TODAY’S STORY TAKES US BACK TO BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS JANUARY 19, 2006.
I wonder if Chicago Cubs fans are aware that Theo Epstein walked away from the Boston Red Sox a little over a year after he assembled a team that won the World Series after their 88-year drought.
Epstein slipped away from Fenway Park October 31, 2005 – Halloween Night – in a gorilla suit to avoid the media. The Red Sox reportedly offered him a three-year contract worth $4.5 million. Epstein said it wasn’t “the right fit.”
As Santayana wrote in 1905, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”
It was announced on this date in 2006 that Epstein is back with the Red Sox. So he was gone about 2 and a half months. A joint statement from Epstein and owner John Henry read, “Ironically, Theo’s departure has brought us together in many respects… we now enjoy the bonds of a shared vision.”
The Red Sox won another World Series in 2007, but that shared vision got a little blurry after that. Theo left the Red Sox again in 2011, this time for the Cubs. The shared vision seems to be pretty clear on the northside of Chicago – at least for now.
Contributing sources:
Los Angeles Times, Epstein returns to the Red Sox, January 20, 2006
ESPN.com
Fivethirtyeight.com