Comments on: Bridesmaid, revisited: John Henry, Dan Duquette, and the BBBWA dinner of 2002 http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/01/10/bridesmaid-revisited-john-henry-dan-duquette-and-the-bbbwa-dinner-of-2002/ Media, Baseball, Boston, the Red Sox, Music, Literature, and Mnookins Sat, 11 Oct 2008 19:00:01 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: themack http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/01/10/bridesmaid-revisited-john-henry-dan-duquette-and-the-bbbwa-dinner-of-2002/#comment-5395 themack Wed, 10 Jan 2007 23:38:27 +0000 http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/01/10/bridesmaid-revisited-john-henry-dan-duquette-and-the-bbbwa-dinner-of-2002/#comment-5395 I went to a bunch of the BBWAA dinners between 1999-2004. Some scattered memories: 1) Tim Wakefield getting a standing ovation three months after giving up the homerun to Aaron Freakin' Boone. 2) Getting Pedro's autograph and while feeling kind of lame (I was about 27 at the time) thinking the feeling of lameness was worth it. 3) Duquette's speech which Seth refers to in this posting. The person I sat with (a friend of my wife's uncle) has been going to this dinner for decades. She buys a whole table and is always right up front. I was sitting about ten feet away from John Henry's table. There was a noticeable air of tension in the crowd as Duke started, people were fairly agitated. The tension built has he droned on and once he said "while the season didn't end the way we wanted, but we spent more days in first place than any other team in the Major Leagues" people started to loudly boo, some stood up and yelled, he got pretty ugly. I looked over at Henry. He just shook his head. I wasn't surprised when they fired him in March. I went to a bunch of the BBWAA dinners between 1999-2004. Some scattered memories:

1) Tim Wakefield getting a standing ovation three months after giving up the homerun to Aaron Freakin’ Boone.
2) Getting Pedro’s autograph and while feeling kind of lame (I was about 27 at the time) thinking the feeling of lameness was worth it.
3) Duquette’s speech which Seth refers to in this posting. The person I sat with (a friend of my wife’s uncle) has been going to this dinner for decades. She buys a whole table and is always right up front. I was sitting about ten feet away from John Henry’s table. There was a noticeable air of tension in the crowd as Duke started, people were fairly agitated. The tension built has he droned on and once he said “while the season didn’t end the way we wanted, but we spent more days in first place than any other team in the Major Leagues” people started to loudly boo, some stood up and yelled, he got pretty ugly. I looked over at Henry. He just shook his head. I wasn’t surprised when they fired him in March.

]]> By: benschon http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/01/10/bridesmaid-revisited-john-henry-dan-duquette-and-the-bbbwa-dinner-of-2002/#comment-5385 benschon Wed, 10 Jan 2007 20:03:12 +0000 http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/01/10/bridesmaid-revisited-john-henry-dan-duquette-and-the-bbbwa-dinner-of-2002/#comment-5385 This anecdote is interesting in the context of Jim Rice again not getting elected to the Hall of Fame. The lesson: being a jerk to other people, especially to the media, will eventually bite you in the ass. The primary reason Rice is not in the Hall is because he was surly to people who vote for the HoF. His stats are superior to a lot of the inductees of the last 10 years. Karma's a bitch. Likewise, Duke was widely despised, and Everybody Loves Theo, but I don't think he gets enough credit for the Pedro and Manny signings. These were some of the only huge contracts of the last decade or so that actually panned out. Six years each of Pedro and Manny in their full peak is a very smart decision. Sure, he's should take the heat for the Jose Offerman and Carl Everett fiascoes, but what about getting Lowe and Varitek for Heathcliff Slocumb? This anecdote is interesting in the context of Jim Rice again not getting elected to the Hall of Fame. The lesson: being a jerk to other people, especially to the media, will eventually bite you in the ass. The primary reason Rice is not in the Hall is because he was surly to people who vote for the HoF. His stats are superior to a lot of the inductees of the last 10 years. Karma’s a bitch.

Likewise, Duke was widely despised, and Everybody Loves Theo, but I don’t think he gets enough credit for the Pedro and Manny signings. These were some of the only huge contracts of the last decade or so that actually panned out. Six years each of Pedro and Manny in their full peak is a very smart decision. Sure, he’s should take the heat for the Jose Offerman and Carl Everett fiascoes, but what about getting Lowe and Varitek for Heathcliff Slocumb?

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