Part of me would prefer to ignore this past season entirely and look forward to next year, but given the nature of the stories I've been reading, I'd be a poor fan not to acknowledge what's being said and dissect it for myself. Below are my thoughts.
The Article
First off, Hohler's article is trash, but I have to admit it: so is my team and the organization as a whole.
Starting with Hohler: the first clue that this article is likely garbage is that the guy doesn't even cover sports primarily. He was once the Red Sox beat writer - back in 2004.
Tito
That didn't stop Hohler from impugning Francona's personal life, dredging up any marital issues he may have had, and going even further to insinuate that his performance was affected by a potential addiction to pain killers.
You can evaluate Tito's performance any way you want, but from what I've seen over the years, he was always professional and conducted himself well publicly. If he had a sin, it was that he was too much a "players's manager." The reason we hired him in the first place is because Curt Schilling loved the guy - Schilling being a blow-hard (albeit an entertaining one) who likes to get his way. When you combine a bunch of lazy bastards in the dugout who also like to have their way, of course chaos ensues. So yes, Tito lost control of the team, but let's blame it on his managing style not meshing with the collection of players in the dugout - leave his personal life out of it.
Organizational Behavior
Taking a detour from the article, there was a ridiculous incident recently where John Henry publicly declared that he "personally opposed" the signing of Carl Crawford. I once respected Henry's business savvy, but I'm starting to think he's one of the dumbest owners in the league. Congrats, you made your point that you're a hands-off exec who lets baseball operations do their thing - because you're too busy alienating a guy making $20 million a year who has to work for you for 6 more years. Protip: keep your sickly vocal chords off the air.
Back to the article: Hohler says the team's scheduling of a double-header was the beginning of the breakdown for the team. Preposterous. Just because you have to play one unfortunately scheduled game one month before the end of the season doesn't mean the entire team is going to stop caring for the rest of the year. If anything, it's John Henry's response that raises more concern for me ($300 headphones & yacht cruise). Here's an owner who feels that it's necessary to bribe his players into doing their job - beyond the considerable compensation already in their contracts. The fact that he feels it necessary to do that speaks volumes regarding the character of some, if not many, of the players. And the fact he was willing to coddle them also shows how the organization is run: like a daycare center. Anything to get the babies to stop crying, right?
The Three Stooges
Speaking of infantile behavior, let's move on to the baby-fat triplets: Beckett, Lester and Lackey. The one useful piece of information from Hohler's article was news that these three (and sometimes Buchholz) would not even sit in the dugout but eat fried chicken and play Xbox 360 in the locker room. Their performance, unsurprisingly, was abysmal, and it really shows how fractured the team was if they refused to abide by one of the simplest rules in the unwritten players code. Many other organizations don't even allow beer or video games in the locker room, and who can blame them for actually running their franchises as legitimate businesses where people work and get a job done.
Skipping ahead to more of Hohler's malarkey: he takes a Wakefield quote out of context, and implies that Francona's son and son-in-law fighting in Afghanistan hurt his managerial performance. Sure, let's blame his hero son who I'm sure he's quite proud of.
Eventually he gets to the leadership vacuum on the team. He might make a couple valid points here. Ortiz was a bit panicky in the final month, and he was out of line in requesting more Aceves starts publicly rather than privately, but at least he tried (love some Alfredo sauce in my rotation). I can't blame him too much for freaking out like he did.
Varitek clearly isn't the captain he once was; this is a guy who led by example, not so much by word. As a part-time catcher (and an increasingly ineffective one), I'm not surprised that he didn't take control of the team like Papi tried to. Maybe he'll need to work on his verbal leadership skills before accepting my assignment.
Hohler's comments against Adrian Gonzalez, however, were utter trash. He took one quote and blew it out of proportion. Yes, it was a difficult year for him physically, but he played night after night with an injured shoulder - it wasn't just the scheduling that wore him down. Besides, no one in their right mind would expect Gonzalez to come in and be the gel in the clubhouse. He wasn't even "that guy" in San Diego when he was their best player. As a devout Christian, it seems fitting that he carries himself with a quiet humility, but aside from any moral character he may have, a sports team needs someone who is vocal to unify the troops when times get tough, not the soft-spoken contemplative type.
Pedroia appears to be the best available leader in the clubhouse. In his quote at the end of the article, he talks about accountability, and that's exactly the key word that every player should have on their minds next year.
Conclusion
This is the hardest time I've had being a fan of this team. There were some pretty dark times: Tom Brunansky was once the best power hitter we had; Jose Offerman once "played" our infield; John "Way Back" Wasdin... but it hurts a lot more to see so much talent out there being wasted because of poor character and cringe-worthy management.
I don't want to overplay the problems of the team, because, at the end of the day, lots of players with poor character play well, and lots of money can overcome even the most inept owners. But as a fan, a bit of the joy I had from watching the team is gone, and I hope I have reason to reclaim it soon.
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