Theo

Paramour? I came across this word as I read an article about the Red Sox inability to re-sign Theo Epstein to a new contract. Never saw or heard the word before in my life. Sometimes you can get a good clue to its meaning when you hear the content of the whole sentence that it’s used in. Here’s the sentence as uttered by senior baseball operations adviser Bill James:
''Certainly I was surprised; I love the Red Sox and have no plans to look for a new paramour."

Paramour? Let’s see, it has the word amour in it which I think means love, so maybe he’s trying to say that he won’t be looking for a new lover. Bill must truly love his job. The word aroused my curiosity so I looked it up in the dictionary and I’ll save you the trouble and tell you what I found:

Paramour - a lover, especially one in a relationship with a married person.

Even after looking up the meaning of paramour, I still couldn’t understand what Bill was trying to say. Why couldn’t he just say that he had no plans to look for a new lover? Enough about paramour, it got me sidetracked from finishing to read the article on Theo.

At this point no one really knows why Theo decided not to re-sign with his beloved Red Sox whom he had grown up with living in Brookline. Maybe we’ll know more when he speaks to the press within the next day or two. At first I was saddened to hear the news but in a selfish way I was not thinking of Theo. He has accomplished so much at a young age and has earned the respect of many who came in contact with him. Maybe he’s trying to break out from the ever present shadow of mentors Larry Lucchino and Charles Steinberg. I respect his decision and like many in Boston will miss him.

''He was a pretty significant part of my life. ''I have a lot of admiration and respect of him. It's different. Change is so unsettling anyway, more so when it's someone very close to you. I mean, this guy impacted my life." -Terry Francona

''Crazy," Ortiz said when asked to talk about Epstein's departure. ''It's crazy. Theo was great. People love Theo. How long was Theo in the Red Sox organization for before he won a World Series?"
The answer: 23 months.
''We were in the playoffs every year," Ortiz said. ''He put the pieces together. They should iron things out with Theo. He's the man, bro."

''You don't get better losing a guy like Theo," Schilling told the Associated Press. ''It's obviously going to be an incredibly unpopular decision with the players."

"I'm very upset that we lost somebody like him," Red Sox captain Jason Varitek said. "We seem to have a lot of that going around."

Listening and reading between the lines that David Ortiz speaks below might give some indication of the problems that Theo faced from within the organization.

''Who is the GM going to be?" Ortiz asked. ''And who is going to want to become GM of our team to work for somebody else? A GM wants to be somebody in a position [of power]. If you're going to be the GM, just to get orders from someone else, it's something they aren't really comfortable with.
''We need Theo. Hopefully, they put it together to keep Theo.
''I think the problem is Theo is not getting enough of a position to say, 'I'm going to do this, if I [mess] up, I [mess] up.'
''He came up with some good ideas that did nothing but help this ball club, this team.
''Before, from what I hear, they had good players, but they never had that chemistry. That's what the team is based on. Who brings the mentality to play the game every day? He understands that."

One of Theo’s special assistants, 71 year old former Tiger General Manager, Bill Lajoie, resigned within minutes of Theo doing so saying, ''I felt loyalty to my boss and left also." It says a lot to me when a 71 year old has loyalty to his boss who could be his grandson.

As Ortiz says, hopefully they’ll put it together and keep Theo. If not I wish him the best wherever he goes and on whatever he chooses to do. I’ll always remember him as the GM who helped bring the championship to Boston after an 86 year drought.

Let's see, hmmm..., I'm still trying to figure out how the word paramour made it's way into a baseball story.