After the 2002 season, Theo Epstein was named the new general manager of the Boston Red Sox and the news crews couldn’t get enough.
He was a perfect choice, born in Brookline and a lifelong Sox fan. He was an Ivy League graduate and had a sixth sense when it came to the game and its intricacies. He was very young, but by no means green.
Everyone knows the moves, the deals, the broadcasts, the relationship he had with Larry Lucchino and the championship he helped bring to Boston, but no one can fathom why he would want to leave a place that’s given him deity status.
He’s set for life in Boston. There isn’t a North End restaurant that wouldn’t set up a table outside, like in “Good-fellas,” just to make sure he tried their meatballs. Along with Curt Schilling, Tom Brady and Joe Thornton (he plays hockey by the way) his face and reputation precede him wherever he goes.
So why leave? Some would say the money wasn’t good enough or the front office wouldn’t give him enough control, but there must be another reason.
Any general manager’s job is simple. Bring in the pieces to a team to make them successful inside the market they play with the money the owners are willing to spend.
In Theo’s case there was a large market and a huge amount of money to spend.
He wasn’t just given the reigns though, he had to share information and strategy with the front office and get approval for all the moves he wanted to make.
He moved from fan to intern to assistant to the GM spot and brought a championship to a town that had all but forgotten what it was like to be a winner.
So now what?
I think that’s the same question everyone asked themselves after that October night in St. Louis.
Theo grew up within the Curse and played a major part in breaking it.
If you don’t do a bit of soul-searching after that then you’re crazy.
The ultimate question that everyone needs to ask is what is there left to prove. While I’m sure Theo wants to keep winning he also wants to keep perspective on where his life is turning.
Many people have achieved early success and then went on to squander it or simply fade out of the limelight.
Richard Dreyfuss won an Oscar at 29 and didn’t have another meaningful role until he was 40. Dwight Gooden was the best pitcher in baseball at 21 and then slipped into obscurity before his thirties.
They were met with incredible success at a young age and then had a hard time finding anything else to compare it with.
Theo is a great baseball mind, but he needs to plan the kind of life he wants to lead post-2004. Will he move on to better things or fade away?
That’s anyone’s guess, but when you turn down the team that you gave everything to and got everything from you’re telling everyone that you need more time to decide.
– Robert LaMothe is a senior biology major.
