3.6.2002 00:13

A job he couldn't manage

Sox: Kerrigan lacked experience

BY STEVEN KRASNER
Journal Sports Writer

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Finally, the other shoe dropped.

Joe Kerrigan was fired as manager of the Boston Red Sox late yesterday afternoon, a little more than an hour after his team had won its third exhibition game in a row.

Interim general manager Mike Port and president/CEO Larry Lucchino informed Kerrigan of their decision in a 15-minute meeting after just about everyone -- coaches and players -- had left the clubhouse.

Third-base coach Mike Cubbage will run the team for now, while the Sox search for another manager.

Kerrigan reportedly had credibility issues and was not especially well respected by the players in the managerial role that was thrust on him last Aug. 16 when then-general manager Dan Duquette fired Jimy Williams and pulled him away from his pitching-coach position.


AFP Photo
IT'S LONELY AT THE TOP: Joe Kerrigan, in a soggy outfield at Yankee Stadium last season, was a victim of inexperience.
But that apparently is not why he was let go. Kerrigan ultimately fell victim to something he couldn't control, a lack of managerial experience, said Port and Lucchino.

That inexperience is what prompted them to fire Kerrigan after a day and a half of management discussions that also included new owners John Henry and Tom Werner.

Port and Lucchino talked yesterday about the great respect they had for Kerrigan as a pitching coach, and left the door open for him to return to the organization at some point, likely in some type of pitching-coach capacity.

But as a manager, Kerrigan was found to be lacking what the new owners think is a solid, playoff-contending team that plays under a microscope in a city that's so passionate about the sport.

Kerrigan certainly didn't cover himself with managerial glory last season.

The Sox plunged down the tubes, whining all the way, with Kerrigan at the controls last year. Boston went 12-26 before winning the final five meaningless games of the season under Kerrigan, who hadn't managed so much as a Little League game before being entrusted with the Red Sox.

Kerrigan, who had a $1.6-million contract through next season, will be replaced for now by Cubbage. But a short time after last night's announcement, the Sox' management team was busy going about the process of beginning a search for a new man for the job.

The usual prospects were on the Sox' short list for a successor. The names of Buck Showalter, Felipe Alou, Jim Fregosi, Grady Little and Ken Macha quickly surfaced, as they have ever since the ownership change was effected and Duquette was sent packing.

Port said there was no timetable for naming a new manager, understanding that there are mandates from Major League Baseball that require them to undertake a search that would include minority candidates.

Today, the Sox will play their seventh exhibition game. Opening Day is only 26 days away. Time is of the essense, Port realizes.

"It is our aspiration to do a proper job in the shortest time frame possible," said Port. "We want to get as much input as is reasonable. An element of managerial experience will be a priority, as well as other attributes. There's the passion for the game, strategic abilities. But the element of managerial experience moves to the forefront."

Port did not say that managerial experience in the major leagues was a prerequisite. Showalter (New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks), Fregosi (most recently Toronto) and Alou (Montreal) all have managed in the big leagues in the last two seasons.

Little, the Cleveland Indians' bench coach, and Macha, bench coach for Oakland, have extensive managerial experience in the minors. Little, who served as a Red Sox coach under Jimy Williams for three years, managed the Indians several times when manager Charlie Manuel was ill the last two seasons. Macha's experience includes three seasons in Pawtucket.

Cubbage also could be considered, said Port, though he said he wouldn't comment on possible successors. Cubbage was with Houston for the previous five years -- four as a third-base coach and then as bench coach in 2001. He was a candidate for the Astros' opening this offseason, but Williams was hired.

Cubbage managed for six seasons in the minors in the 1980s, compiling a 462-305 record.

Kerrigan's experience? As a manager, he had none when he was introduced. And even though Port said that "history is history," meaning last year's unraveling was in the past, the worry was that one cause of the ugly finish in 2001 was Kerrigan's inexperience.

But Lucchino said the new owners tried to see for themselves if Kerrigan would be the right man. And all indications have been that Kerrigan has run a smooth, organized camp. Still, the owners and Port, not unexpectedly, ultimately decided not to trust Kerrigan with this team.

"I think it's fair to say we were initially concerned with the management experience question," said Lucchino last night. "It seemed fair for us to get to know Joe Kerrigan, and we made an effort to do so the last week or so. But it's very hard in the space of a few days to overcome the issue of managerial experience."

The question the owners asked themselves was whether Kerrigan deserved a chance to open the season with this team given his lack of experience. Obviously, that answer was "No."

"In the short term and in the long term, we have to decide what's in the best interests of the franchise," said Lucchino. "We decided that the best interests of the franchise were more important than affording Joe an opportunity for additional on-the-job training."

The only surprise regarding the announcement was that it had taken so long in coming.

Even before the new owners officially assumed control of the team last Wednesday, Kerrigan was thought to be on shaky ground. Duquette was dispatched last Thursday, and Kerrigan was expected to follow him out the door in short order.

Kerrigan survived, though bombarded with questions each day about his job status, as were the players, who were hoping the cloud of uncertainty would be cleared up, one way or the other.

Several players even came out and offered their support, though it sounded to some as merely a case of being politically correct.

Just yesterday afternoon, in fact, after Pedro Martinez had worked two scoreless innings in a 4-2 win over Atlanta in his spring debut, the Sox' ace talked about Kerrigan and backed Kerrigan's assertion that the two of them did not have the major disagreement in a post-Sept. 11 workout that was reported.

Martinez said he snapped at Kerrigan, opting not to watch a pitcher warm up in the bullpen, as Kerrigan had asked. But he said that it wasn't a big deal. And he went on to say that he would have no problem pitching for Kerrigan if he was to keep the job this year.

"I respect him as a manager and a coach. I'll play for him," said Martinez. "I have nothing bad to say about Joe. I wouldn't like anyone to lose his job, not even my worst enemy. I'm not sticking my nose in their (the owners') decision. If they're going to give him a chance, I'll be happy. If they fire him, I won't be happy because someone has lost his job."

That someone was Joe Kerrigan. And it wasn't the players who cost him his job. Port said the move was made without players' input, and that the players weren't informed because they already had left. This morning Port said there would be a meeting with the players to discuss the personnel move.

And now that Kerrigan's gone, it's time to move on, to find the next manager of the Boston Red Sox.


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