From the Sidelines: Duquette prolongs the agony for BoSox fans

Because I'm a Boston Red Sox fan.

I've heard all the jokes about the Curse of the Bambino and a particular smooth-fielding first baseman, but it's not the team's troubled past that's responsible for my malaise. Instead, it's the knowledge that general manager Dan Duquette, the man with the most influence in shaping the Red Sox roster, isn't dedicated to bringing a World Series title to fans who have been waiting for more than 80 years. In fact, Duquette seems to be another manifestation of the all-too familiar perennial Red Sox curse.

I know this column may seem interesting at first glance to only a small percentage of Yale's population, but it's crucial for every Yalie to have an understanding of New England issues. Ask any Red Sox fan about Duquette, and you will realize that many New Englanders feel strongly about him. An article on one of baseball's most notorios general managers is at least as interesting as, say, New Haven's Office of Building Inspection and Enforcement shutting down a fish market.

Back to Duquette. I am not angry solely because in the past three offseasons, he has allowed two star players to go to teams now better than the Red Sox--Roger Clemens in 1996 to the Toronto Blue Jays (who recently traded him to the dreaded Yankees) and Mo Vaughn this year to the Anaheim Angels. Rather, the Duke is bad for the team because petty grudges appear to motivate his decisions. Vaughn, who signed a six-year contract with Anaheim, contends that Duquette didn't like him as a person and therefore didn't want him in Boston. Vaughn claims--and I believe him--that the Red Sox hired a private investigator to follow him when he was away from the ballpark. No one's interest is served when a team's best player is embarrassed in public. It's agonizing for Red Sox fans to see Duquette's personality drive away Vaughn, a player who has carried our team for the past three seasons and is a hero to Boston's youth.

This year, Boston's Fenway Park will host the All-Star Game. Last summer, Duquette said to reporters that he was looking forward to watching Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra and pitcher Pedro Martinez in this summer's event. When a reporter asked about Vaughn, a three-time All-Star and 1995 Most Valuable Player, the GM didn't revise his original statement to include Vaughn--he merely repeated it, deliberately excluding him. The '99 Summer Classic game should have been a proud moment for Red Sox fans. Instead, as we watch Roger Clemens pitch in Yankees pinstripes and Vaughn return to Fenway with a halo, we will be humiliated.

It would be bad enough if the Red Sox had lost only Vaughn to an American League rival, but when Duquette also failed to re-sign Clemens, arguably the best pitcher in baseball, he showed his spiteful nature. Admittedly, Clemens' '95 and '96 statistics were less impressive than those earlier in his career. In fact, one could have argued, as Duquette did, that Clemens' skills were fading at the time. But by telling the media that Clemens was in "the twilight of his career," (an extremely questionable assertion in retrospect, considering that Clemens won two straight Cy Young awards in the two years after he was traded), the Duke again displayed an irrational dislike of a superstar and clubhouse leader. He showed that he was never interested in re-signing Clemens when, following the '97 season, he gave Troy O'Leary more money than Clemens had asked for just one year earlier. What made this so maddening for BoSox fans was that O'Leary was and continues to be a mediocre outfielder who, when he signed his contract, had hit better than .300 only once and had never hit more than 15 home runs. It doesn't help that he runs as though he's attached to a piano when he attempts to go from first to third on a single.

Duquette creates ill will between himself and the players, and he does it so often that it seems bizarrely intentional. Not surprisingly, he is one of the most disliked people in New England. When Clemens was asked if he disliked the Red Sox organization, he said, "I have nothing against the Red Sox, it's just one guy." Some players, such as Marquis Grissom and David Justice, even have clauses in their contracts that prohibit trades to any team that employs Dan Duquette. If he remains general manager, not only will Duquette continue to alienate current Red Sox stars, but his personality will prevent adequate replacements. The team with the most loyal ../sports fans in the world should not have to face such a dim future.

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