1.) The treatment of Francona. Tito was going to be fired; Henry and Lucchino wanted him out for some reason. Now, we may not know all the reasons and the back stories, and the move may have been best for both parties (Francona seemed to be dealing with a lot towards the end). But the manner in which his exit occurred, and the following leaking of damaging information to the Bob Hohler, was disgraceful.
I think it's interesting that Sox fans seemingly universally pin the Hohler source as Sox ownership.
I can understand why that would be so.
On the other hand:
- Hohler never revealed his sources so we have no actual confirmation. I would not expect him to do so, of course. I'm just saying we have no Deep Throat reveal here so it's open to question.
- Whatever one thinks of Henry, LL and Werner, they are not dumb men, and anyone with a brain would know that the reaction would be terrible. Really on two levels. One, because they would look so petty. Two, because whatever was ascribed to Tito happened on their watch; if he was using drugs and doing whatever else Hohler wrote, it behooved them to intervene in some way or help make the situation better, and they did not succeed in doing that. For PR conscious guys like these owners, I have some trouble believing they would not do the math in advance. Maybe Charles Steinberg wasn't on the job then but I can't believe he would not have objected (if they needed any help).
- Players who did not like Tito might have had an incentive to trash him. I know the popular refrain is that everyone loved Tito but that was a craptastic year. It's at least possible that one or more of the players had a problem with how he handled things. The ironic thing, to me, about the Hohler piece is the outrage over how Tito was treated on the way out has completely overshadowed that the Manager's performance might have been, and probably was, a contributing factor in the meltdown. Not the only factor; but one of many. Francona was such a sympathetic figure after Hohler that whatever percentage of the blame he deserved got immediately reduced to zero for most fans. Maybe a player or two thought that was BS and felt like doing something about it.
- Theo Epstein was the architect of that team, for the most part. The epic team wide collapse on the field and the apparent breakdown in discipline in the clubhouse reflected badly on everyone involved, including Theo. Pinning blame on Tito would provide teflon to Epstein. As a guy on the way out the door, being able to pin responsibility elsewhere would be beneficial in talks with other teams. And as a shrewd guy, he had to know that the public would blame the owners, and ignore Theo.
- It's possible also that Tito's issues were widely known among the media and that Hohler had multiple sources for his story. Either including or not including the Trio. Of everything I have written, this seems most likely to me.
I'm not saying that any of the above is true. I have no idea, really. I am also aware that the Sox ownership had a reputation for trashing guys on the way out. Still, I think there are plausible alternatives to the narrative that most seem to take as gospel.