Sam Kennedy got a polite ovation from Red Sox fans when he joined The Greg Hill Show at Time Out Market on Opening Day Thursday morning. As he pointed out himself, it was a pleasant reversal from the boos the Boston front office got two months ago at Red Sox Winter Weekend in Springfield.
Perhaps it could be chalked up to that Opening Day optimism that even the most cynical of Boston fans sometimes can’t help but get swept up in. Kennedy, a Brookline native who is now in his ninth year as team president and 22nd year overall in the organization, knows that optimism will not last if the Red Sox don’t win.
If things begin trending the same way they did last season, when the Sox finished last in the American League East for the second time in three years, the boos will return.
Sam Kennedy says the Red Sox feel the pressure to win
“The reality is, the fanbase here for the Patriots, the Bruins, the Celtics, the Red Sox, the Revolution -- Wiggy and I and Courtney were just talking about BC football -- whatever it is, you gotta win,” Kennedy told GHS. “You gotta win. That’s it. You gotta win, and you’re fine. Look, we understand when we don’t deliver, when we’re not competitive, we’re gonna get questioned, we’re gonna get challenged, and we should. That’s the way it goes.
“The expectations in this market are that we’re here to win championships. It started with Wiggy, walking out from that flag, back when we got here. That’s what started it all, the Kraft family started it all, in my opinion, ushering in that new era of championships. And what a ride it’s been. So, when you don’t deliver, people are gonna be upset. Now it’s a new day for us, so we’re excited.”
Kennedy was later asked specifically about how much pressure is on chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, who once again faced criticism this offseason. While Bloom was able to lock up star third baseman Rafael Devers on a long-term extension, he lost Xander Bogaerts in free agency and ultimately put together a team that most prognosticators are not picking to make the playoffs. Kennedy responded by saying there’s pressure on everyone, and that they all can feel it.
“There’s pressure on all of us. There’s pressure on Alex Cora. There’s pressure on me. There’s pressure on John and Tom [team owners John Henry and Tom Werner]. Everybody feels it,” Kennedy said. “As I’ve said, Chaim and BOH [general manager Brian O’Halloran] and the team have done a great job, but yeah, of course -- we’d be crazy not to say that we don’t feel the pressure.
“All of us in the front office feel the pressure. Being the head baseball operations official in this market is one of the toughest jobs in all of professional sports. He [Bloom] handles it with class, with humor, keeps everything in perspective. We’re really excited about what Chaim has built and excited for the season.”
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