More Tito Talk

Yesterday I broke my own rule about not listening to WEEI in order to listen to Terry Francona on The Big Show. Holy cow this was a bad decision for me. Not because  the repetitive nature of the questions and Glenn Ordway’s obvious disappointment in Tito’s lack of dishing dirt made me want to smash my computer into a million pieces (which it did) but because listening to Tito be so respectful and generous in the way he spoke not only of the players, but the owners and Theo Epstein as well made me realize AGAIN that we’re losing not only the best manger the team has ever hired but a genuinely decent person as well.

Even though he admitted that the owners never made the offer to pick up his option, he called his leaving the team “mutual” and talked about the respect he has and will always have for them.  (He also said had they picked up the option he wouldn’t have left the team.)  He refused to throw any of his players under the bus but did admit that “There was an attitude toward our team that distressed me” from some of the players who were supposed to be sitting on the bench supporting the rest of the team and weren’t.  Things weren’t ideal this season and Tito blamed himself more than anyone else.  He didn’t sound like he was happy he was leaving but he wasn’t about to feed the rumor mill for the sake of WEEI’s ratings either.

What I got out of this interview was simple, Terry Francona is an honorable man.  He’ll never help support the media/fan frenzy and sell out the team where he made his name and still holds loyalties even though they aren’t paying him any more…and the team let him leave.  The players did with their actions (or in the case of some, IMO, their INaction) and the owners did the same.

Tito aside, it’s taken me a few days to realize that I think I’m pretty much just mad at everyone right now and it’s tough to write about them when I’m feeling this way.  I know that my feelings will change (or at least lessen) by the time Truck Day rolls around (that’s what I’m hoping anyway) but for now the wound is still raw.  I’m both happy and upset that Tito gave this interview…happy to hear from him and realize he is the person we thought he was and upset because being reminded of what we’re losing, plainly put, sucks.

So that’s where my mind is right now.

As an aside, I’l be doing some daily, non-blog writing at Examiner.com as well as keeping the blog going here.  Writing over there is helping me be a bit more objective right now…I can pretend to be unaffected by the goings on of the team right now.  I have two pieces up right now (here and here) and you can find them future pieces listed on my profile page.

Rob Bradford tweeted this morning that Larry Luchhino and John Henry will be on WEEI Friday between 8-9am…I don’t want to listen to D&C for an hour just to hear what they have to say but I suppose I’ll be compelled to listen to maybe finish this chapter in Red Sox history.