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2011 MLB postseason schedule
ESPN.com
ESPN Radio will carry every postseason game, and the games will be live-streamed on ESPNRadio.com.
All game times are TBD (* = if necessary).
DIVISION SERIES
AL: TAMPA BAY-TEXAS
AL: DETROIT-NY YANKEES
Fri. 9/30: Game 1 at Texas, 5:07 p.m. Fri. 9/30: Game 1 at NY Yankees, 8:37 p.m.
Sat. 10/1: Game 2 at Texas, TBD Sat. 10/1: Game 2 at NY Yankees, TBD
Mon. 10/3: Game 3 at Tampa Bay, TBD Mon. 10/3: Game 3 at Detroit, TBD
*Tues. 10/4: Game 4 at Tampa Bay, TBD *Tues. 10/4: Game 4 at Detroit, TBD
*Thurs. 10/6: Game 5 at Texas, TBD *Thurs. 10/6: Game 5 at NY Yankees, TBD
NL: ST. LOUIS-PHILADELPHIA
NL: ARIZONA-MILWAUKEE
Sat. 10/1: Game 1 at Philadelphia, TBD Sat. 10/1: Game 1 at Milwaukee, TBD
Sun. 10/2: Game 2 at Philadelphia, TBD Sun. 10/2: Game 2 at Milwaukee, TBD
Tues. 10/4: Game 3 at St. Louis, TBD Tues. 10/4: Game 3 at Arizona, TBD
*Wed. 10/5: Game 4 at St. Louis, TBD *Wed. 10/5: Game 4 at Arizona, TBD
*Fri. 10/7: Game 5 at Philadelphia, TBD *Fri. 10/7: Game 5 at Milwaukee, TBD
ESPN.com
ESPN Radio will carry every postseason game, and the games will be live-streamed on ESPNRadio.com.
All game times are TBD (* = if necessary).
DIVISION SERIES
AL: TAMPA BAY-TEXAS
AL: DETROIT-NY YANKEES
Fri. 9/30: Game 1 at Texas, 5:07 p.m. Fri. 9/30: Game 1 at NY Yankees, 8:37 p.m.
Sat. 10/1: Game 2 at Texas, TBD Sat. 10/1: Game 2 at NY Yankees, TBD
Mon. 10/3: Game 3 at Tampa Bay, TBD Mon. 10/3: Game 3 at Detroit, TBD
*Tues. 10/4: Game 4 at Tampa Bay, TBD *Tues. 10/4: Game 4 at Detroit, TBD
*Thurs. 10/6: Game 5 at Texas, TBD *Thurs. 10/6: Game 5 at NY Yankees, TBD
NL: ST. LOUIS-PHILADELPHIA
NL: ARIZONA-MILWAUKEE
Sat. 10/1: Game 1 at Philadelphia, TBD Sat. 10/1: Game 1 at Milwaukee, TBD
Sun. 10/2: Game 2 at Philadelphia, TBD Sun. 10/2: Game 2 at Milwaukee, TBD
Tues. 10/4: Game 3 at St. Louis, TBD Tues. 10/4: Game 3 at Arizona, TBD
*Wed. 10/5: Game 4 at St. Louis, TBD *Wed. 10/5: Game 4 at Arizona, TBD
*Fri. 10/7: Game 5 at Philadelphia, TBD *Fri. 10/7: Game 5 at Milwaukee, TBD
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Cr122
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That has to really suck to be 90-72 and not make the playoffs.
They definitely need to add a couple of more teams to the playoffs.
They definitely need to add a couple of more teams to the playoffs.
- Messages
- 58,563
- Reaction score
- 9,056
They only needed to win 1 more game. They had a 9 game lead with a month to go, they didnt deserve to be in.
The same thing applies to the Braves, they were putrid in September. They didnt deserve a playoff spot.
- Messages
- 2,711
- Reaction score
- 0
I hate my beloved Braves..........
:suicide
Ditto for me but they didn't deserve to be in.
The offensive woes where there all season and really came to a head this month as the team completely collapsed. This team had no clue how to manufacture runs. You can point your finger at everyone in the lineup. Atrocious hitting down the wire with absolutely no ability to consistently score runs.
