Time for Francona to earn his salary

Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona gets an "A" for managing a clubhouse and the personalities in it. We saw that best in 2004, with the famed "Idiots," and we really saw it whenever Manny Ramirez was in the "Manny Being Manny" mode, which was more the rule than the exception.

Francona was paid handsomely for this ability, getting a 3-year, $12 million contract extension which runs out in 2011. From afar, it appeared he was the best version of the 21st century's new manager. You know the guy I'm talking about. The "players' manager" who is armed with statistics, tendencies and a laptop.

Let's be honest here, Francona has been handed as much talent and depth as any other manager in this franchise's history. The Red Sox pitching staff, even with the failed John Smoltz experiment and injury to Tim Wakefield, is still as good as it gets.

Josh Beckett and John Lester are the best one-two combo in the league and Clay Buchholz and Brad Penny are more than adequate pennant-race starters. And the bullpen, from the seventh inning on, is still the strength of the team.

The problem, really Francona's problem, is the offense.

David Ortiz, Jason Bay and JD Drew are in disaster-mode. And Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia, the face of the franchise now and going forward, haven't had a memorable late-inning hit during this skid, now at 7-13 since the all-star break.

The trade for Victor Martinez has been a God-send. He adds value when he is on the field, especially with a glove on his hand. But while he appears to fill a void in the middle of the lineup, there is too much aforementoined baggage.

Which brings us back to Francona.

His trusty laptop, with Bill James' trusty statistical analysis, is no use to him here. As manager, he has to find a way to stop the bleeding.

How? Got me.

Maybe it's time to bench somebody, albeit Ortiz or Drew, for an extended period. Let them watch from the dugout for a week.

The trade deadline has since passed so what you see on the 25-man roster is what you get.

The recent "outing" of the Ortiz's positive performance-enhancing drug test from 2003 and the disastrous Daisuke Matsuzaka start to the 2009 season were hurdles nobody could have planned for.

But isn't that what separates the good coaches/managers from the great? It seems like every Super Bowl championship season the Patriots had in 2001, 2003 and 2004 had their moments when a championship wasn't even a consideration (Terry Glenn's suspension in 2001, releasing Lawyer Milloy five days before the season opened in 2003, and injuries to Ty Law and Richard Seymor in 2004).

If history is any indicator, the Red Sox might be cooked. The Red Sox went through a similar demise just before the all-star break in 2006, going from 59-36 on July 21 to 71-62 by the end of August. The Humpty-Dumpty imitation coincided with Jason Varitek's knee injury.

The difference is this team, even without Ramirez and Ortiz "of old," is better.

The other difference is expectations. They are through the moon. The Red Sox are not supposed to fall flat on their faces for more than a week or two.

For most of his almost six seasons here, rightfully so, he has gone under the radar unlike any manager over the last 50 years.

We all around here like to think we could manage this team with our eyes closed and with one hand tied behind our backs. Well, the Yankees and the on-coming Tampa Bay Rays are too good.

But Francona is making $4 million a year for a reason. And that reason is upon us. His team needs him.

Source

Dallas wrong-way I-20 car crash increases death toll!

Texas wrong-way driver fatality in Dallas on the Dallas North Tollway has increased the Texas automobile accident death count by 3.
Dallas wrong way accident lawyers alert another automobile accident, involving the wrong way driver of a sedan, killed both drivers and one passenger early last Friday morning. According to the Dallas Morning News, Dallas area firefighters and police officers responded to the tragic wrong-way car crash on westbound Interstate 20 near the South Polk Street overpass in Dallas early Friday morning. Apparently, 45 year-old Karla Rivers of Cedar Hill was returning home from her shift at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas around 12:30 a.m., when the fatal automobile accident occured.
Rivers worked as an office employee at Baylor and was traveling westbound near Polk Street in the Red Bird area in her Jeep sport utility vehicle (SUV) when a black Infiniti, going the wrong way, slammed into her SUV head-on. The driver, 29 year-old Ramiro Moreno and his passenger, 21 year-old Ian Edward Pierson, along with Rivers all died at the scene of the crash. The Dallas County Sheriff’s Department confirmed alcohol was found in the car of the wrong-way driver. Alcohol is suspected to have been a factor in the fatal SUV accident involving the driver of the wrong-way motor vehicle. Wrong-way drivers, on the Dallas North Tollway, has become a hot topic with four deaths this year and alcohol is suspected as a factor in most of the crashes.
The North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) has installed new “wrong way” and “do not enter” signs since the slew of recent wrong way driver fatalities has began plaguing the Dallas North Tollway. New reflective shaped arrow buttons are also being installed on the lanes at tollway exit ramps by the NTTA. When a wrong-way driver’s headlights hit the new reflective buttons, the red arrows, pointing at the driver entering the tollway in the wrong direction, will glow red. Officials in the Dallas area are continuing to investigate and address the causes and preventive solutions to wrong-way driver accidents. If you or someone you love has been injured or killed because of another driver’s carelessness you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries and damages. Contacting a Dallas personal injury lawyer who is experienced with wrong-way driver accident claims may help you recover.


Source