Dave Portnoy exploded into a furious rant against Boston Red Sox owner John W. Henry on Monday morning following the decision to fire manager Alex Cora.
The Red Sox axed Cora and five of his coaches on Saturday night, despite their 17-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles earlier in the day, for overseeing the team’s dismal start to the new MLB season.
Their record for the season now stands at 11-17 after their win over the Orioles on Sunday under interim manager Chad Tracy but they are still bottom of the AL East.
In the aftermath of firing Cora and his staff, billionaire owner Henry refused to take questions from the media. Instead, he sent Red Sox CEO Sam Kennedy and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow to face the music.
Portnoy, an avid Red Sox fan, called Henry – whose Fenway Sports Group also owns Premier League soccer giants Liverpool – a ‘coward’ for his silence, although he did put out a statement when firing Cora on Saturday.
Then he went on a passionate rant against the owner on Monday morning’s ‘Wake Up Barstool’, saying: ‘The Red Sox is a special team. It doesn’t matter if you’re locked in for 162 games. When you grow up in New England you’re a Red Sox fan. That’s it.
Dave Portnoy exploded into a furious rant against controversial Red Sox owner John W. Henry
The under-fire Henry did not address the media after deciding to fire his manager Alex Cora
‘My dad was over here this past weekend, he’s getting old, he doesn’t know what’s going on. “Hey, Red Sox, can we put on the game?” or “How are the Red Sox doing?”
‘My mother, “how are the Red Sox doing?” You see a buddy you haven’t seen “Sox win today?”
‘It’s just something that’s important to the region from generation to generation. To have a guy who owns the team who’s not from here, who blew up the Florida Marlins. He doesn’t care about winning baseball – he cares about the bottom line. They hate him in Liverpool as much as they hate him in Boston.
‘It’s a frustrating thing when your team, which you really feel belongs to the city of Boston and shouldn’t belong to an individual guy who doesn’t care.
‘Like Steve Cohen, I don’t think anybody can doubt that Steve Cohen is going to pay whatever and would cut off his fingers to win a World Series. It’s not working for them, but I can live with that. He’s out there spending, doing everything he can.
‘But this guy… we are letting guys go that are clearly at the height of their profession and should never be let go. It’s just going on and on and the guy won’t face the music. I hate his guts.
‘Back in the day, a famous Barstool moment, we had these clown towels with Roger Goodell’s face with a clown nose. The first game after the Patriots won the Super Bowl, we had everybody in the crowd holding these towels. It was lit with turquoise towels, Goodell’s face, he couldn’t avoid it. I think we’re gonna have to do that at Fenway with John Henry’s face.
‘There is nothing more infuriating than what is going on with this team and having the owner not answer questions. If he stood up there and answered questions and it felt like he cared even a little bit, maybe I would have a different tune today.
‘It’s such arrogance. You’ve got to be a sociopath, honestly, why would you make so much money – and he has, in the stock market – why do you want to go to these cities, Liverpool, Boston, and become the most hated person in these cities? To squeeze out a couple bucks? It doesn’t make sense to me.’
Henry sent out Red Sox president & CEO Sam Kennedy and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow
Cora was fired on Saturday night after the Red Sox’s underwhelming start to the new season
An infielder who spent three-plus seasons in Boston as a player, winning the 2007 World Series in a Red Sox uniform, Cora was an Astros bench coach when they won it all in 2017.
The Red Sox hired him to replace John Farrell, giving Cora his first major league managing job.
In his first season, the Red Sox won 108 regular-season games, beat the hated Yankees in a playoff series and then the Astros in the American League Championship Series.
Boston then defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games to claim a fourth World Series title in 15 years. The Red Sox finished third in the AL East the next season, missing the playoffs for the first time in five years.
Then, during the offseason, The Athletic reported Cora had been a ringleader of an illegal sign-stealing scheme with the Astros during their championship season.
Following an MLB investigation, the Red Sox and Cora agreed he should step down; Ron Roenicke replaced him, taking over a team that would soon go on a salary dump that purged 2018 AL MVP Mookie Betts along with pitcher David Price.
After a last-place finish in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Roenicke was let go and Cora returned.
The Red Sox reached the playoffs again in his first season back, beating the Yankees in the AL wild-card game and Tampa Bay in a Division Series to reach the ALCS, where they lost to the Astros.
Henry is also vilified by fans of Premier League soccer team Liverpool over the price of tickets
Boston has not won a playoff series since, finishing last in back-to-back years before returning to the postseason last season and losing to the Yankees in the wild-card round. In all, Cora was 620-541 as the Red Sox manager.
‘Alex Cora led this organization to one of the greatest seasons in Red Sox history in 2018, and for that, and the many years that followed, he will always have our deepest gratitude,’ Henry did say in a statement released on Saturday.
‘He has had a lasting impact on this team and on this city. He has led on and off the field in so many important ways.
‘These decisions are never easy, but this one is especially difficult given what Alex has meant to the Red Sox since the day he arrived.
‘I want to thank Alex, our coaches, and their families for everything they have given to this organization. They have been part of this club in a way that goes beyond the field, and they will always have our respect and gratitude.’
