RedSox may be looking for a new coach

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NEW YORK – These men are hired for these jobs in baseball, to manage ballgames for a few hours a night and try not to do anything so stupid that it gets in the way of the actual baseball players.

For the other 21 hours, well, that”s the hard part.

Following a Thursday press conference (that followed a 7-20 September) in which Boston Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein admitted there were issues with player conditioning and preparation, numerous outlets reported Friday morning that manager Terry Francona would not return for his ninth season in Boston.

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The Red Sox had only six wins in September.
(Getty Images)
If true, Francona would not be fired, technically, but his option for the 2012 season would not be exercised.

Francona met Friday morning with owner John Henry, upper management and Epstein, after which the club released a statement that read, in part, “We all plan on taking some time to process the thoughts expressed in the meeting. There are no immediate plans for an announcement.”

Francona left the meeting without comment for waiting reporters. The statement, the events of September, and the end-of-season debriefing apparently would stand for another news cycle.

Francona and Epstein had sat shoulder-to-shoulder Thursday afternoon in a small room at Fenway Park. Each was bent a little at the neck, each crossed his arms across his chest, each blinked at the table too much.

They were miserable. One, or both, seemed on his way out. For good. That much was clear.

Out there, past the old brick of their ballpark, across the ruins of their season, the New York Yankees – the stinkin” Yankees – were readying for October, like seven other teams.

But not the Red Sox, the $165-million Red Sox, the hugely favored Red Sox, the collapsible Red Sox.