The pitching staff that was the glue for keeping us competitive broke down, got over worked, and the youth of several key contributors finally started showing.
- Messages
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- Reaction score
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If Beltre and Company keep swinging the bat like they have, Rev, Tampa Bay will be in some serious trouble.
- Messages
- 10,636
- Reaction score
- 0
Baseball wont be a thing in 30 years
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Cr122
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Updated: September 29, 2011, 10:57 PM ET
Matt Moore, James Shields to start
By Richard Durrett
ESPNDallas.com
Rookie left-hander Matt Moore will start Game 1 of the American League Division Series for the Tampa Bay Rays, with right-hander James Shields set to start Game 2.
Moore will face the Texas Rangers and left-hander C.J. Wilson at 4:07 p.m. CT on Friday. Shields will be opposed by left-handed starter Derek Holland at 6:07 p.m. CT on Saturday.
Moore, 22, has made just one start in the big leagues, pitching five scoreless innings against the Yankees on Sept. 22. That was Moore's first win in the majors. Moore had given up three runs on five hits in 4 1/3 innings of relief prior to that start. He has a fastball in the mid-90s and a plus changeup.
In the minors, Moore was 12-3 with a 1.92 ERA in 27 starts (155 innings) as he split time with Double-A Montgomery and Triple-A Durham in 2011.
The Rangers are 26-21 against left-handed starters this season, including an 18-7 mark at home.
The veteran Shields has been the Rays' top pitcher in 2011, putting up a 16-12 record with a 2.82 ERA in 33 starts (249 1/3 innings). He had 225 strikeouts and 65 walks.
It appears Jeremy Hellickson and David Price could pitch in Games 3 and 4. Shields could return for Game 5, if needed, on full rest, thanks to an off day after Game 4.
Richard Durrett covers the Rangers for ESPNDallas.com.
Follow Richard Durrett on Twitter: @espn_durrett
Matt Moore, James Shields to start
By Richard Durrett
ESPNDallas.com
Rookie left-hander Matt Moore will start Game 1 of the American League Division Series for the Tampa Bay Rays, with right-hander James Shields set to start Game 2.
Moore will face the Texas Rangers and left-hander C.J. Wilson at 4:07 p.m. CT on Friday. Shields will be opposed by left-handed starter Derek Holland at 6:07 p.m. CT on Saturday.
Moore, 22, has made just one start in the big leagues, pitching five scoreless innings against the Yankees on Sept. 22. That was Moore's first win in the majors. Moore had given up three runs on five hits in 4 1/3 innings of relief prior to that start. He has a fastball in the mid-90s and a plus changeup.
In the minors, Moore was 12-3 with a 1.92 ERA in 27 starts (155 innings) as he split time with Double-A Montgomery and Triple-A Durham in 2011.
The Rangers are 26-21 against left-handed starters this season, including an 18-7 mark at home.
The veteran Shields has been the Rays' top pitcher in 2011, putting up a 16-12 record with a 2.82 ERA in 33 starts (249 1/3 innings). He had 225 strikeouts and 65 walks.
It appears Jeremy Hellickson and David Price could pitch in Games 3 and 4. Shields could return for Game 5, if needed, on full rest, thanks to an off day after Game 4.
Richard Durrett covers the Rangers for ESPNDallas.com.
Follow Richard Durrett on Twitter: @espn_durrett
C
Cr122
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It won't, why is that?
Baseball isn't going anywhere. It's America's past time.
C
Cr122
Guest
Updated: September 29, 2011, 11:07 PM ET
GM doesn't blame Terry Francona
By Joe McDonald
ESPNBoston.com
Archive
BOSTON -- Terry Francona has been the manager of the Boston Red Sox for eight seasons. He won World Series titles in 2004 and 2007. There have been some great moments during his tenure, and some not so great moments.
Francona sat alongside general manager Theo Epstein in the interview room at Fenway Park on Thursday afternoon and tried to dissect exactly what happened to the once-promising 2011 season. Entering the year, the Red Sox were the odds-on favorite to win the World Series.
As Francona sat at the rectangular table, he looked tired. He looked beat up. He's probably nervous as to whether he'll keep his job.
