Grady may be a nice guy and reponsible for the chemistry in the Red Sox club house amongst the players, but as a Major League Manager he has made a number of sophomoric moves throughout the season, which at times have resulted in Red Sox losses. The last one resulted in the elimination of what was a storybook season. To their credit, his players have pulled out wins despite some of his “questionable moves” throughout the season by coming back to win ball games. Perhaps If they had done that, again, in extra innings, in New York, leading to a Red Sox victory, the euphoria in Red Sox Nation would have overshadowed Grady’s decision to leave Pedro in during that infamous eighth inning. If the Red Sox brass decide to give him another year’s contract, they should put some people around him to help him make better managerial decisions. I’m sure that in his position as manager, he is under a lot of pressure, especially in the Red Sox Nation. Give him some reasonable baseball people in that dugout who are not afraid to voice an opinion with other reasonable options to consider. That’s what they’ve done in New York for Joe Torre. Anyone can make a mistake, but a mistake in the playoffs is inexcusable for a manager when everything is on the line, especially in Boston.

I have been a Red Sox fan for 21 years. I have certainly seen my share of dramatic wins and gut-wrenching losses, regular and post-season. My reaction to game 7 was similar, I am sure, to most Red Sox fans. Off with Grady’s head. Now that I have had a few days to calm down and collect myself, I have to honestly say, I would like to see him back next year. Here’s the reason: In 1986, Bill Buckner blew a simple ground ball to first resulting, ultimately, in the loss of the World Series. But, without Buckner in 1986, the Sox probably wouldn’t have gotten there in the first place. I have never hated Buckner because that is what I believe. Similarly, I didn’t agree with Grady Little’s decision in the 8th inning, even before it blew up in his face, but what if he had brought in Timlin to start the 8th and the same thing happened? We would all be saying he should have left Pedro in. The same if he had brought in Embree to face Matsui and he had blown it. Grady couldn’t win at all if the Red Sox lost. The one thing that is the most difficult for fans to see during the course of a season is the atmosphere in the clubhouse. If Grady Little’s personality and style is what allowed the players to be what they were this year, I say BRING HIM BACK!!! and let’s Cowboy up again in 2004.

What a joke. A professional manager has to have the skin to tell his prima-donna “ace” that he’s done and turn it over to a bullpen that was brilliant throughout the entire postseason. Todd Walker indicated that Pedro makes the most $ in the clubhouse, therefore, deserves to be out there. EVERY PITCHER GETS IN JAMS AND MUST BE RELIEVED !!!!!! Until that prima-donna attitude is extricated from Red Sox thinking, it will continue to haunt them like the so called malarky about ghosts and curses.
Where was Scott Williamson (designated closer) when the comeback or should I save “giveback” started ? Oh that’s right he never got in the game. Meantime, Rivera pitches 3 innings. What was Williamson being saved for? A possible 17th inning. You do what got your there every night and that was Starter, to Embree-Timlin-Williamson. I honestly could’ve lived with a comeback against the bullpen. NO GUTS GRADY !

Grady has to go! He is solely responsible for the loss of game 7. Pedro was up into 110 or so pitches -he had gotten one out but once a run had been scored, it should have been a no-brainer. GO TO THE HOT BULLPEN to shut down the Yanks. TImlin and Embree and Williamson had all been effective against the Yankees. They had played a huge role getting us there, why did he ignore them? Grady has o pay attention to the game and make decisions as a manager. Pedro is the ace yes but he was clearly tired and not effective, he was done everyone could see it except apparently for Grady who thought that Pedro is super human and never gets hit. And, it’s not Pedro’s job to take himself out of the game that’s the manager’s job. Grady’s indecision and deference to Pedro was pathetic. Managers manag and pitcher pitch and Grady blew it. He should be immediately fired. Bring in some managers who make he smart decisions and forget the nice guy bull.

Marc Woodward is a bigger idiot than Grady is.If the Red Sox bring back that incompetent minor league coach they might as well just stop playing. The team got to where they were because the players executed like they were SUPPOSED to -not because of Grady’s STYLE, furthermore, if they would have brought in the pen(timlin,embree,willianson) NOBODY would have complained(other than the normal heartbreak felt when your team loses) if they still managed to blow that game because those are the guys that are SUPPOSED to be in there. The only guy that didn’t do what he was SUPPOSED to do was that old fool Grady and that is what cost them and us all a trip to the World Series. That gutless wannabe is now at the top of the list for all-time Red Sox jack ass, and rightfully so!

