The Duke is no Fluke, He's Just is a Great GM

CORMAC EKLOF Dandy Dan. Dan the man. The Boston media has finally come around to the Red Sox general manager and have begun the search for suitable, humorous juxtapositions of his name. To say ‘its about time’ is a huge understatement. Duquette is a quiet, introverted, and private man. He does not celebrate success with wild abandon and rarely displays any emotions. 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 Dalton, Massachusetts, so he is managing his hometown team. He wants   the Red Sox to be winners. He is coated in humility and has (so far) managed to avoid I-told-you-so like tirades, which he everyone would understand after the treatment he has received from large portions of Red Sox Nation. In his early days as the Red Sox GM, Duquette was vilified by a huge torrent of verbal abuse spouting from the media, the fans, and the talk radio callers (who mostly 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 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 the AL’s second best behind Pudge Rodriguez, and Lowe is developing into one of the games premier young pitchers. Sure, 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, 4.00 ERA’ Clemens there is a Pedro Martinez. People are have always been told that the Red Sox have a good-natured, friendly, and family-like clubhouse. That didn’t just happen by accident. It is a team that is willing to play hard every day -- and it is the team that Dan built. Who would you rather have in your house: Mike Stanley or Roger Clemens? Stanley epitomizes the type of player Duquette has brought to Boston. He is a professional hitter with a wonderful attitude and a desire to win, not for personal glory, but as a member of a team. Since 1918, no Red Sox team had made the playoffs two years running. Since the Duke took over the Sox have been regular attractions in same playoffs, appearing in 1995, 1998 and 1999. Duquette is not solely responsible for the making of the ’95 club, 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 get into the playoffs on a regular basis. 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.