The Red Sox have until a week from Saturday to pick up club options for one or both of the next two seasons, but Epstein said the upper management and ownership will take a breather and reassess everyone in the organization in the next few days, including Francona. His options are worth $4.25 million each.
"Tito and I spent some time talking today, just catching up on the season and talking about what the next few days will look like," Epstein said. "We're going to get together, all the ownership, Larry (Lucchino) and I and Tito over the next several days and talk about the season and talk about the future.
"We're less than 24 hours removed from the end of the season, so we need some time to calm down and get objective and look at ourselves, look at 2011 and look ahead and make the best decisions for everybody."
Epstein made it a point of not blaming Francona for the club's collapse in September, when the Red Sox went 7-20 and lost a nine-game lead in the AL wild-card race to the Tampa Bay Rays.
"We've already talked about it ... and nobody blames what happened in September on Tito," Epstein said. "That would be totally irresponsible and totally short-sighted and wouldn't recognize everything he means to the organization and to all of our successes, including at times during 2011, so we take full responsibility for what happened, all of us and collectively as a failure.
"I'm the general manager so I take more responsibility than anybody. I know we don't believe in scapegoats, in particular nobody blames Tito for what happened in September. We all failed collectively. We all failed in this one and we have to live with that. We're not going to point the fingers at any one person in particular, we're going to be identifying issues, finding ways to address those issues, and in some cases getting the right people to help address those issues."
Francona also said he would like to give it a few days before making a decision whether he would want to come back as Red Sox manager.
"I think we'll to talk tomorrow," Francona said. "I think maybe it's best for today to stay where we're at. It's still pretty fresh and pretty raw. It's a fair question, but I would rather focus on the other stuff today."
Francona said he would identify the collapse of the 2011 season as the toughest moment of his career with the Red Sox. But said part of that is because it just happened. There have been other hard times.
"Only because it's now. It's easy to forget," Francona said. "There isn't a whole lot here that isn't trying, even in the best of (times) because everything is so important to people here, and that's good. Because it's fresh and raw it seems that way, but there have been a lot of trying moments here, we just fought through them a little bit better."
"A very quiet day in Boston after a terrible, terrible month for the fans. Night after night they came, they tuned in. Rain, quiet streets," Red Sox owner John Henry wrote on Twitter. "Congratulations to the entire Tampa Bay organization on a miraculous, but well-earned passport to the postseason."
Henry did not respond to a request for comment, and co-owner Tom Werner said he was "still absorbing last night's collapse." But it was not just one night of failure that doomed this team.
The Red Sox lost their first six games and opened the season 2-10, but they went a major league-best 81-42 from then through Aug. 31 to take a comfortable lead in the playoff race. As it slowly disappeared, players insisted they would pull out of the slide in time; but Epstein and Francona both acknowledged on Thursday that they saw signs of trouble.
"A lot of things went wrong and a lot of things had to go wrong for us to blow the lead, and they did. But I don't think they were completely unforeseen," Epstein said. "The bottom line is we didn't find a way to stop the slide."
Francona said he called a team meeting earlier in the month in Toronto -- even after a 14-0 win. He did not specify what he saw, but said "normally, as a season progresses, there's events that make you care about each other."
"With this team, it didn't happen as much as I wanted it to. I was frustrated about that," he said. "You don't need a team that wants to go out to dinner together. But you need a team that wants to protect each other on the field and be fiercely loyal to each other on the field."
Those problems bubbled to the surface in September, when the Red Sox failed to win consecutive games. Boston finished 90-72, one game behind the Rays and seven behind the archrival New York Yankees; the nine-game lead was the biggest ever held in September by a team that failed to make the playoffs.
"I think we'll be dissecting that forever," Epstein said.
Only a handful of players appeared in the cardboard box-filled Red Sox clubhouse on Thursday afternoon, including Jonathan Papelbon and John Lackey; they did not speak to reporters.
Epstein said the "silver lining" of the team's collapse was that, had the Red Sox made the playoffs, it would have been easier to overlook the shortcomings of the team that played so poorly down the stretch.
No chance of that happening now.
"When you go through what we just went through, you can't look past anything," Epstein said. "We have to take a hard look at every aspect of the organization -- myself included."
