Teams that stupidly commission dumb and reactionary fools can suffer the consequences for a generation as the Red Sox did when the deeply misguided Yawkey placed his trust in the bizarre likes of Pinky Higgins.

Not that we are predicting anything comparable is about to happen to your contemporary Red Sox. No matter how the current nonsense is resolved they are in no danger of lapsing into the heresies of the past. We’ve moved well beyond all that. The more practical issue is: Can they remain apace of the Rays and Yankees who so gravely humiliated them in 2011 even if they, too, only survived another week?

Clark Booth has seen it all around here and contributes literary, filmic, and historical perspective on Our Principal Owner and the likelihood of what once seemed like the distant past repeating... I hope he is right that we are in 'no danger of lapsing into the heresies of the past.' It would be terrible if we Sox fans found ourselves 'boats against the current, borne back ceaslessly into the past'

For a couple of more sickening headlines, check out Peter Gammons on Twitter, including: "The Red Sox obit has turned into Michael Jackson."

I'm sure we will all now ask the question that Soxaholix hints at: is there a tough guy out there with a Red Sox/New England context who can help right the ship? Here's someone who wasn't here long but was a big part of 1986 success. No idea what he is like, didn't have a great managerial record but then neither did Tito in Philly.