I’m with you guys - I’m just grateful that my White Sox got knocked out by the Twins in September. I don’t think I could have beared going through what you fans have gone through. Devastating. What decision is there? I can only think that the Red Sox brass have to put Grady out on the street? Won’t there be too much of a public backlash if they don’t? There’s absolutely no excuse for it - It’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen, what happened out there in Game 7. The Sox should be in the world series right now…

hey grady, got a question for ya. Did you forget what got you there? Embree, Timlin, and Williamson would have had a 3 run lead to work with, your ace could have been rested (100 pitches)and New York would finally feel some pain at the end of their season. Instead, you leave Pedro out for another 25 pitches and hard hit after hard hit. I truly lost all respect for Grady because my kid sister could have realized that taking him out would be the right decision. Even if the sox rallied for the win, why would you have wanted your ace to work so hard with a 3 run lead in the eigth. If the relievers blew it then it would have been dissapointing not DEVASATING!

Grady Little should be fired immediately by the Red Sox front office. The manager is supposed to put his team in the position to win games—especially big games like Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS: Red Sox vs. Yankees, Yankee Stadium in what would have been The Rocket’s last-ever start. The manager is supposed to manage with his head, not his heart. Bubba Little’s decision to allow Pedro Martínez (a guy who goes on the DL with arm trouble every year) to throw 125 pitches was criminally stupid. It was obvious to me, the 57,000 people at Yankee Stadium, and all those watching in TV Land that Pedro was done. Once New York tied the game, it was only a matter of time before they won it. Bubba has made plenty of idiotic moves during the regular season and the playoffs (I could write a 10 volume set on them), but he clearly saved his worst for last. And THEN, he has the gall to blame the loss on the players worrying about Bill Buckner! What an ***hole! Bubba Little is so spineless that he won’t admit the err of his ways—even when it smacks him hard in the face with a dead fish! At least L.A. Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda had the guts to admit he messed up by pitching to Jack Clark in Game 6 of the 1985 NLCS. It’s bad enough that Little singlehandedly cost the Red Sox the AL pennant. It’s even worse that he’s not man enough to admit his mistake. I don’t care if he has won 93 and 95 games in the postseason, respectively. Any manager could win that number of games with the talent he has on that Boston team. Grady Little blew it at the worst possible moment. He is a disgrace to the Boston Red Sox and to Major League Baseball and he must be fired immediately.

Grady Little should be fired immediately by the Red Sox front office. The manager is supposed to put his team in the position to win games—especially big games like Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS: Red Sox vs. Yankees, Yankee Stadium in what would have been The Rocket’s last-ever start. The manager is supposed to manage with his head, not his heart. Bubba Little’s decision to allow Pedro Martínez (a guy who goes on the DL with arm trouble every year) to throw 125 pitches was criminally stupid. It was obvious to me, the 57,000 people at Yankee Stadium, and all those watching in TV Land that Pedro was done as he labored through the 7th inning. Apparently, Bubba is so stupid that it took 4 straight hits and 3 straight runs scored off Pedro in the 8th to convince him. Once New York tied the game, it was only a matter of time before they won it. Bubba has made plenty of idiotic moves during the regular season and the playoffs (I could write a 10 volume set on them), but he clearly saved his worst for last. And THEN, he has the gall to blame the loss on the players worrying about Bill Buckner! What an ***hole! Bubba Little is spineless because he won’t admit the err of his ways—even when it smacks him hard in the face with a dead fish! At least L.A. Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda had the guts to admit he messed up by pitching to Jack Clark in Game 6 of the 1985 NLCS. It’s bad enough that Little singlehandedly cost the Red Sox the AL pennant. It’s even worse that he’s not man enough to admit his mistake. Bubba made the worst decision in recent baseball playoff history and then blames his players for the loss. This idiotic scumbag has to go! I don’t care if he has won 93 and 95 games in the 2002 & 2003 regular seasons, respectively. Any manager could win that number of games with the talent he has on that Boston team. Grady Little blew it at the worst possible moment. He is a disgrace to the Boston Red Sox and to Major League Baseball and he must be fired immediately.