Among the problems Epstein took the blame for were the decisions on some high-priced free agents. Though he didn't call them mistakes, Epstein acknowledged that the team needs more from both Lackey, who was 12-12 with a 6.41 ERA in the second year of a five-year, $82.5 million deal, and Carl Crawford, who signed a seven-year, $142 million deal last offseason.
"The rehabilitation of John Lackey," Epstein said, "I think it's a big priority, for obvious reasons and we have to attack it from a physical perspective and see if there are things we can do differently with him physically to put him in a better position to have success on the mound."
There have been plenty of times during his career with the Red Sox, especially this season, when Lackey would roll his eyes and his body language would show disgust, anger and frustration, almost as if he were showing up his teammates.
Players, even Francona, said time and again this season that they weren't bothered by it because Lackey's a great teammate. The manager said it again on Thursday.
"I don't think we can put in a guy's contract that if he's going to make a certain amount of money he can't roll his eyes," Francona said. "I don't think guys in the clubhouse have a problem with Lack, nor do I. I think we certainly wish it had gone better on the mound, but I haven't had a problem with Lack at all."
Epstein also addressed the body language issues, and he too is not overly concerned with it.
"I will say this about rolling his eyes and whatnot, that's nothing new. John has always been emotional on the mound," Epstein said. "He's always been demonstrative. It kind of looks bad on the field, it looks as though he's showing up his teammates, it was that way in Anaheim, too."
Crawford is also a priority, as he was at or near career lows with a .255 average, 18 stolen bases, 11 homers and 56 RBIs.
"Carl has taken full and very public responsibility for having a disappointing year," Epstein said. "The next step is, what are you going to do about it."
Joe McDonald covers the Red Sox for ESPNBoston.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Follow Joe McDonald on Twitter: @espnJoeyMac
GM doesn't blame Terry Francona
By Joe McDonald
ESPNBoston.com
Archive
BOSTON -- Terry Francona has been the manager of the Boston Red Sox for eight seasons. He won World Series titles in 2004 and 2007. There have been some great moments during his tenure, and some not so great moments.
Francona sat alongside general manager Theo Epstein in the interview room at Fenway Park on Thursday afternoon and tried to dissect exactly what happened to the once-promising 2011 season. Entering the year, the Red Sox were the odds-on favorite to win the World Series.
As Francona sat at the rectangular table, he looked tired. He looked beat up. He's probably nervous as to whether he'll keep his job.
The Red Sox have until a week from Saturday to pick up club options for one or both of the next two seasons, but Epstein said the upper management and ownership will take a breather and reassess everyone in the organization in the next few days, including Francona. His options are worth $4.25 million each.
"Tito and I spent some time talking today, just catching up on the season and talking about what the next few days will look like," Epstein said. "We're going to get together, all the ownership, Larry (Lucchino) and I and Tito over the next several days and talk about the season and talk about the future.
"We're less than 24 hours removed from the end of the season, so we need some time to calm down and get objective and look at ourselves, look at 2011 and look ahead and make the best decisions for everybody."
Epstein made it a point of not blaming Francona for the club's collapse in September, when the Red Sox went 7-20 and lost a nine-game lead in the AL wild-card race to the Tampa Bay Rays.
"We've already talked about it ... and nobody blames what happened in September on Tito," Epstein said. "That would be totally irresponsible and totally short-sighted and wouldn't recognize everything he means to the organization and to all of our successes, including at times during 2011, so we take full responsibility for what happened, all of us and collectively as a failure.
"I'm the general manager so I take more responsibility than anybody. I know we don't believe in scapegoats, in particular nobody blames Tito for what happened in September. We all failed collectively. We all failed in this one and we have to live with that. We're not going to point the fingers at any one person in particular, we're going to be identifying issues, finding ways to address those issues, and in some cases getting the right people to help address those issues."
Francona also said he would like to give it a few days before making a decision whether he would want to come back as Red Sox manager.
"I think we'll to talk tomorrow," Francona said. "I think maybe it's best for today to stay where we're at. It's still pretty fresh and pretty raw. It's a fair question, but I would rather focus on the other stuff today."
