Lucky-Levine Love Fest

RedOctober3829

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 19, 2005
55,298
deep inside Guido territory
Larry on the Red Sox model contrasted to the Yankees.
 

“We’re very different animals. I’m proud of that difference,” Lucchino said Friday at the Red Sox’s spring training complex in Fort Myers. “I always cringe when people lump us together. Other baseball teams sometimes do that. They are still — this year at least — relying heavily on their inimitable, old-fashioned Yankees style of high-priced, long-term free agents. And I can’t say that I wish them well, but I think that we’ve taken a different approach. … If you compare what we did last year in the offseason to what they did this year, there’s quite a contrast there.”
 
 http://nesn.com/2014/02/larry-lucchino-boston-red-sox-new-york-yankees-very-different-animals/
 
Randy Levine fires back

 
Yanks' Randy Levine Sox CEO: "I feel bad for Larry because he constantly sees ghosts and is spooked by the Yankees."
 
https://twitter.com/newsdaymarcus/status/436981353838833664
 
 
Levine: "I can understand why because under his and Bobby Valentine's plan two years ago the Red Sox finished last."
 
https://twitter.com/newsdaymarcus/status/436982079759605760
 

santadevil

wears depends
Silver Supporter
SoSH Member
Aug 1, 2006
6,472
Saskatchestan
Is this even thread worthy?
 
Larry calling out the Yanks, the Yanks fire back.
Just seems petty and redundant at this point.
 

jimbobim

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 14, 2012
1,558
I think its a pretty funny response by Levine. It is truthful but does he really want to compare Cherington to Cashman over the last two years ? 
 
Quick Recap 
Cherington had Valentine pushed upon him . The team performed averagely with Valentine being a clear deterrent right from the beginning of the season with the Youk/ Pedroia controversy. Cherington cleared the payroll of Crawford Beckett and the very valuable and well compensated Gonzalez. 
 
He then turned around and won every bet he placed in free agency and had significant contribution from a farm system he helped to stock with quality pieces on his way to a World Series .
 
The Red Sox owners seem to have learned their lesson about not diversifying their investment to ensure flexibility in the event of injury. The Yankees meanwhile have injury questions everywhere and little to no young help on the way. 
 

mabrowndog

Ask me about total zone...or paint
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 23, 2003
39,676
Falmouth, MA
santadevil said:
Is this even thread worthy?
 
Larry calling out the Yanks, the Yanks fire back.
Just seems petty and redundant at this point.
 
Pettiness and redundancy are minimum prerequisites for SoSH Thread Hall of Fame consideration.
 

jackno

New Member
Jul 18, 2005
78
RI
mabrowndog said:
 
Pettiness and redundancy are minimum prerequisites for SoSH Thread Hall of Fame consideration.
Agree.  This one could quickly develop into a classic.  
Invoking the ghost of Bobby V does smack of desperation on Randy's part.
 

snowmanny

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 8, 2005
15,667
Well now we know that what is important to the Yankees is not finishing last. How times have changed.
 

JimBoSox9

will you be my friend?
SoSH Member
Nov 1, 2005
16,667
Mid-surburbia
Am I the only one who doesn't read Lucky's comments in a 'shots fired' way at all, and does read Levine's comments as a massive overreaction?  Someone calibrate my meters here.
 

brandonchristensen

Loves Aaron Judge
SoSH Member
Feb 4, 2012
38,144
I feel like the last time these two higher ups went at it was the Curse of Teix...
 
Since then it's been a VERY casual rivalry.
 

Rasputin

Will outlive SeanBerry
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Oct 4, 2001
29,421
Not here
JimBoSox9 said:
Am I the only one who doesn't read Lucky's comments in a 'shots fired' way at all, and does read Levine's comments as a massive overreaction?  Someone calibrate my meters here.
 
Nope. It sounds like someone asked him about the differences between the two organizations and he gave an honest answer.
 
 
brandonchristensen said:
I feel like the last time these two higher ups went at it was the Curse of Teix...
 
Since then it's been a VERY casual rivalry.
 
It's hard to have a rivalry when one team is winning all the time and one team isn't. 
 
M

MentalDisabldLst

Guest
Between this and the leaked emails between Levine and A-Rod that basically had the President of the Yankees talking to A-Rod as if the former were a fanboy just trying to joke around and pretend they were friends... I'm starting to wonder if Levine is all there.  I think Michael Scott runs a tighter ship than this.
 

