One of the Best in Boston
The news was a bit surprising, though the rumors had been out there for a week.
The creative genius will no longer run the Boston Red Sox. Larry Lucchino is stepping down at age 70.
The man who helped end the ‘Curse of the Bambino’, getting the Red Sox to the World Series, has seen his franchise slip, looking now at a 3rd last place finish over the last four years.
It’s hard to tell whether Boston has fallen on hard times because of Lucchino, or the brain drain in the front office, with the loss of GM-Theo Epstien, and so many of his assistants.
They seldom put owners or lead executives into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, but there is no doubt about Lucchino’s influence in lots of places on the baseball road map.
As a creative genius, he helped design the beauty of PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Camden Yards in Baltimore, and Petco Park here.
He was the driving force about ways to save-preserve the history of Fenway Park, making it a money maker and reigniting its value and heritage in the Red Sox nation (aka) the State of New England.
An influential man at the Commissioner’s office level, a brilliant man in terms of marketing and maximizing revenue, Lucchino is indeed a special man. Yes pushy, but the first to get to the bottom line in all things baseball related.
A cancer survivor in San Diego, he re-invented himself as a dynamo in Boston. His decision to take on George Stienbrenner in the Border War bidding for free agents set the tone that the Red Sox would be different under John Henry’s ownership and Lucchino’s leadership.
Things change when you don’t win. Age creeps up and influences personal decisions. But one thing is certain, Larry Lucchino’s genius was everywhere in baseball.
We were lucky to cross paths with him in San Diego.