Francona said he would identify the collapse of the 2011 season as the toughest moment of his career with the Red Sox. But said part of that is because it just happened. There have been other hard times.
"Only because it's now. It's easy to forget," Francona said. "There isn't a whole lot here that isn't trying, even in the best of (times) because everything is so important to people here, and that's good. Because it's fresh and raw it seems that way, but there have been a lot of trying moments here, we just fought through them a little bit better."
"A very quiet day in Boston after a terrible, terrible month for the fans. Night after night they came, they tuned in. Rain, quiet streets," Red Sox owner John Henry wrote on Twitter. "Congratulations to the entire Tampa Bay organization on a miraculous, but well-earned passport to the postseason."
Henry did not respond to a request for comment, and co-owner Tom Werner said he was "still absorbing last night's collapse." But it was not just one night of failure that doomed this team.
The Red Sox lost their first six games and opened the season 2-10, but they went a major league-best 81-42 from then through Aug. 31 to take a comfortable lead in the playoff race. As it slowly disappeared, players insisted they would pull out of the slide in time; but Epstein and Francona both acknowledged on Thursday that they saw signs of trouble.
"A lot of things went wrong and a lot of things had to go wrong for us to blow the lead, and they did. But I don't think they were completely unforeseen," Epstein said. "The bottom line is we didn't find a way to stop the slide."
Francona said he called a team meeting earlier in the month in Toronto -- even after a 14-0 win. He did not specify what he saw, but said "normally, as a season progresses, there's events that make you care about each other."
"With this team, it didn't happen as much as I wanted it to. I was frustrated about that," he said. "You don't need a team that wants to go out to dinner together. But you need a team that wants to protect each other on the field and be fiercely loyal to each other on the field."
Those problems bubbled to the surface in September, when the Red Sox failed to win consecutive games. Boston finished 90-72, one game behind the Rays and seven behind the archrival New York Yankees; the nine-game lead was the biggest ever held in September by a team that failed to make the playoffs.
"I think we'll be dissecting that forever," Epstein said.
Only a handful of players appeared in the cardboard box-filled Red Sox clubhouse on Thursday afternoon, including Jonathan Papelbon and John Lackey; they did not speak to reporters.
Epstein said the "silver lining" of the team's collapse was that, had the Red Sox made the playoffs, it would have been easier to overlook the shortcomings of the team that played so poorly down the stretch.
No chance of that happening now.
"When you go through what we just went through, you can't look past anything," Epstein said. "We have to take a hard look at every aspect of the organization -- myself included."
Among the problems Epstein took the blame for were the decisions on some high-priced free agents. Though he didn't call them mistakes, Epstein acknowledged that the team needs more from both Lackey, who was 12-12 with a 6.41 ERA in the second year of a five-year, $82.5 million deal, and Carl Crawford, who signed a seven-year, $142 million deal last offseason.
"The rehabilitation of John Lackey," Epstein said, "I think it's a big priority, for obvious reasons and we have to attack it from a physical perspective and see if there are things we can do differently with him physically to put him in a better position to have success on the mound."
There have been plenty of times during his career with the Red Sox, especially this season, when Lackey would roll his eyes and his body language would show disgust, anger and frustration, almost as if he were showing up his teammates.
Players, even Francona, said time and again this season that they weren't bothered by it because Lackey's a great teammate. The manager said it again on Thursday.
"I don't think we can put in a guy's contract that if he's going to make a certain amount of money he can't roll his eyes," Francona said. "I don't think guys in the clubhouse have a problem with Lack, nor do I. I think we certainly wish it had gone better on the mound, but I haven't had a problem with Lack at all."
Epstein also addressed the body language issues, and he too is not overly concerned with it.
"I will say this about rolling his eyes and whatnot, that's nothing new. John has always been emotional on the mound," Epstein said. "He's always been demonstrative. It kind of looks bad on the field, it looks as though he's showing up his teammates, it was that way in Anaheim, too."
Crawford is also a priority, as he was at or near career lows with a .255 average, 18 stolen bases, 11 homers and 56 RBIs.
"Carl has taken full and very public responsibility for having a disappointing year," Epstein said. "The next step is, what are you going to do about it."
