[Big Six]

Boston Herald, March 22, 1941


TIME FOR SOX TO MAKE SOME CHANGES

As the 1941 season approaches, it appears obvious that the Boston Red Sox will enter the fray with basically the same troops that surrendered the American League pennant to the New York Yankees last fall.

The Red Sox have long been famous for their stability, gaining a well-deserved reputation for reliability that rivals that of a Swiss timepiece. Only two managers have led the club since the turn of the century. The team has a record of pennant and World Series success that no other club can match.

However, in recent years the flow of championships has reduced to a trickle. The Red Sox have not won the World Series since 1933, and have won only one pennant during that span of years. At no point since the team's gravy years began in 1909 have the fans of the Old Towne Team gone so long without savoring victory.

It is now clear that the time for change has come.

As remarkable as the achievements of the men who have brought this success to the Red Sox have been, their best years are apparently in the past.

As heretical as it might seem to imply that Bill Carrigan and Pat O'Farrell might serve the Red Sox best by stepping down from the positions of manager and general manager, that is precisely what the team needs most.

Carrigan and O'Farrell have allowed the Red Sox to stagnate into a club full of veterans who are almost good enough to win championships. That's not good enough for Red Sox fans, and it shouldn't be.

Venerable stars like Lou Gehrig, Jim Weaver, and Judy Johnson are among the finest players the game has seen in years, but they aren't the men they used to be. How many talented youngsters have been brushed aside because Carrigan and O'Farrell refuse to part ways with the vets? Gehrig and Johnson are old enough to have been O'Farrell's teammates. That says about as much as needs to be said.

To be fair, the Sox have acquired some promising young players. Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, and Dominic DiMaggio have the look of future greats. However, none of the three is developing as quickly as he should. At least one American League rival has intimated that the Red Sox' youngsters are the most talented in baseball, and that their slow progress can't be explained in any other way than to conclude that Carrigan and O'Farrell have lost their touch.

It is true that, in 1940, a Red Sox pitcher won 24 ballgames in his second full major league season. That pitcher was twenty-five years old, not a callow youngster. He spent his early twenties pursuing, alternately, show girls and a career as an NFL quarterback before deciding to dedicate himself to baseball.

While the development of this pitcher has been a pleasant surprise, would he have been allowed such free rein and so much patience if his surname weren't O'Farrell?

A decision is not necessarily sound simply because results in a positive outcome. Good fortune has a way of making the biggest fools seem wise on occasion.

Realistically, the Red Sox could never fire either Carrigan or O'Farrell without inciting a riot. Their contributions to the storied history of the franchise have earned them more respect than that, and rightfully so.

That's why, if Carrigan and O'Farrell truly have the Red Sox' best interests at heart, they will step down and allow sharper, more "modern" baseball men to guide the team's formidable talent into a new era of greatness.