After having had a few days pass, and finally able to get 4-5 hours straight sleep, I can now reflect on the season. I do believe Grady did a good job, considering he really didn’t have a bullpen throughout the regular season. He did in fact have to keep Pedro in at times when a healthy bullpen should have taken over and yes it did pay off at time during the regular season. In fact, if we had a healthy bullpen all year, we may have been talking one of the greatest teams ever! But, the bullpen did come alive for much of the postseason. If my stats are correct, I believe Timlin faced (before that dreadful 8th) 23 batters in the postseason and had only given up a single hit and no runs. Embree and Williamson also stepped it up…finally we had a bullpen. Can you really tell me anybody should have faulted Grady if he started Timlin in the 8th and it blew up? (I say should because I know plenty would if it did). How about after Pedro gave up the double to Jeter? How about after he gave up a run? No, we would have been disappointed that our team was just not good enough. So the question remains, should we keep Grady? I say no for 2 reasons. First and foremost, he would not take credit for his huge blunder. He tried to let Pedro take it. No, it didn’t work because we’re not stupid and even a stupid person could see it was Grady’s mistake. Yes Pedro wanted the ball, because Grady asked him. Pedro believed he could do it and that is the way you want your ace to think. A good manager does not need to ask his ace in that situation, his eyes and brain can make the decision for him. Second…since he is holding firm that he should have kept Pedro in he will not learn from his mistake because he still doesn’t believe or won’t admit he made one. Too bad. Had he made the right decision in the fateful 8th, I think he would have gone down as a very good manager and probably had an extremely good chance of winning a World Series for the Red Sox Nation.

I’m a Yankee Fan. All I have to say is, thanks Grady. I didn’t know you were on the Yankee payroll! All I can say, as a Yankee fan, KEEP GRADY LITTLE! We enjoy beating your butts every year!

Red Sox fans are so myopic. Your team will never win a World Series. Am I talking about a curse? NO. I’m talking about the fact that the Yankees will always have a better team because they will always rape and pillage the rest of the league. This didn’t start with George Steinbrenner, either. The Yankees will always have the biggest payroll, and no other team can compete with a payroll that 50% to 100% larger than theirs.

Initially, I thought keeping Pedro in was stupid but on reflection he is Boston’s best and why not go down with him rather than $1.98 reliever? At least one can say they beat our best. But since he was at 125 pitches couldnt a speed gun have detected whether he had lost velocity on his fast ball. If so, then bringing someone in was the thing to do. I believe Matsui easily pulled his fast ball so it didnt look like it was as fast as earlier unless Matsui just timed it well. MY PRAYER WAS ANYBODY BUT THE YANKEES BUT IT CERTAINLY LOOKS LIKE ONLY THE RED SOX COULD HAVE STOPPED THEM. The Marlins dont seem to have the hitting.

Grady Little needs to go immediately. From the owner’s perspective Grady is responsible for the multimillion dollar loss in revenue by not getting into the World Series. From the player’s perspective he is rightly blamed for blowing what may have been their only opportunity to get into the Series. For both owners and players Grady has lost any trust that he will properly guide the club. If the Red Sox keep him it would be like their keeping Heathcliff Slocom, a man who, like Grady, turned wins into losses and demoralized the organization.

Let’s not forget Grady had Gabe Kapler leading off in game 2 and wouldn’t let the hot hitting Walker face a lefty until later in the series. Not pulling Pedro wasn’t the only bad move in the series.

There I was, sitting in my den, believing that the sox would defeat the evil empire. I could see that Pedro was done in the seventh…he pitched 7 great innings, all us sox fans wanted. So I tell my wife, good Embree is warming up, Pedro won’t come out in the 8th. Well, out he walks, gives up a big hit and out walks Grady Little the Sox mis-manager. He lets Pedro decide if he’s done. What does Pedro care, he goes to the Hall of Fame with our without this win, so the hero says I can do it, and with the entire season on the line Little says…OK…then 3 hits later, Pedro is now fighting for his life…we lose again…THanks Grady…He’s gotta go!