EvilEmpire

paying for his sins
Moderator
SoSH Member
Apr 9, 2007
17,178
Washington
Rasputin said:
It's hard to have a rivalry when one team is winning all the time and one team isn't.
While the Sox had a magical season last year and won it all, let's not get too carried away. They made the playoffs once in the last four years. Those years they didn't the Yankees were better, no?
 

JohntheBaptist

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 13, 2005
11,399
Yoknapatawpha County
EvilEmpire said:
While the Sox had a magical season last year and won it all, let's not get too carried away. They made the playoffs once in the last four years. Those years they didn't the Yankees were better, no?
This is the nicest of the reasons that was a super dumb thing to say.
 

EdRalphRomero

wooderson
SoSH Member
Oct 3, 2007
4,472
deep in the hole
Pistol shots ring out in a slow-kid fight
Invoke Bobby Valentine, that should win it all
Forget last October, and a 4th place dud
My god, just play some ball
 

Rasputin

Will outlive SeanBerry
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Oct 4, 2001
29,421
Not here
EvilEmpire said:
While the Sox had a magical season last year and won it all, let's not get too carried away. They made the playoffs once in the last four years. Those years they didn't the Yankees were better, no?
 
That was a joke, son. Also, there's nothing magic about four years. Why not take a gander at thirteen?
 

Rough Carrigan

reasons within Reason
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
EvilEmpire said:
While the Sox had a magical season last year and won it all, let's not get too carried away. They made the playoffs once in the last four years. Those years they didn't the Yankees were better, no?
Hey, to be fair, the yankees had a pretty magical season last year, too!  They were expected to win 79 games by their runs scored and runs allowed but through sheer kismet won 85. 
 

EvilEmpire

paying for his sins
Moderator
SoSH Member
Apr 9, 2007
17,178
Washington
Rasputin said:
That was a joke, son. Also, there's nothing magic about four years. Why not take a gander at thirteen?
Or 5. Or 20. Or 50. Or 100. It's all silliness.

Apologies for not getting the joke. The amount of hyperbole around here sometimes makes it hard to recognize.
 

snowmanny

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 8, 2005
15,667
EvilEmpire said:
While the Sox had a magical season last year and won it all, let's not get too carried away. They made the playoffs once in the last four years. Those years they didn't the Yankees were better, no?
I remember when Yankee fans (and FO) thought the only thing that mattered was championships.
 

twibnotes

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 16, 2005
20,232
Recommended reply for Lucchino: "I am surprised Randy had time to follow our situation that year while he was busy emailing Arod about PEDs"
 

reggiecleveland

sublime
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Mar 5, 2004
27,957
Saskatoon Canada
Rasputin said:
 
Nope. It sounds like someone asked him about the differences between the two organizations and he gave an honest answer.
 
 
 
It's hard to have a rivalry when one team is winning all the time and one team isn't. 
 
I disagree. The intensity of the competition makes a rivalry. Rivals go at it without being intimidated. Sox were rivals before 2004, USA is Canada's new hockey rival because they are way better than Russia and come right at Canada while other nations withdraw hoping for a shootout win, There are regional rivalries that are intense in college and high school sports that are one sided.
 
Levine's comments are good for the rivalry because hey show how sad he is. I mean bringing up 2012 is like the French talking trash about 1918 during the 1941 off season.
 

Curt S Loew

SoSH Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Apr 12, 2001
6,510
Shantytown
santadevil said:
Is this even thread worthy?
 
 
Thread worthy?  The main board needs more threads like this.  Or maybe we could have more Drew threads?  It's awesome how times have changed and the Yankees are being all defensive.  Good times.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 24, 2002
48,205
Wait, I thought Sox fans hate Lucky for stealing Jewish Christmas by forcing the bestest GM in the history of forever out and then whisking Bobby Valentine in to save the day.  Now they are defending/celebrating him for some comments that may or may not have been taken completely out of context?  
 
Me = the color of confused
 

nattysez

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 30, 2010
8,429
Was Lucky on sabbatical when the Crawford and Gonzalez deals were signed? Maybe wait until you're not paying guys to play for the Dodgers before spouting off about your great organizational philosophy.
 

twibnotes

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 16, 2005
20,232
nattysez said:
Was Lucky on sabbatical when the Crawford and Gonzalez deals were signed? Maybe wait until you're not paying guys to play for the Dodgers before spouting off about your great organizational philosophy.
What does perfect accuracy have to do with any of this? Love him or hate him, Lucchino is a smart and calculated dude. He loves stirring the rivalry pot. It's great for bidness.