Joe McDonald covers the Red Sox for ESPNBoston.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Follow Joe McDonald on Twitter: @espnJoeyMac
- Messages
- 58,563
- Reaction score
- 9,056
Glad to see Matt Moore finally figured out he isnt a QB
C
Cr122
Guest
That Rays and Rangers series will be a good one no doubt.
- Messages
- 2,711
- Reaction score
- 0
Scapegoat
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Cr122
Guest
I think Francona is a good manager, he'd be a good fit for the WhiteSox. Question is who will manage the RedSox?
C
Cr122
Guest
Wow...the Rays are up 8-0 in the 9th.
C
Cr122
Guest
Updated: September 30, 2011, 7:09 PM ET
Terry Francona, Red Sox split
ESPNBoston.com
BOSTON -- Terry Francona and the Red Sox agreed that he will not return as manager, the team announced on Friday.
Francona met with owner John Henry, chairman Tom Werner, team president Larry Lucchino, general manager Theo Epstein and assistant GM Ben Cherington on Friday at Fenway Park. He left and then returned.
Epstein initially put out a statement saying all sides wanted to think about the meeting and no announcement was forthcoming, but then a statement came out in the evening in which Francona indicated it was his decision to move on.
"I've always maintained that it is not only the right, but the obligation, of ownership to have the right person doing this job," he said. "I told them that out of my enormous respect for this organization and the people in it, they may need to find a different voice to lead the team.
"In my eight seasons as manager of the Boston Red Sox, I have developed a tremendous appreciation for Red Sox Nation. This is a special place with some of the most knowledgeable and passionate fans in all of baseball. They packed Fenway Park for every game and because of them, I had a special sense of pride coming to work every day."
The team portion of the release said that Red Sox brass agreed with Francona.
"During the meeting, Tito, Theo and Ben agreed that the Red Sox would benefit from an improved clubhouse culture and higher standards in several areas," the statement said. "Tito said that after eight years here he was frustrated by his difficulty making an impact with the players, that a different voice was needed, and that it was time for him to move on. After taking time to reflect on Tito's sentiments, we agreed that it was best for the Red Sox not to exercise the option years on his contract."
Francona had told staff members on Thursday that he would not be returning as manager, a club source told ESPNBoston.com's Gordon Edes on Friday.
Several other media outlets reported Friday that Francona would not return for a ninth season. He led the Red Sox to World Series titles in 2004 -- their first since 1918 -- and 2007.
Saying he had a "personal friendship" with Francona and praising him for being "an unflappable leader," Epstein granted that the Red Sox might need a new voice. But he said that Francona's "next team will benefit more than it knows from hearing Tito's voice. I will miss seeing Tito every day in the manager's office, and I wish him and his family nothing but the best in their next chapter."
Red Sox slugger David Ortiz said earlier Friday he was "fine with Tito" but he did hint that the clubhouse had issues, something Francona acknowledged on Thursday.
"I worry about playing baseball more than anything else," Ortiz said. "I know we have some players that (the organization thought were) worried about some other s--- and sometimes there were certain things that no one in the clubhouse can control. I was trying and I have no issues. My only problem was when I started being benched (in 2010) and that was my only issue with Tito. Other than that we're cool."
Ortiz wasn't expecting Francona to leave. "I am surprised," he said. "I'm surprised because I'm hearing things right now (in the news) that I didn't know were going on."
On Thursday, Francona said that this Red Sox team had issues that he thought affected its play. He spoke Thursday about a team meeting he called in Toronto in the aftermath of a 14-0 win on Sept. 6.
"I'm not sure if anybody knew, because there were some things I was worried about," he said. "I think we were spending too much energy on things that weren't putting our best foot forward toward winning. We spent a few minutes in the clubhouse that day, talking about that. There were some things that did concern me.
"Teams normally, as the season progresses, there are events that make you care about each other, and this club, it didn't always happen as much as I wanted it to. And I was frustrated by that."
The Boston Herald reported one divisive issue, citing sources as saying that pitchers were allowed to drink beer in the clubhouse on their off-days. A Red Sox source not only confirmed to ESPNBoston.com that was the case, but also said that it "has been going on for two years."
