Larry Lucchino Knows Playoffs Are ‘Long Shot’ for Red Sox but Is Trying to Stay Optimistic

by abournenesn

Aug 16, 2012

Larry Lucchino Knows Playoffs Are 'Long Shot' for Red Sox but Is Trying to Stay OptimisticThe Red Sox brass traveled to Baltimore to attempt to calm the turmoil surrounding the club.

Only team president Larry Lucchino addressed reporters upon his arrival. While he’s concerned about the fact the Red Sox entered Thursday’s game four games below .500, he’s trying to stay optimistic.

“There’s still 44 games left, so technically we are still alive,” Lucchino told reporters at Camden Yards. “I said to someone recently that you can go to St. Louis and Tampa to get a sense of what can happen after this point of the season. I know it’s a bit of a long shot, but it’s still interesting baseball.”

The off-the-field news around the Red Sox has been just as — if not more — interesting. Recently, Yahoo! Sports reported that players had complained to ownership about Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine.

Later on, Valentine cited the Boston media for the reason future free agents could decline to sign with the Red Sox. But Lucchino disagreed with the notion and insisted the team’s brand wasn’t in jeopardy.

“I don’t think that’s a long-term danger,” Lucchino said. “I do think there’s probably a little bit of a reservation on the part of some players perhaps with respect to the grueling media coverage. You’ve just got to make sure you pick the right people and personalities to come here to be able to withstand that.

“Every franchise, every brand goes through rough times. No one is immune to the hills and valleys. We’ve had a long run of success. We’ve created very high expectations for the franchise. Sometimes those high expectations are not met, and the result is a reduction, a hit to the brand and to the team and to the fan base.”

And Lucchino knows how important those expectations are in Boston.

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