Desperately Seeking Next Red Sox Manager – Job Requirements – the perfect candidate
By Earl Nash
Before the Boston media and ESPN get into the act, let’s find the perfect replacement for Bobby Valentine.
JOB DESCRIPTION:
• Antagonism for the Yankees [number of years a big plus.]
• Speaks a foreign language besides Japanese [Spanish a big plus.]
• Historical connections to Red Sox history [EX: Ted Williams.]
• Former major league player [preferably a pitcher.]
• Maturity [older than Fenway Park.]
• Treats everyone equally.
• Criticizes entire team [not individual players.]
• Bud Selig owes you $20,000.
Enter: “Connie” Marrero, “The Peasant of Laberinto.”
• Antagonism for the Yankees [number of years a big plus.]
Recently told AP that beating the Yankees was the sweetest feeling in the world. Check!
• Speaks a foreign language besides Japanese [Spanish a big plus.]
Fluent Spanish speaker for 96 years. Check!
• Historical connections to Red Sox history [EX: Ted Williams.]
“One day Williams got two home runs off me, and afterward he came up to me and said `Sorry, it was my day today,” Marrero recalled. “I responded, `Ted, every day is your day.'” Check!
• Former major league player [preferably a pitcher.]
Conrado Eugenio (Ramos) Marrero
Position: Pitcher
Bats: Right, Throws: Right
Height: 5′ 5″, Weight: 158 lb.
Born: April 25, 1911 in Sagua La Grande, Villa Clara, Cuba (Age 101)
Signed by the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent in 1947.
Team: Senators 1950-1954 Debut: April 21, 1950, Final Game: September 7, 1954
“He made it to the big leagues as a 39-year-old rookie in 1950 following a standout career in Cuba. And he wasn’t your typical big leaguer either. Because of his size, he relied on control, guile and a bag full of junk pitches – curves, sliders, knuckleballs and other off-speed stuff.
He compiled a 39-40 record and a 3.67 ERA before being cut ahead of the 1955 season. Marrero was named to the 1951 All-Star team but didn’t see action.” [AP, Anne Marie Garci]
Check!
• Maturity [older than Fenway Park]
Turned 101 this week and is now the oldest living former big leaguer. Check!
• Treats everyone equally.
Attributes his longevity to being a People person: “I never had hatred for anyone…I treated everyone equally.” Check!
• Criticizes entire team [not individual players.]
Recalling his former team, the Washington Senators: he said the team was “lazy” and error prone.
Check!
• Bud Selig owes him $20,000.
Marrero is eligible to receive a $20,000 payout granted him under a 2011 agreement between Major League Baseball and the players’ association to extend financial help to big leaguers who played between 1947 and 1979, and did not otherwise qualify for a pension. But the money has been held up for months due to the 50-year U.S. economic embargo, which makes financial transactions between the United States and Cuba extremely complicated.
Check! Hey, Bud! Where’s his check?
He has been confined to a wheelchair since fracturing his hip last year, is hard of hearing and can no longer see, but still indulges in cigars, and listens avidly to Cuban baseball on the radio.
Since he will not sign a contract to manage the Red Sox, until he receives his $20,000, express your support for him here:
"Contact Steve Rogers [Special Assistant to the Executive Director] and Robert Guerra [Assistant General Counsel] at feedback@mlbpa.org."
After his big league days were over, Marrero returned to the Cuban minor leagues, ending his career with the Havana Sugar Kings in 1957. Two years later, Fidel Castro’s rebels swept into power. Unlike many former big leaguers in Cuba, Marrero chose to stay, becoming a coach and roving instructor, working to develop and coach Cuban players well into his 80s.
He told AP reporter Anne Marie Garci that he recalls meeting the retired Babe Ruth once in Miami, befriending Connie Mack, and sharing an elevator with Dwight Eisenhower in Washington. As for the great hitters of his day, Marrero insists he was afraid of no one, although he admits that Williams usually got the better of him.
Steve Rogers, a former Expos pitcher who is now an official at the Major League Baseball Players Association, told The Associated Press the payment to Marrero has been approved by the U.S. Treasury Department, which regulates trade to sanctioned countries like Cuba, but logistical problems have slowed up actually turning it over.
Please, take a moment to send an email to the MLBPA to urge them to get the $20,000 to Connie Marrero: Contact Steve Rogers [Special Assistant to the Executive Director] and Robert Guerra [Assistant General Counsel] at feedback@mlbpa.org.
Check! ?
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
For all the latest news and analysis from BoSox Injection, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or with our RSS feed.