Major League Baseball News

The Boston Red Sox have broken the curse, twice. Perhaps the recent success of this ball club is largely in part due to manager Terry Francona. On Sunday, Red Sox management decided to reward him with a three year extension averaging $4 million per year through ‘11. There are also two club options for ‘12 and ‘13.

“Terry Francona has done an outstanding job in managing the Red Sox over the last four seasons,”GM Theo Epstein explains. Francona is the only manager in Bo’ Sox history to take the team to three postseasons. The Boston Red Sox pulled off a 4-game World Series sweep versus the St. Louis Cardinals in ‘04 and the Colorado Rockies in ‘07 with Terry Francona as manager.

After years of conflict with George Steinbrenner, the New York Yankees said good bye to Joe Torre who finds himself on the west coast now managing the Los Angeles Dodgers. Recently when asked about the Roger Clemens vs. McNamee hearings about HGH and steroids, Torre said he feels for Roger and what he has to go through. He did not elaborate much on his position or opinion. His main hurt is that he feels people will not give Roger the credit that he thinks he deserves for such a great MLB career.

Joe Torre also got a chance to reflect on the many “second guesses” that the National League has compared to the American League. “You’re thinking about getting one last inning in before he[pitcher] comes up to bat,” Torre explains. He is referencing how AL pitchers don’t have to bat, so therefore the strategy becomes offensive as well as defensive.