Willing to bet he doesn't even dislike the Yankee FO.
 

No Guru No Method

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 23, 2002
1,188
Hyndford Street
I thought Lucky was pretty mild with his comments. It's not like he noted how:
  • The Yankees are obsessed with employing ex-sox players in the hope that somehow the Sox championship dust will somehow rub of on them
  • That the Yankee farm system is laughable
  • That Cashman's strategic vision consists of asking Hank/Hal for more money to misspend
  • That despite spending $475M in the off-season the lineup is composed mainly of guys who are close to retiring
He didn't say any of that. Restraint.
 

Rasputin

Will outlive SeanBerry
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Oct 4, 2001
29,421
Not here
EvilEmpire said:
Or 5. Or 20. Or 50. Or 100. It's all silliness.

Apologies for not getting the joke. The amount of hyperbole around here sometimes makes it hard to recognize.
 
Yeah, it wasn't actually funny.
 
reggiecleveland said:
 
I disagree. The intensity of the competition makes a rivalry. Rivals go at it without being intimidated. Sox were rivals before 2004, USA is Canada's new hockey rival because they are way better than Russia and come right at Canada while other nations withdraw hoping for a shootout win, There are regional rivalries that are intense in college and high school sports that are one sided.
 
Levine's comments are good for the rivalry because hey show how sad he is. I mean bringing up 2012 is like the French talking trash about 1918 during the 1941 off season.
 
So do I. 
 
The state of the rivalry is a bit weird now and I really wonder what it is going to be like five years from now.
 

soxfan121

JAG
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 22, 2002
23,043
Rasputin said:
The state of the rivalry is a bit weird now and I really wonder what it is going to be like five years from now.
 
Hard to explain to our kids. "Dad, why do we hate the 4th place team more than the Rays?"
 

LogansDad

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 15, 2006
29,053
Alamogordo
twibnotes said:
Recommended reply for Lucchino: "I am surprised Randy had time to follow our situation that year while he was busy emailing Arod about PEDs"
I won't lie.... I manage to get back to New England about once every four years right now, and I would consider buying season tickets that I could never use if he did this.
 

phrenile

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Aug 4, 2005
13,837
EdRalphRomero said:
Pistol shots ring out in a slow-kid fight
Invoke Bobby Valentine, that should win it all
Forget last October, and a 4th place dud
My god, just play some ball
Stop redeeming this thread: it's beneath you.
 

Van Everyman

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2009
26,993
Newton
nattysez said:
Was Lucky on sabbatical when the Crawford and Gonzalez deals were signed? Maybe wait until you're not paying guys to play for the Dodgers before spouting off about your great organizational philosophy.
Who are we paying to play for the Dodgers?
 

StuckOnYouk

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 26, 2006
3,538
CT
Lcchino has his flaws but damn I love him for never failing to give NY a ribbing.
And honestly everything he said was fairly tame and 100% correct
 

Rasputin

Will outlive SeanBerry
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Oct 4, 2001
29,421
Not here
soxfan121 said:
 
Hard to explain to our kids. "Dad, why do we hate the 4th place team more than the Rays?"
 
Pretty much this, exactly this.
 
Imagine a kid born in 2005. He or she likely has no recollection of the Yanks winning in 2009 and likely does have a memory of them barely eking by the Orioles in 2012 only to get clobbered by the Tigers. If the Yanks don't do something in the next five years, those kids are going to be out of high school having no memory whatsoever of the Yanks being relevant. There's obviously a metric shit ton of stuff that can happen between now and then, but it's amusing to speculate.
 

AlNipper49

Huge Member
Dope
SoSH Member
Apr 3, 2001
44,851
Mtigawi
jackno said:
Agree.  This one could quickly develop into a classic.  
Invoking the ghost of Bobby V does smack of desperation on Randy's part.
Invoking Bobby V is the baseball executive equivalent of calling a girl the C word during a fight. It's a low blow. Cherington should throw is drink in Levine's face.
 

StuckOnYouk

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 26, 2006
3,538
CT
only thing missing is a reporter asking bobby v his thoughts on Levine's comments and then a three ring circus ensues.
 

mabrowndog

Ask me about total zone...or paint
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 23, 2003
39,676
Falmouth, MA
Van Everyman said:
Who are we paying to play for the Dodgers?
 
