#Mail call snafu series#

The result was a compounding series of unforced errors that the Red Sox endured in publicly humiliating fashion during the 1980-1981 offseason. Still, the more definitive answer to the question lies in the relationship of Sullivan, who represented an older era of baseball (freely admitting in 1981 that вЂњI liked the days when everyone had a good time around baseballвЂќ) with the inexorable trend towards increased player power.

#Mail call snafu free#

22.ДЇisk, as arbitrator Raymond Goetz declared on that fateful February day, would attain free agency, while Lynn had been hastily traded to the Angels before the ruling in January. 20 deadline as established by baseballвЂ™s Basic Agreement, as the contracts were instead mailed on Dec. The Red Sox failed to send Fisk and then-teammate Fred Lynn (the 1975 Rookie of the Year and American League MVP) their contracts by the Dec. The literal answer, unbelievable as it remains, was that a piece of mail had been sent two days late. When Fisk eventually signed with the White Sox a few weeks later in March on a five-year deal worth $2.9 million, New EnglandвЂ™s nightmare was complete.Д«ut how had it come to this? How had a player who had so perfectly symbolized the region - and who said that only a few months earlier he вЂњnever could have visualizedвЂќ any scenario where he wasnвЂ™t on the Red Sox - suddenly been allowed to become a free agent and leave?

вЂњOpen the damn bar,вЂќ he declared, inadvertently creating a soundbite Lobel would replay frequently. Yet just before he вЂњ engaged in a shouting matchвЂќ with Lobel over the nature of their television interview, he turned and delivered the only line with which Red Sox fans wouldвЂ™ve wholeheartedly concurred. Timing, as recent events had shown, was not his strength. Having stirred up reporters with his dramatic announcement, Sullivan bristled at what came next. But even as Sullivan told reporters that вЂњwe want to re-sign him very badly,вЂќ he couldnвЂ™t help but add - in terms that fans undoubtedly found ominous - вЂњwe want to keep some sanity here, and I wonвЂ™t get caught in a slingshot.вЂќ That Fisk would leave was not yet a foregone conclusion. вЂњWe told them they would be treated like every other team,вЂќ said Fisk. When asked later that day by WBZвЂ™s Bob Lobel if he had spoken with the Boston management, he gave a blunt answer. Though he had unequivocally said, вЂњI donвЂ™t want to leave the Red Sox,вЂќ as recently as January, Fisk already appeared to have moved on. Whether anyone was ready for it or not, the 33-year-old was officially baseballвЂ™s latest free agent. This time itвЂ™s Fisk, and Fisk is one of us.вЂќ вЂњWeвЂ™ve suffered through things we said weвЂ™d never forgive them for,вЂќ a fan told the Boston Globe of Red Sox management while awaiting the decision.