Dan Duquette's Boys of summer

Cormac Eklof Thursday,

February 24, 2000

Dandy Dan. Dan the man. The Boston media have finally come around to Boston's General Manager and have begun the search for suitable humorous juxtapositions of his name. To say it is about time is a huge understatement.

Look at the facts.

Since 1918 no Red Sox team had made the playoffs two years running. None. Zip. Since the Duke took over the Sox have been regular attractions in same playoffs, appearing in 1995, 1998 and 1999. Admittedly the 1995 club was not of Duquette's making but the 1998 and 1999 clubs really are Dan's boys of summer. He has brought a host of decent, hard working professional players to Boston, and added a couple of Class A+ Studs to help the team into the playoffs on a regular basis.

Teams often comment on the good-natured, friendly and 'tight' Boston clubhouse. That didn't just happen by accident. It is a team that is willing to play hard day in day and it is the team that Dan built. Who would you rather have in your house, Mike Stanley or Roger Clemens? Mike epitomizes the type of player Dan has brought to Boston. A professional hitter with a wonderful attitude and a desire to win, not on his won, but as a member of a team. Look at the players Dan has, for want of a better description, 'run out of town'. Aaron Sele. Mo Vaughn. Roger Clemens. Mike Greenwell. They all have one thing in common, they were all playing for their own good. Sele's comments made as he left for Texas would have hurt the whole Red Sox clubhouse. Clemens, well, Roger was Roger. He didn't want to have to carry his own bags. Enough said. As for Vaughn, all that nonsense about it not being for the money, well, he went with the money, and good riddance. Take the money and run off to Disneyland and hope you enjoy watching the playoffs on TV. Duquette is often accused of moulding a team with no character. How can you say Pedro doesn't have character? The clubhouse is alive and healthy and has a great mix of youth and experience. Allot of the reason John Valentin has survived the Duquette purge is that he is pro moulded in the same cast as Stanley, a great hitter who helps the young players along and does some outstanding work in the Boston community.

Duquette is a quiet, introverted and private man. He does not celebrate success with wild abandon infact he rarely displays any emotions what so ever. He is the anti-Steinbrenner. He keeps his private life to himself and is almost embarrassed when asked if he is enjoying the Red Sox recent run. Dan is a native of the Western Massachusetts town of Dalton, so he is managing his hometown team. He WANTS the Red Sox to be winners. The man reeks of humility and has (so far) managed to avoid I-told-you-so like tirades, which he everyone would pretty much understand after the treatment he has received from large portions of Red Sox nation.

Early on in his career as Red Sox GM, Duquette was vilified by a huge torrent of verbal abuse spouting from the media, the fans and the talk radio callers (those guys aren't fans, they just like the sound of their own voice). People were amazed he could even think about letting Clemens go. They were surprised Greenwell was let go to Japan. They were horrified the Hit Dawg himself, Maurice Vaughn, was 'allowed' to skip town for bigger bucks in Anaheim. Think about it. Clemens, Greenwell and Vaughn. Match those up with Martinez, Everett and Garciaparra and THEN tell Duquette he is an idiot.

Look at some of the other trades Duquette has made. Heathcliff Slocumb for Jason Varitek and Derek Lowe. Finally the Sox pull a fast one on someone else! Varitek is now rated as the AL's second best behind Pudge, and Lowe is developing into one of the games premier young pitchers. Sure okay Duquette has made some stinkers, Tuffy Rhodes springs to mind, but for every weak hitting outfielder, there is a Carl Everett. For every Luis Alicea there is a Jose Offerman. And for every Roger '240lb, 4.00ERA' Clemens there is a Pedro Martinez.

There is a name for the sort of person who consistently and constantly harangues Duquette. Well, there are several names for that type of person, very few are printable. Amongst the ones suitable for family viewing are inane, redundant and asinine. Get off the mans back and admit it, he is doing a good job.

So Dan Duquette isn't flashy. So he doesn't have a likeable media persona. So he doesn't spout glib sound bites to keep the press or the fans happy. But at least allow him the fact that he knows his job, and has turned our beloved Red Stockings into perennial winners. This excitement we are witnessing in spring training, the large crowds, the hope, the anticipation. Duquette has built this in Boston, he has tooled the team beautifully and it is about time he got the credit for it. Dan the man. Dandy Dan.