The players listed below
 
 
The blockbuster trade that sent Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett and Carl Crawford from Boston to the Dodgers last August will wrap up with the Red Sox paying $11.7 million to Los Angeles over the next three years.
 
The Red Sox will make identical payments of $3.9 million in 2013, 2014 and 2015 as part of the cash component of the trade.
 

Soxfan in Fla

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 30, 2001
7,187
nattysez said:
Was Lucky on sabbatical when the Crawford and Gonzalez deals were signed? Maybe wait until you're not paying guys to play for the Dodgers before spouting off about your great organizational philosophy.
This is pure idiocy. We sent over well over $200 million in contracts, are paying them less than $22 million total AND also received a couple good pitching prospects in Webster and Rubby. I don't think the Yanks have ever had the balls to attempt a trade like that.
 

LeoCarrillo

Do his bits at your peril
SoSH Member
Oct 13, 2008
10,390
Rasputin said:
Pretty much this, exactly this.

Imagine a kid born in 2005. He or she likely has no recollection of the Yanks winning in 2009 and likely does have a memory of them barely eking by the Orioles in 2012 only to get clobbered by the Tigers. If the Yanks don't do something in the next five years, those kids are going to be out of high school having no memory whatsoever of the Yanks being relevant. There's obviously a metric shit ton of stuff that can happen between now and then, but it's amusing to speculate.
You wanna do this. Okay, let's do this.

Now put that 9-year-old kid in NYC with a dad who's been pushing the glorious Yankees on him since mom's water broke. CI shirts, wallpaper, ice cream at the New Toilet. And now after years of the pinstripers walking into the propellor -- and the tense train rides home from the Bronx -- junior tells dad he'd kinda rather just play with Timmy and Dylan down the street than watch the game. If that's okay. I mean, Timmy just got a remote-control boat and everything.
 

WayneHousieHOF

wants you to hate boston teams like him
SoSH Member
Jan 13, 2004
693
295 corridor
Lucchino just can't help himself. And the more he comments on the Yankees and how they do business the more it's obvious they are still in his head.
And that makes Levine's response all the more hilarious.
The banter is good theater, especially as baseball is about to ramp up, but as always, less is more with Lucchino.
 

reggiecleveland

sublime
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Mar 5, 2004
27,957
Saskatoon Canada
My son is 12 and he sees the Yankees and the Habs as similar . Few months ago he noted our long suffering CFL team had won more titles (2) than the two storied franchises in his lifetime. He calls 2009 "the A-Rod team" when his Yankee fan buddy brings it up.
 

AbbyNoho

broke her neck in costa rica
SoSH Member
Jan 20, 2006
12,177
Northampton, Massachusetts
WayneHousieHOF said:
Lucchino just can't help himself. And the more he comments on the Yankees and how they do business the more it's obvious they are still in his head.
And that makes Levine's response all the more hilarious.
 
They're his direct competitor. If he didn't have an opinion about their business plan he wouldn't be doing his job. There's plenty of reasons to dislike Lucky, but his disdain for New York is not one of them. 
 

StuckOnYouk

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 26, 2006
3,538
CT
WayneHousieHOF said:
Lucchino just can't help himself. And the more he comments on the Yankees and how they do business the more it's obvious they are still in his head.
And that makes Levine's response all the more hilarious.
The banter is good theater, especially as baseball is about to ramp up, but as always, less is more with Lucchino.
 
Couldn't disagree more. I like the back and forth with NY. We know the players don't really do it much anymore, so might as well let the ownership teams chirp in. This is entertainment and I like to be entertained.
 
And I wouldn't say they are in his head as if he's jealous of them. Why would he be jealous of them right now?  They're in his head where he likes to poke them whenever he has the chance. and when his ownership team has 3 rings since they've taken over while Streinbrenner/Levine only has 1, well then fire away Lucky.
 

CaskNFappin

rembrat's protegé
May 20, 2013
254
Woonsocket, RI
What made my hatred for the Yankees burn with a fire were the offseasons like this one. The way their spending shapes the market is more poisonous than any other team. Even the Dodgers haven't always operated in this way. Maybe it's my liberal nature, but I hate seeing rich pricks pat themselves for the success they enjoy via their unlimited financial momentum. Just like the real world, they create this bloated market and are immune to its consequences in many ways. Next year some 39 year old OFcoming off a decent season is gonna expect 3/50 because Beltran did. It snowballs. It's been snowballing for decades now.