The Epstein long form story

riboflav

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Jan 20, 2006
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If the Cubs and Sox play for the WS, how many Theo players will be on the field?

If you want a good laugh (or cry), you should read the threads on here from when Theo was forced out. Too many SoSHers were ready to see him go.
 

americantrotter

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Aug 1, 2005
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That was a great read. I miss that guy too.

I don't know if it's been that clear before, I enjoyed the honesty about his exit.

I somehow feel good about the young teddy ballgame picture in his office as well.

If the sox can't win it, I definitely want the cubs.
 

soxfan121

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How does a story about Theo Epstein not mention Larry Lucchino, not even once?
 

InsideTheParker

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How does a story about Theo Epstein not mention Larry Lucchino, not even once?
I felt that both he and Werner were implied in this section:
A cold war broke out between the baseball ops bunker and the second floor, the conflict cutting through every part of the organization. Epstein felt that some of his bosses were obsessed with optics and credit, more worried about personally winning a news cycle than helping create the culture that had developed in Theo's world. "It's rare you can find true togetherness, selflessness, connectedness," Epstein says. "We had that in baseball ops. It was in opposition to what I saw going on in the rest of the company."

Theo is an absolutist. He came to see the fight against the business side as completely black and white, good and evil -- "French Revolution shit," he says -- and in the next seven years, he quit his job twice, first in 2005 for 80 days, the second time for good in 2011.

In 2005, he turned down a contract, unable to work with people who would plant stories in the paper to minimize blame for trades and who worried more about public perception than the long-term health of the franchise.
But yeah, we're just guessing who is meant, but who else? Henry?
 

Ale Xander

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"today he watched the group [Pearl Jam, his favorite] play in what is essentially his office. "
 

joe dokes

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Jul 18, 2005
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Theo turns and makes eye contact with Shiraz: It's time for Lackey to come out. Joe Maddon keeps him in the game, though, and on the next batter, Lackey leaves with a stiff shoulder. Theo is beside himself
Fire Maddon. :cool:
 

PC Drunken Friar

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Great piece, but I definitely rolled my eyes when it said....if not for that video game, what happens to Epstein? Child delinquent maybe? Yea, I don't think Theo exactly grew up in anything approaching conditions that would have led to that.
 

TheoShmeo

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That was a great read. I miss that guy too.

I don't know if it's been that clear before, I enjoyed the honesty about his exit.

I somehow feel good about the young teddy ballgame picture in his office as well.

If the sox can't win it, I definitely want the cubs.
I enjoyed the honesty about his exit in that story, too. What I did not enjoy was his explanation in the wake of his departure -- that GMs should move on after 10 years in the job in one place or some such thing -- which always sounded like a convenient crock.
 

grimshaw

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EpsteinsGorillaSuit

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Great piece, but I definitely rolled my eyes when it said....if not for that video game, what happens to Epstein? Child delinquent maybe? Yea, I don't think Theo exactly grew up in anything approaching conditions that would have led to that.
Agreed - if Theo wasn't a GM, I'm sure he would have had a rough career as an MD at Goldman or partner at Bain.

He's a brilliant baseball exec but article gives the impression that he's a bit of an entitled douchebag.
 

HoyaSoxa

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Dec 4, 2003
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Great piece, but I definitely rolled my eyes when it said....if not for that video game, what happens to Epstein? Child delinquent maybe? Yea, I don't think Theo exactly grew up in anything approaching conditions that would have led to that.
True enough, though I loved the references to Micro League - although clearly much smarter and more obsessive than me, I feel like I could be Theo's younger goy brother.

Boring personal note: In middle school I was in a league with my 3 best friends where we would all draft our Micro League teams at the beginning of the season (plus a few computer teams, each with their own logos we designed), input the stats at the end of the season (from USA Today Baseball Weekly, I think), then play out a full schedule where we kept stats by hand. Clearly the ladies loved us. One thing I remember is that we began to realize that pitchers with high K-rates were incredibly valuable in Micro League, though for some reason Tom Bolton had a very strong season for me in 1990 despite a 4.9 K/9.
 

