shaughnessy
is in real danger of becoming the Harry Frazee of the 21st Century
and driving the finest baseball mind of our generation out of town
for good. If a "Curse of Theo Epstein" envelopes the Bloody Sox, Dan
Shaughnessy is through in this town, which can turn cruel and vicious
when its idols are affronted.

from the Boston Globe