This is insane and ego driven by Kenny if it truley is his choice. I'm not so sure it is his choice. Still think it's JR. But if it is Kenny, here is why he is doing it.

1. He wants to stick it to Ozzie by having another beloved ex Sox manage this team and do well. If Robin does well, greater chance that Ozzie is forgotten and/or hated by the Sox fans. Kenny wants that.

2. He wants this to work so he'll be known as a genius for a hire that nobody else in baseball would have done. He's jelous of Billy Bean getting a movie for being a genius and he wants that type of love and attention.

It has a small chance of working but Kenny is taking that risk for the greater reward for himself that he sees in this. If he hires a Dave Martinez or Sandy Alomar, and they do well, he doesn't get praised since everybody in baseball has them on their radar as future good managers.

Yeah, and I believe he squeezed 86 wins out of that collection of misfits one year. He did have Zoilo Versalles on the team though.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I never thought I'd say this, but Beardown stick to B&B.

_________________

Then after 3 years of 63-96 great year

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I'm going to bounce from the spot for awhile but I will be back at some point to argue with you about this hoops stuff again. Playoffs have been great this season. See ya up the road.

I'm out.

I just read all 7 pages of this thread...shoot me now!

The first few posts seemed realistic & real....with shock & questions.....the last few pages have it being a good hire!

No one knows. All I can say is if this were the cubs...the sox fans would be all over the "meatball" aspect of it...but Since it is their hire, they want to HOPE that it is a good hire. So cub like. So optimistic.

It sucks! Good luck, maybe it'll work.

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Proud to be UNVERIFIED.

I wouldn't really call it "meatballish". I don't know any Sox fan who ever thought about Ventura being the next manager. It's shocking. That's for sure. If you're someone who thinks managers matter, I can see you being angry and upset. Has this guy ever even coached at any professional level, besides maybe in spring training?

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

He finally learned how to manage.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

For the record....I don't really think it's a bad hire...but you just don't know what you have. My guess is by early May of 2012...you will draw your conclusions. It starts with the roster and pitching...then ????

_________________
Proud to be UNVERIFIED.

I would be a lot angrier about this hire if I didn't love Ventura SO much and think he will make a fantastic manager someday. I just wish he would have spent more time around professional baseball the last few years.

If nothing else they sure hired the anti- Ozzie Guillen.

5 hours, 7 pages has to be a record.

Just heard Urkel talking about this. I swear, I thought he was joking. Terry Francona's on the market. Bob Brenly's available. And Robin might have made a good bench coach to one of them. I give this a year, tops.

Huh?

How can you say he was as good as other candidates out there. Davey Martinez has sat next to a guy who is considered one of the best managers in the game right now in Tampa. Surely that counts for something. Alomar has been around a ML bench the last few years as well.

This really is like the Bulls hiring Del Negro.

What about the Ventura hire makes you think Rios and Dunn are going to be better? Were they bad because of Ozzie?

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Never confuse activity with accomplishment.

_________________

Why didn't they go for Grebek He put in some time coaching possibly managing but at least coaching in the Angels minor league system which is supposed to be the gold mine.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

You are a meatball, I expect you to like this hire. FavreFan isn't, he should know better.

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Ventura I expect is relatively cheap and has fan recognition. It seems meatballish, but its hard to argue with. If you brought Brenly in, and still had a weak team, what's the point of paying a premium price? Unless you're willing to toss Kenny, restock the minors & gut the team, and be ready with all that by opening day...

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Middle Aged Crazy, like Uncle Terry

When did I say in that quote that I like the hire? All I said was that being a bench coach for years with Cleveland or Tampa, they have just as many games managed at the big league level as Ventura- 0.

_________________

And come on, you know that actually sitting on a ML bench is very valuable experience. Ventura has none of that.

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

It can be. I'm just saying it doesn't automatically equal success.

_________________

I am not saying it is.

Maybe Ventura will end up being the greatest manager in Sox history. But I just think it is silly to say that Ventura is as good as any candidate out there. Guys like Martinez and Alomar have put themselves in position to be really prepared when given the opportunity.

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Frank, in your last few posts, you just proved my point on why Jerry hired the white, fan favorite ex player. He hired him for you and your kind of Sox fan. If it fails I'm blaming you.

The next time Rosenbloom calls Ricketts the fanboy owner he better include JR in the sentence.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Nah

The day of the BlackCastle incident, that thread grew 7 pages in the hour I went to lunch.

_________________

Darrin Jackson thinks Ventura will be successful because he can sit next to each player and have a conversation with them. What the hell is that?

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

It's where two people exchange thoughts and ideas...

That was an embarrassing conversation. I though Sir was going to challenge him when he asked him why he thought Ventura would be successfull. Jackson gave a typically empty answer and it died at that. Sir is against the hire, why not ask a person who supports the move to explain himself fully.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

The thing about this move is that the Sox will only be good if Rios, Dunn and Peavy are good. There is not a single thing Robin will have done that will make them good or bad.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Oh I don't know about that. Ozzie spent the first 4 months of the season hitting Dunn in the 3 hole. I would hope that Robin would be able to realize a little sooner that hitting the worst hitter in baseball in the middle of the order is not a good way to win baseball games.

The one interesting thing from DJ was that he seemed to indicate he thought Beckham should have been sent down to the minors early in the season to send a message to him and the rest of the team

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.