Detts

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Earl Weaver baseball was my crack. A bunch of us drafted teams and played a partial season. Rock Raines was my MVP (and should be in the HoF).
 

ifmanis5

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My friend had the board game All Star Baseball (the one with the discs and the spinner) and we played that a lot. I got frustrated with the randomness and created my own game based on OBP stats I got from the Bill James books and used D&D dice instead of the spinner. My game was better.
 

joe dokes

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True enough, though I loved the references to Micro League - although clearly much smarter and more obsessive than me, I feel like I could be Theo's younger goy brother.

Boring personal note: In middle school I was in a league with my 3 best friends where we would all draft our Micro League teams at the beginning of the season (plus a few computer teams, each with their own logos we designed), input the stats at the end of the season (from USA Today Baseball Weekly, I think), then play out a full schedule where we kept stats by hand. Clearly the ladies loved us. One thing I remember is that we began to realize that pitchers with high K-rates were incredibly valuable in Micro League, though for some reason Tom Bolton had a very strong season for me in 1990 despite a 4.9 K/9.
I hear ya. Strat-o-matic here. My parents sprung for a 10-team package after the 1973 season. 12 yr old me spent the summer of '74 playing a 150-game season with those 10 teams, mostly by myself, and again in '75, after I got a friend involved. In hindsight, that taught me a lot about luck. Not just because of the inherent luck of the dice, but because if the roll directed you to the hitter's card, then it didn't matter who the pitcher was (other than handed-ness; a lot of platoon-learning took place too). I remember a couple of all-nighters where we would use the team's worst pitcher in the 9th inning of a close game. He would get the save a lot more than you'd think considering how bad he was. I remember this stiff in particular:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hernaje01.shtml
 

rembrat

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May 26, 2006
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Fire Maddon. :cool:
The Cubs lose the lead and the game, and the next day, all the same people are back in the same place to watch once more. Theo's still making Harris eat bread, a fresh loaf this time at least. The Cubs are leading in the top of the seventh when the game, and the mood in Suite 33, starts to turn. The speed with which the atmosphere becomes tense is astonishing. Theo is talking about one of the club's weaknesses, which is starting pitching health. John Lackey, the starter, looks exhausted, and with one out, a Cardinals batter hits a line-drive screamer directly at the third baseman for the second out. Theo turns and makes eye contact with Shiraz: It's time for Lackey to come out. Joe Maddon keeps him in the game, though, and on the next batter, Lackey leaves with a stiff shoulder. Theo is beside himself.


But but muh genius manager.
 

Buzzkill Pauley

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Great article. He'll be in the HOF some day, and I would not be surprised at all if he's the next Commissioner after Manfred.
 

PedroKsBambino

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Great article. He'll be in the HOF some day, and I would not be surprised at all if he's the next Commissioner after Manfred.
He's super talented, but the ego is pretty large for a job like commissioner of a sports league isn't it? Hard for me to imagine the owners collectively deciding they want him dictating to them.
 

SydneySox

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Yeah I actually took from that article that he seems to be a massive fuckwit. A super successful one that I will always be thankful for, sure, but a fuckwit.
 

JohntheBaptist

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Yeah I actually took from that article that he seems to be a massive fuckwit. A super successful one that I will always be thankful for, sure, but a fuckwit.
Same here. Sometimes people are just assholes--he just seems like an asshole. It's weird to be pushing 40 and still thinking the weird pranks and endless passive aggressive "contests" (with his underlings) are interesting.

It certainly means nothing, but not a single of those one-liners was even raising a chuckle. Weirdly unfunny. Again, who cares, but the writer brought attention to it and he certainly thinks he's funny--it really stuck out to me. A group of guys laughing because they know they have to. And him taking full advantage of it.

Obviously completely incredible at what he does, and eternally thankful. But if Lucchino had an article like this published...

edit--and yeah, not seeing him as Commissioner either
 
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