“I’ve watched lots of baseball video games at Fenway Park. Some from the stands, some from the bleachers, however largely from the bullpen. I do know what it’s prefer to placed on a Red Sox jersey, to jog by means of the bullpen gate throughout freshly-cut outfield grass. I do know what it’s like to face on the mound in entrance of tens of 1000’s of essentially the most passionate followers within the recreation …
“I know what it means to win in Boston.”
That was how Craig Breslow started reintroducing himself on Thursday morning when the Red Sox formally welcomed him again to Fenway Park.
The 43-year-old pitcher-turned-executive has formally come full circle, from underrated bullpen contributor to heading up Boston’s baseball operations. His return comes at a crucial juncture for Boston’s baseball membership, which has completed on the backside of the standings in three of the final 4 seasons. He’s anticipated to proper the ship, no small job for a first-time chief baseball officer.
He seems like the person for the job: a sterling repute, a superb baseball thoughts, highly-regarded by his friends. What set him other than different candidates have been glowing suggestions from a number of former Red Sox teammates.
Breslow stated all the precise issues on Thursday. It’s typically manifestly apparent when somebody is sticking to a fastidiously crafted script or just being disingenuous, however he got here throughout as real and earnest. He acknowledged his lack of management expertise, made followers really feel seen and heard, and even poked enjoyable at himself.
Tough choices
Though decision-making on the prime degree is one space during which he admitted “maybe” a “lack of formal experience,” however he says he’s able to tackle the problem.
“I’m willing to make the hard decisions necessary to deliver,” he stated greater than as soon as. “I’ve worn multiple hats, and I think I’ve got a unique perspective. I also think I have the willingness and the conviction to make the tough decisions necessary to succeed in this role.”
Perhaps some choices received’t be so powerful. Unlike his predecessor, Breslow is inheriting huge monetary flexibility and a stable farm system. There’s no luxurious tax penalty to reset, or Babe Ruth-esque commerce to make.
“Resources are not a problem here,” he stated, suggesting the Red Sox are ready to spend this offseason. “We have established a very clear alignment on vision, a very clear calibration of where this needs to go.”
New England native
Breslow additionally understands intangibles matter in Boston as a lot – generally much more – than a spreadsheet filled with analytics. He not solely grew up in New England, however selected to maintain the Greater Boston space his household’s residence base lengthy after his Red Sox taking part in days have been over. Like his “trusted confidant or mentor” Theo Epstein, the Brookline native who first put him in a Boston uniform and introduced him to the Cubs’ entrance workplace, Breslow is a New Englander by means of and thru.
Born and raised in New Haven, Conn. he was a star pitcher and staff captain of the Yale Bulldogs earlier than starting his skilled profession. He pitched for Boston from 2006-07 and once more from 2011-15, and was a key member of the 2013 championship staff.
During that second Red Sox stint, he and his spouse purchased a home in Newton and stayed; he was capable of remodel the Chicago Cubs pitching improvement whereas working remotely at occasions. When staff president and CEO Sam Kennedy invited him to an off-the-cuff lunch in early October, they dined at Johnny’s Luncheonette, a Newton Centre landmark.
“As we kind of moved into the final stages, I was overcome with this sense,” Breslow stated. “Despite the fact that I grew up two and a half hours away from here and being closer to some teams that were based in New York as a child, in a lot of ways, I was coming home.”
For some groups, a candidate having such a deep native connection might not matter. The Red Sox aren’t one in all them. It makes Breslow a slot in ways in which Chaim Bloom, by means of no fault of his personal, by no means was. Perhaps it’s an unfair benefit, however having somebody on the helm who is aware of what this particular metropolis and fan base wants, somebody who’s been immersed on this for his or her complete life, has definitely labored out nicely for the Red Sox previously.
A message to followers
“Red Sox fans deserve a standard of quality and consistency,” Breslow stated. “That unwavering commitment to building a sustainable winner is a position that I share with John (Henry), with Tom (Werner), with Sam (Kennedy), with Alex (Cora), with the rest of the front office, and it’s one that we will pursue relentlessly.”
He believes that “a standard of excellence” defines the group’s tradition.
“Other phrases that I’d throw out as we take into consideration tradition, and learn how to construct it, and what we’re seeking to drive right here, phrases like ‘accountability.’ The concept that we’re going to push one another to be higher tomorrow than we’re in the present day.
“And also, this uncompromising, unwavering commitment to winning. The good teams that I’ve been on as a player, the good teams that I’ve seen from the front office, they all possess this quality of a group of people obsessing over winning. It’s the topic of conversation in everything that they do.”
“I understand that some of you will see me as another Ivy League nerd with a baseball front office job,” he stated with a smile, conscious that he’s the third Yale graduate to go up the Red Sox entrance workplace this century, following Epstein and Bloom. “It’s true, I am that. But I’m also a 13-year big-leaguer and a 2013 Boston Red Sox World Series champion, and I know what it takes to win here, and I’m willing to make the hard decisions necessary to deliver.”
Yes, Boston’s new chief baseball officer stated all the precise issues on Thursday, and did so in a method that breathed a little bit of hope again into the beleaguered ball membership.
But now comes the onerous half.
Now, the work begins.
Source: www.bostonherald.com