FORT MYERS, Fla. --
Mike Cubbage
got the bad news yesterday morning, but it hardly came out of the blue.
Shortly before CEO
Larry Lucchino
and GM
Mike Port
introduced new manager
Grady Little
to the rest of the Red Sox, they told Cubbage, who has been serving as the team's interim manager since Joe Kerrigan was fired last week, that the job would be going to somebody else.
"I wasn't surprised," said Cubbage after the Sox settled for their second tie in the last five days, an 8-8 affair with the Texas Rangers. "I had read that (Grady Little) was going to get the job. I never got got high hopes for the job because Grady was here, he had worked for Larry Lucchino, he had coached Manny . . . I guess the phrase would be, he had the inside track.
"I've known Grady for years. I managed against him a long time ago. I told him when I saw him earlier: 'It's about time you got a job.' He's been deserving of a chance for a long time."
Like Little, Cubbage did his apprenticeship as a minor league manager and has worked on several big-league coaching staffs.
"Seeing they gave it to a new guy (someone without major league managerial experience) gives me hope," Cubbage said, "that maybe eventually I'll get a chance."
Then, reflecting on the timing, he quipped: "I just wish somone had given (Little) a job a year ago -- then I'd be even happier."
Cubbage's stint as interim manager isn't over just yet. He'll manage today and likely tomorrow in Jupiter against the St. Louis Cardinals and Montreal Expos.
Little, who had to return to Winter Haven yesterday to clear up some personal matters, is expected to travel to Jupiter today, but won't be there for the start of the game. Tomorrow, he'll watch his new team, then hold team and staff meetings Thursday afternoon before making his managerial debut Thursday night.
Two good, one bad
Pedro Martinez
had two strong innings before faltering in the third in his second Grapefruit League outing.
After cruising through the first two frames, retiring the first seven hitters he faced, he was banged around in the third, allowing three hits and three runs.
"He threw good," said Cubbage. "He was trying to throw his curveball for strikes, and he threw four in a row."
"The results -- I don't really care about," said Martinez. "I wanted to get my work in. I was trying to work on my breaking ball and I kept missing with it."
Martinez' next outing will probably come in five days. He had six days between his first and second outings as the Sox take every precaution in bringing him along.
First cutdown day
The Sox made their first roster cuts of the spring.
Infielder
Angel Santos
was optioned to the minor league camp, with five others assigned outright: catcher
Kelly Ramos,
infielder
Freddy Sanchez, Todd Betts
and
Freddy Sanchez
and pitcher
Chris Elmore.
More cuts will probably take place later in the week. The moves leave the Sox with 55 players still in camp.
Everett a no-show
Two former Red Sox general mamagers were in the press box when Little was introduced --
Lou Gorman
and
Haywood Sullivan.
Gorman still works as a consultant for the team, while Sullivan has business interests in the area . . . The Sox set a City of Palms Park attendance record with a crowd of 7,987 . . .
Butch Henry
was lit up for five runs on four hits in 12/3 innings of work. He walked three . . .
Manny Ramirez
and
Tony Clark
had homers for the Sox. Clark's was his third of the spring . . . Former Sox outfielder
Carl Everett
didn't make the trip from Port Charlotte with the Rangers. He's still rehabilitating his right knee, which he had surgery on in December.
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