Lucchino: 'David against Goliath'

[unfinished_business]

That really pisses me off!

Lucchino offers no rebuttal to Boss
President/CEO sees Sox-Yanks as 'David against Goliath'

Sorry Larry!

but the Red Sox are the David and the Yanks are the Goliath??

Come on! Since Oct04 the BoSox are just like the Yankees:
- no curse
- huge payroll
- pretty arrogant fans
- even more arrogant players and EXECUTIVES

the real Davids of Baseball are Teams like the Brewers, A's and Indians (good front offices / low payrolls / exciting young players ...)



P.S.
When you think of the Royals or Devil Rays as the Davids - forget it! These Teams are the BUMS of baseball (low payrolls / lower front offices and owners).

[Mattingly]

I'm guessing that the whole "underdog" thing may be playing out here. When did he actually say this? I didn't see any headlines about this when I skimmed both the Boston Globe and Herald websites.

As to the curse, I'd agree. Payroll, they're still 2/3 of the Yanks, so I can't say they're a close 2nd.

As to fans' and/or players' arrogance, I'm not too sure. Red Sox Nation is all over, so you'll meet all types. The majority of Red Sox fans here are just fine, from what I've seen.

I'd agree that the real "Davids" out there would be the Royals, Brewers, D-Rays et al. I'm not too sure you can avoid the "Goliath" label if you've got the 2nd highest payroll around, even if it's a distant 2nd.

[unfinished_business]

I'm guessing that the whole "underdog" thing may be playing out here. When did he actually say this? I didn't see any headlines about this when I skimmed both the Boston Globe and Herald websites.

i read that 20min ago on http://mlb.com



i do not really like to call KC and TB as Davids because their Management is just inept. (remember David prevailed against Goliath.)

[Mattingly]

i read that 20min ago on http://mlb.com

i do not really like to call KC and TB as Davids because their Management is just inept. (remember David prevailed against Goliath.)

I'll check this out.

As to the prevailing part, then you can count the D-Backs, Angels, Marlins and White Sox could definitely be considered "Davids", as they each had sub-$100m payrolls.

Debatable whether the 2004 BoSox could be seen in the same light. Whenever your payroll is $100m+, I think that takes the whole "underdog" thing away from you.

[Mattingly]

Here's the article:

Lucchino offers no rebuttal to Boss
President/CEO sees Sox-Yanks as 'David against Goliath'

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- A day after Yankees owner George Steinbrenner boldly predicted that his team would win the World Series this year for the first time since 2000, Red Sox president/CEO Larry Lucchino conveniently arrived at his team's Spring Training camp, just in time to offer his reaction to the many inquiring media members.
However, there was no tasty rebuttal coming from the man who once deemed the Yankees the "Evil Empire." Instead, there was confidence in his own team and the comfort in playing the role of the underdog.

"I'm sure the optimism of spring flows through every camp in baseball, and I'm glad [Steinbrenner's] optimistic, but I'm not going to comment on that," Lucchino said. "We still see ourselves as David against Goliath."

This, even though the Red Sox finally conquered the Yankees in October 2004, becoming the first team in baseball history to rally from a 3-0 postseason deficit, en route to winning the franchise's first World Series since 1918.

The Red Sox found out last year just how tough it is to go into a season as the hunted, winning 95 games, but being swept out of the postseason by the eventual World Series champion White Sox. This spring, things are back to normal, and the Red Sox are just one of 29 teams trying to unseat the White Sox.

"It's a very intriguing, interesting team," Lucchino said. "But we're still, in the eyes of many, considered to be underdogs. That's OK. That's what they're saying in New York, that's what they're saying in Toronto, and there are some other good teams in our division as well."

[KCGHOST]

I can't believe any Pirate fan would be dissing on any other team. You might want to concentrate on your own problems.

[unfinished_business]

I can't believe any Pirate fan would be dissing on any other team. You might want to concentrate on your own problems.

oops. You are RIGHT!!
ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!!

The Pirates may have the most losses in the last 10 years. THEY ARE BUMS! just as the ROCKIES ROYALS DevRAYS and maybe especially the Orioles since they spend millions of millions for 4th place finishes the last 8 years.

Maybe I was getting ahead of myself since Spring Training has started and I a bit of hope the Bucs will turn their ship around :gt (just perhaps like the Royals-Fans Rays-Fans Rockies-Fans and all the other BumTeamsFans)


My real point just was that Lucchino (in my view) gave himself and the Red Sox an execuse should their season be a disappointment since they got a lot of IFs in their Team!

[Mattingly]

That whole "uphill battle" thing isn't exactly new. How many times do we hear of a boxer or another athlete saying that they're "hurt", and if they win, it's only good; if they lose, it's not as bad?

If there are holes in the team, then there are holes in every single other team, I'm sure. The Yanks have a questionable lineup of guys who must do in 2006 what they did in 2005. Unit was good around the 2nd half, but Pavano has to play a decent amount of games, hopefully around 30 starts. Can Wang be good in the playoffs? Can he keep this infield hits coming back and fieldable?

