Times wires
Thursday, September 29, 2011
BOSTON — A day after the Red Sox completed an unprecedented September collapse, general manager Theo Epstein told reporters at somber Fenway Park on Thursday that the entire organization shared the blame for blowing a nine-game lead in 25 days and promised his full effort in figuring out what went wrong.
"The bottom line is, we failed. And our owners deserve better, the fans deserve better and we have to fix it," Epstein said. "We're going to take a look in the mirror and see if we're the ones to fix it."
Boston went 7-20 in September to miss the playoffs entirely, a collapse that wasn't complete until Jonathan Papelbon blew a one-run lead with one strike to go against Baltimore on Wednesday and the Orioles won 4-3.
Just minutes later, the Rays completed their comeback from a 7-0 deficit against the Yankees and clinched the wild-card berth.
The nine-game lead was the biggest ever held in September by a team that failed to make the playoffs. "I think we'll be dissecting that forever," Epstein said.
"A very quiet day in Boston after a terrible, terrible month for the fans. Night after night they came, they tuned in. Rain, quiet streets," owner John Henry wrote on Twitter. "Congratulations to the entire Tampa Bay organization on a miraculous, but well-earned passport to the postseason."
Manager Terry Francona acknowledged he and Epstein saw signs of trouble earlier in the season. He did not specify what he saw, but said: "Normally, as a season progresses, there's events that make you care about each other. With this team, it didn't happen as much as I wanted it to. … You need a team that wants to protect each other on the field and be fiercely loyal to each other on the field."
Epstein said everything will be evaluated over the offseason, including the front office and the coaching staff. But he would not make a scapegoat of Francona, saying: "Nobody blames what happened in September on Tito."
First baseman Adrian Gonzalez tried to deflect some blame to ESPN. "We play too many night games on getaway days and get into places at 4 in the morning," Gonzalez told the Boston Globe. "This has been my toughest season physically because of that. We play a lot of night games on Sunday for television and that those things take a lot out of you."
Among the problems Epstein took the blame for were the decisions on some high-priced free agents. Though he didn't call them mistakes, Epstein acknowledged that the team needs more from both pitcher John Lackey, who was 12-12 with a 6.41 ERA in the second year of a five-year, $82.5 million deal, and outfielder Carl Crawford, the former Rays star who signed a seven-year, $142 million deal last offseason.
"The rehabilitation of John Lackey," Epstein said, "I think it's a big priority, for obvious reasons."
And the same is true of Crawford, who was at or near career lows with a .255 average, 18 stolen bases, 11 homers and 56 RBIs.
"Carl has taken full and very public responsibility for having a disappointing year," Epstein said. "The next step is, what are you going to do about it?"