Ortiz is a free agent and was asked if the manager leaving would affect him re-signing with Boston.
"Not at all," he said. "That's one thing I can't really control, who the manager's going to be. That's not on me."
Gordon Edes covers the Red Sox for ESPNBoston.com. Information from ESPNBoston.com's Joe McDonald and The Associated Press was used in this report.
Terry Francona, Red Sox split
ESPNBoston.com
BOSTON -- Terry Francona and the Red Sox agreed that he will not return as manager, the team announced on Friday.
Francona met with owner John Henry, chairman Tom Werner, team president Larry Lucchino, general manager Theo Epstein and assistant GM Ben Cherington on Friday at Fenway Park. He left and then returned.
Epstein initially put out a statement saying all sides wanted to think about the meeting and no announcement was forthcoming, but then a statement came out in the evening in which Francona indicated it was his decision to move on.
"I've always maintained that it is not only the right, but the obligation, of ownership to have the right person doing this job," he said. "I told them that out of my enormous respect for this organization and the people in it, they may need to find a different voice to lead the team.
"In my eight seasons as manager of the Boston Red Sox, I have developed a tremendous appreciation for Red Sox Nation. This is a special place with some of the most knowledgeable and passionate fans in all of baseball. They packed Fenway Park for every game and because of them, I had a special sense of pride coming to work every day."
The team portion of the release said that Red Sox brass agreed with Francona.
"During the meeting, Tito, Theo and Ben agreed that the Red Sox would benefit from an improved clubhouse culture and higher standards in several areas," the statement said. "Tito said that after eight years here he was frustrated by his difficulty making an impact with the players, that a different voice was needed, and that it was time for him to move on. After taking time to reflect on Tito's sentiments, we agreed that it was best for the Red Sox not to exercise the option years on his contract."
Francona had told staff members on Thursday that he would not be returning as manager, a club source told ESPNBoston.com's Gordon Edes on Friday.
Several other media outlets reported Friday that Francona would not return for a ninth season. He led the Red Sox to World Series titles in 2004 -- their first since 1918 -- and 2007.
Saying he had a "personal friendship" with Francona and praising him for being "an unflappable leader," Epstein granted that the Red Sox might need a new voice. But he said that Francona's "next team will benefit more than it knows from hearing Tito's voice. I will miss seeing Tito every day in the manager's office, and I wish him and his family nothing but the best in their next chapter."
Red Sox slugger David Ortiz said earlier Friday he was "fine with Tito" but he did hint that the clubhouse had issues, something Francona acknowledged on Thursday.
"I worry about playing baseball more than anything else," Ortiz said. "I know we have some players that (the organization thought were) worried about some other s--- and sometimes there were certain things that no one in the clubhouse can control. I was trying and I have no issues. My only problem was when I started being benched (in 2010) and that was my only issue with Tito. Other than that we're cool."
Ortiz wasn't expecting Francona to leave. "I am surprised," he said. "I'm surprised because I'm hearing things right now (in the news) that I didn't know were going on."
On Thursday, Francona said that this Red Sox team had issues that he thought affected its play. He spoke Thursday about a team meeting he called in Toronto in the aftermath of a 14-0 win on Sept. 6.
"I'm not sure if anybody knew, because there were some things I was worried about," he said. "I think we were spending too much energy on things that weren't putting our best foot forward toward winning. We spent a few minutes in the clubhouse that day, talking about that. There were some things that did concern me.
"Teams normally, as the season progresses, there are events that make you care about each other, and this club, it didn't always happen as much as I wanted it to. And I was frustrated by that."
The Boston Herald reported one divisive issue, citing sources as saying that pitchers were allowed to drink beer in the clubhouse on their off-days. A Red Sox source not only confirmed to ESPNBoston.com that was the case, but also said that it "has been going on for two years."
Ortiz is a free agent and was asked if the manager leaving would affect him re-signing with Boston.
"Not at all," he said. "That's one thing I can't really control, who the manager's going to be. That's not on me."
Gordon Edes covers the Red Sox for ESPNBoston.com. Information from ESPNBoston.com's Joe McDonald and The Associated Press was used in this report.
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After tonights game I think your spot on.