3.7.2002 00:16

Kerrigan already knew gig was over

• While the official word was delivered to him Tuesday afternoon, the deposed Red Sox manager had gotten the unofficial message last Friday.


BY STEVEN KRASNER
Journal Sports Writer

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Joe Kerrigan was not blind.

He knew a week ago that he was not going to be managing the Boston Red Sox this season.

So when president/CEO Larry Lucchino and interim general manager Mike Port walked into his office around 4:30 Tuesday afternoon to tell him he was being fired, Kerrigan wasn't the least bit shocked.

While the official word was delivered to him Tuesday afternoon, Kerrigan said he had gotten the message unofficially last Friday, when new owners John Henry and Tom Werner joined Lucchino in extending their initial greetings to the players in a team meeting.

"When the owners stood up and thanked me for my patience and the way the camp was being run, but (gave me) no endorsement in front of the players, I saw it coming," said Kerrigan.


'When the owners stood up and thanked me for my patience and the way the camp was being run, but (gave me) no endorsement in front of the players, I saw it coming. I've been around the block. I can read the landscape. I knew my days were numbered.'
"I've been around the block. I can read the landscape. I knew my days were numbered," he said.

Kerrigan made those comments yesterday morning, arriving at City of Palms Park around 8:15, making sure he got there before the players traveling to yesterday's game in Bradenton trooped onto the bus.

Kerrigan, who had been with Boston since being hired as a pitching coach in October 1996 by former general manager Dan Duquette, shook hands with several players as he went around the room from locker to locker.

There were no bone-crushing hugs, nor were any of the players visibly upset at the departure of Kerrigan, whose lack of managerial experience was cited as a major reason for his dismissal. Kerrigan went 17-26 at the end of last season after taking over following Jimy Williams's firing Aug. 16.

But no one was speaking ill of him, either, as Kerrigan offered his good-byes. In general, while there's still a disconcerting air of uncertainty in the clubhouse, the players know their focus has to be on getting their bodies ready for the season.

"No one wants to see anyone lose his job," said All-Star shortstop Nomar Garciaparra. "With all the changes here, though, you're not really concerned. You're not taking anything for granted or as a surprise.

"There's still the time up there (on the message board) when we have to be ready for the bus, clothes are still in my locker. I have to get ready for a game," he said.

Kerrigan, meanwhile, has to prepare himself for a summer spent not wearing a baseball uniform. That is, unless some other team comes calling. The biggest rumor floating around yesterday was that the New York Yankees might make a run at him to join the defending American League champions as a pitching coach because of current coach Mel Stottlemyre's battle with cancer.

The Red Sox are leaving the door open for Kerrigan to return to the organization at some point in a yet-to-be-determined capacity, likely to involve his expertise as a pitching coach.

Kerrigan, though, said he wanted to get away for a few days and didn't want to discuss his baseball future. At the age of 48, he has been in professional baseball for 29 years, and yesterday marked his first pink slip.

His immediate future includes a March 22 closing on a house he and his wife, Abigail, have built outside Philadelphia. And he plans on watching his son, Joe, an infielder in the Red Sox' farm system, play this summer.

Kerrigan said he harbored no grudges against the new owners.

"When someone spends $700 million for a franchise, they have the right to change what they want -- the GM, the manager, the color of the seats. It's their bats and balls. They have the right to tell you to go or pick up their bats and balls and go home. That's fine. They exercised that right," said Kerrigan.

Though Kerrigan had a strong inclination that he was about to be fired, he didn't convey that to the team or the media. He kept working hard to keep camp running smoothly.

"I had to," said Kerrigan. "I had a uniform on, and I have a respect for the major-league uniform. That was my first responsibility. But I had to joke about it with my wife, that the ax was hanging over my head. What can you do? You can't cry in your beer about it."

The one regret that Kerrigan has is that he won't get the opportunity to manage this year's version of the Red Sox.

"This team will win 90-100 games. Whoever comes in to manage this team will be a lucky man," said Kerrigan. "Ralph Treuel is a capable pitching coach. The coaching staff is great. The manager will be an overseer. I respect everyone in that clubhouse, especially the catchers. It was tough seeing (Jason) Varitek. He's a warrior."

It wasn't an easy moment for Varitek, either.

"I'm sad to see Joe go," said Varitek. "I was really sad to see Jimy go. Joe worked really hard at whatever he's done here. We've been through a lot together. We've had closed-door fights that made us both better, learning the game."

Varitek was asked if he thought Kerrigan had gotten a fair chance to prove he could manage.

"Of course not," said Varitek. "Yes, it was unfair to Joe, but it also was unfair to Jimy. But Joe wanted to be a manager, so if it's a goal of yours, you wouldn't look at it as unfair to you."

Manny Ramirez, who reportedly had run-ins with Kerrigan after he had been named manager, said he was unaffected by the firing and by whom the Red Sox might select to replace Kerrigan.

"Whatever they do, it's their decision," said Ramirez. "Whoever's here, I have to do my job. It doesn't matter who they bring in."

Did he like Kerrigan?

"I just came in and played my game," said Ramirez with a shrug.

Pedro Martinez, who also reportedly clashed with Kerrigan at times, said he wasn't surprised, but that he had respect for Kerrigan.

"I had a good relationship with Joe," said Martinez, who also worked with Kerrigan in Montreal. "And Joe is a hard worker. As hard as we work, no one works harder than Joe. I'm not surprised, to be honest, that they fired him. But after they let him sneak by three or four days after firing Dan, I thought he might stay longer."

No one in the clubhouse was surprised by the news, which, if they hadn't already heard about it, was conveyed to the players by Port in a brief meeting early yesterday morning.

"It was talked about so much," said Derek Lowe, who was critical of Kerrigan when he yanked the right-hander out of the closer's role without telling him on the first day he took over, last Aug. 16.

"In the back of my mind, I wanted him to stay," said Lowe, whom Kerrigan had converted into a starting pitcher. "Joe definitely helped my career. He'll probably be a manager somewhere some day. He's been a fantastic pitching coach."

But now Kerrigan is out of a job, though he will be paid $1.5 million on his managerial contract, which runs through 2003.

While Kerrigan and the players seemed to take the firing in stride, the same can't be said for Kerrigan's wife.

"My wife took it extremely hard. She loves the city of Boston," said Kerrigan.

His eyes began welling up with tears. At that point, he ended the media session and walked away with his son, leaving behind the job as a big-league manager -- the job he had coveted for so long.


Back to: Red Sox Printer-Friendly Version
Read/Post to our Bulletin Board on this topic