fredrickson@learn.DEC (01/18/86)
Dave Cherson writes the following: "OK all you Met fans, stop worrying about Orosco so much, because your team has been the recipient of this year's Red Sox "who can we dump some of our best talent on and not get equal worth for" award - i.e., Bobby Ojeda. Jeez, this time it was Lou Gorman, a former Mets GM who did it. The Orioles are also sharing the honors with getting Jackie Guitierriez for Sammy Stewart, who in my opinion could be questionable. "Back to the Mets, I don't think Wes Gardner or Calvin Klein or whatever his name is will help the sox bullpen as much as Ojeda will for the Mets. Living with the Red Sox means living with a team that is run by people who desire no more than a mediocre ball club, and who continue to sustain a racist institution (check out the firing of Tommy Harper, another in a long line of disgraces). "As a kid I became a Yankee fan by default because I employed an old Levantine theory, "Your enemy's enemy is your friend", I have been continually bullshit for over 30 years since the Braves left town, forced out rather, by Teddy Ballgame and his mediocre cohorts. We lost the Braves just as they were beginning their great years and had to settle for the likes of Ike Delock, Frank Sullivan, Don Buddin, etc. The only thing good about the sox is Fenway Park." To begin with, I have trouble even acknowledging any Bostonian who became a Yankee fan "by default" as a kid. I grew up with a couple of those types. And I bet you're a Dallas Cowboy fan (I'm sorry -- Chicago Bears this year) and you've always loved the Canadiens and the only Boston team you root for is the Celtics. You love North Carolina in college hoops and you've always been a big Notre Dame football fan, until recently, when you've switched to Oklahoma. It must be great going through life with one champagne celebration after another. But on to the point of the Red Sox' trades. I think we all realize the distinct possibility that Ojeda may be the next John Tudor. He certainly has shown that potential at times. If he does, it will be another embarrassing example that the Red Sox are incapable of turning promising young pitchers into accomplished major leaguers. Believe me, we have all cursed Tudor's success in that same vein. Would he have blossomed into the best lefty in baseball had he stayed here? I don't think so. The proverbial change of scenery helped. Tudor, like Ojeda, was an inconsistent head case when he pitched here. There is nothing more frustrating than watching a guy with great stuff and a healthy arm who can lead the league in shutouts and who gets knocked out by the fourth inning every other start. That's Ojeda. But the reason for the trade was not only Ojeda's inconsistency. The Sox recognize that the teams that have reached the top have done so by taking a chance on as many good, young, unproven arms as they could get their hands on. Toronto with Tom Henke, Detroit with Walt Terrell. They feel they got two such arms in Shiraldi and Gardner, in exchange for a guy whose market value was, they felt, a little bit higher than it should have been. Don't think the Sox haven't learned a lesson from Tudor. They turned down a truckload (Andujar, Lahti, Horton, Kepshire) from St. Louis for Bruce Hurst, which amazed people, but I think they're scared Hurst would indeed become another Tudor under his old mentor, Cards pitching coach Mike Roarke. In looking at their staff, the Sox saw three lefties, all young, all good arms, all healthy, all somewhat unpredictable -- and all with good market value. Ojeda, Hurst and Tim Lollar. They simply felt Hurst and Lollar were the best of the trio. As for the Gutierrez-Stewart deal, it is a puzzle to a lot of people that the Sox gave up on Gutierrez so soon. A year ago he was our shortstop of the future. From what I have read, McNamara likes Hoffman much better, and there's a kid named Quinones in the minors who everybody loves. I have also read Jim Palmer's opinion: that the trade stunk from a Baltimore perspective. And apparently, Gutierrez (who hit around .210 in '85) is having an awful time in winter ball and is going through some tough personal troubles. If Stewart "could be questionable," as Cherson writes, then what could Gutierrez be? I have no argument with Cherson's observations regarding the Sox' pitiable racial record. And I, too, have wondered whether they are merely content to finish fourth and put 1.8 million people in the park every year. I guess the difference is that I haven't become a Yankee fan. For that I am thankful. Following a sports team which struggles woefully without winning for years and years is not as bad as you'd think. When that golden moment does arrive, as it did for us in '67 and '75, and as we Patriots (and the Bears) fans are now experiencing, it's that much sweeter. I also believe the Red Sox are trying a different tack -- building a pitching staff from the best available arms, and letting the lineup take care of itself. In other years, they did it backwards, by trying to assemble a lineup of big hitters and then picking up whatever pitching they could. I choose to give Gorman credit for that. I know other Sox fans disagree. It just bugs me to hear it from a front-running Yankee fan. Mark Fredrickson