I'd only fault Lucky Larry for selling his guys short.

Perhaps, as one Boston fan here has mentioned, he really does eat red chowder.

[iPod]

That really pisses me off!



Sorry Larry!

but the Red Sox are the David and the Yanks are the Goliath??

Come on! Since Oct04 the BoSox are just like the Yankees:
- no curse
- huge payroll
- pretty arrogant fans
- even more arrogant players and EXECUTIVES

the real Davids of Baseball are Teams like the Brewers, A's and Indians (good front offices / low payrolls / exciting young players ...)



P.S.
When you think of the Royals or Devil Rays as the Davids - forget it! These Teams are the BUMS of baseball (low payrolls / lower front offices and owners).

Actually, if you think about it, the Red Sox in October 2004 by definition couldn't have been cursed. The stipulations of a curse can't be that, to break it, you have to do what you were cursed not to do. It's a logical impossibility; or put another way, it's like saying "You won't win a championship until you win a championship." That makes no sense.

It means one of two things happened:
1) There was never any curse.
2) The curse was already broken.

Anyone else think about this? It's been bugging me ever since October of 2004.

[Ontarioguy]

There are no curses in Baseball. It's just some romantic idea thought up by media guys to spin a good tale.

2004 and 2005 showcased two 'cursed' teams win a World Series. That's all the proof I need.

It takes hard work to win a Championship. On all levels, from the ownership through to the front office and right down to the players.

The only curses are bad ownership and bad management.

I hope the Cubs win it all this year to complete the Triple Crown Curse. Then all this talk can be put to rest.

Here's a thought, did my Expos suffer from the curse of Bud Selig?

[Brian McKenna]

Actually, if you think about it, the Red Sox in October 2004 by definition couldn't have been cursed. The stipulations of a curse can't be that, to break it, you have to do what you were cursed not to do. It's a logical impossibility; or put another way, it's like saying "You won't win a championship until you win a championship." That makes no sense.

It means one of two things happened:
1) There was never any curse.
2) The curse was already broken.

Anyone else think about this? It's been bugging me ever since October of 2004.

curses are make believe like the tooth fairy - i'll pass on the indepth analysis of such

[YOUgodofwalks]

This is just a media tactic that every team uses, it's the same thing as "we've been disrespected", "we were counted out" and ect. don't read too much into it as media hype was probably the sole purpose of the comment, get things riled up, that type of thing. Larry likes to do that sort of thing, "Evil Empire" ring any bells?

And unfinished_business, I don't really like you're generalization of Red Sox fans, we're really not that bad if you'd have a conversation with some of us here at BBF.

[CuriousBoston]

I agree

This is just a media tactic that every team uses, it's the same thing as "we've been disrespected", "we were counted out" and ect. don't read too much into it as media hype was probably the sole purpose of the comment, get things riled up, that type of thing. Larry likes to do that sort of thing, "Evil Empire" ring any bells?

And unfinished_business, I don't really like you're generalization of Red Sox fans, we're really not that bad if you'd have a conversation with some of us here at BBF.

This is a media tactic that Larry has done before vs. NYY. I agree that Boston has a huge payroll, but it is fact the Yankees spending is.....like putting diamonds on a poodle.

I'm getting really ticked about this "arrogant" label tacked on to BoSox players and FANS. People that the writers of said insult have never met, never had a conversation with. If you chose a specific person, and give specific reasons for putting a label on someone, that might be acceptable.

To put the label on a large group of people is plain rude. Please explain to me how Trot Nixon and Jason Varitek are arrogant. Wakefield. Me. VtSoxFan, Yougodofwalks.

This isn't the first time the "arrogance" label has been given to ALL BoSox and ALL fans; I hope it is the last.

[Mattingly]

Perhaps, as one Boston fan here has mentioned, he really does eat red chowder.

This is a media tactic that Larry has done before vs. NYY. I agree that Boston has a huge payroll, but it is fact the Yankees spending is.....like putting diamonds on a poodle.

I'm getting really ticked about this "arrogant" label tacked on to BoSox players and FANS. People that the writers of said insult have never met, never had a conversation with. If you chose a specific person, and give specific reasons for putting a label on someone, that might be acceptable.

To put the label on a large group of people is plain rude. Please explain to me how Trot Nixon and Jason Varitek are arrogant. Wakefield. Me. VtSoxFan, Yougodofwalks.

This isn't the first time the "arrogance" label has been given to ALL BoSox and ALL fans; I hope it is the last.

Blah blah blah. You forgot the import stuff. Does Leisure Suit Larry eat red chowder? Yes or no.

So individual Red Sox fans can be called names? Hmmmmmmmmmm ...

[VTSoxFan]

So individual Red Sox fans can be called names? Hmmmmmmmmmm ...

Now wait just one cotton pickin' minute here......