Chris Kordass obviously didn’t seem to understand my statement. I did NOT agree with his decision. And if you don’t think managerial style has anyting to do with clubhouse attitude, you obviously don’t remember the Jimy Williams regime. The Red Sox should have won that game, no doubt, but Grady is being judged more on the result than the decision.

Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek last weekend said there were a “billion things” that could have caused the Sox clubhouse to fall apart last season, and it was because of Little that it did not do so.

-Boston Globe

This was by far the most painful loss in Sox History! At least in ‘86, you had another game to play! After Ortiz hit his 8th inning “insurance” homer, everyone (Sox Nation, Wells, Yankee fans) thought that was it! Pedro was hit hard in the 7th. Gave up a HR, then 2 hits. After the 7th Pedro pointed to the sky, like he always does when he’s done. His teammates patted him on the back and congratulated him. “Hot” pitching Timlin and Embree were warming up. Stats showed batters hit .370 against Pedro after 100 pitches. UNBELIEVABLY Little lets Pedro go to the 8th!! Hello, earth-to-Little ! This is game 7 !! You need a short leash, you have a hot bullpen, you have starters if necessary, you MORON! Pedro goes in and continues to get hit hard. Double, single, Double. Little UNBELIVABLY goes out and “ASKS” if Pedro’s OK !! WHAT ?? OF COURSE HE SAYS HE”S OK- YOU MORON !! Another double, and most of us go to bed, knowing the game has been lost. True, this one bad move is magnified, but bumbling Little did this all year. Heck, Sox should have won 1st place, Seattle wild-card, and Yankees not even a factor! With a competent manager, one who is both good with people, good with numbers, and is more articulate (like Joe Torre) we’ll get over 100 wins, and win it all in 2004 !!

Well! The Florida Marlins of the Natural League are the new World Champions. Had Grady Little been a Tony LaRusso, Joe Torre or Tommy LaSorta, the outcome may have been different. I am a New York Mets fan. So I am used to seeing BAD baseball playing (remember Thornberry?). However, we have never had a mismanager like Little. The Red Sox did not play BAD baseball in 2003. They had BAD field managing in 2003.
Dick Foss was right. The Red Sox should have been a distant first place in the AL east.
Instead of having an open house for prospective baseball players, the owners of the Red Sox should hold an all-comers audition for field manager. There are a helluva lotta great high school baseball coaches right here in New England who can and would do a better job than Little (and probably for less money).

The BIG bobing heads in the media are starting a rumor that Don Zimmer will NOT be with the Yankees next year. Mayube he should be asked to manage the Red Sox. Better, yet, Joe Torre has been with the Yankees too long. It’s time for him to move on to the Red Sox(?), maybe. His talent team includes Zimmer, Stottlemayer and Mazilli, although I think Mazilli will be on the other end of the country as the Oakland Athletics field manager next year. Maybe Torre could get a few good pitchers like Franco into the bullpen.
Wait a minute. That’s not a good idea. Us Met fans need Franco. Besides, Franco will probably be retiring soon.
If anyone from the Red Sox management is reading this — Please do something! Babe Ruth died over 50 years ago! He is not responsible for 2002 and 2003! Your mismanager IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Boston Red Sox, They should offer him the office job( Of coure Grady would not take it any way ) .That is the way to exit him out of the ball club ; and Grady will not lost his face .Because this is the professional position .Then we will fire the employee in the diffence way then the blue-collar job.

Grady Little. Grady Little.
There are going to be those in Red Sox Nation that will always remember him as Ace Ventura’s “Ray Finkel”. It’s time to move on.
Glenn Hoffman?
Where’s Wade Boggs?

One can only wonder what might have happened if Grady did take Pedro out and bring in one of the relief pitchers. The Yanks might have beat up on them too and then everyone would blame Grady for taking Pedro out. I can only say look at what Grady did the last two years as the Red Sox manager, both 90+ win seasons. Instead of blaming the manager, the Red Sox owners should spend some money and buy some quality players like George does for the Yanks. Face facts, the Yanks will be in the hunt for the World Championship next year and several years to come. Grady should not be labeled the scapegoat due to the Red Sox Game 7 collapse. By the way, I’m a N.Y. fan.