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Did Theo Epstein Quit on the Red Sox or Challenge Himself ?

     Sometimes in sports we fail to realize that the game is bigger than the two teams playing and the superstars displaying their incredible talent. As I watch the Red Sox & Cubs play today, I'm not thinking about the score or who's going to hit the first home run or get that key strikeout. I'm thinking about the man who is responsible for changing a franchise and currently working tirelessly trying to change another. That man is Theo Epstein.

     When the 28 year old can't miss kid showed up to the Red Sox facility in 2002, I wasn't immediately sure if he was there to put together a ball club or swing the bat. However, Epstein did not let his age diminish the amount of respect he was due after making key acquisitions in his first few years, David Ortiz and Curt Schilling to name a few. Who would have thought that the 86 year curse of the Bambino would be broken by the youngest GM in major league history. Despite one of the biggest accomplishments in sports history, Epstein remained focused on the task at hand and was the architect of yet another championship team in the city of Boston. Epstein had truly done it. He had turned a franchise that had experienced failure and misery for almost a century into true winners. 

     As one of the most celebrated men in Boston, Theo Epstein's reputation was questioned after last season record setting September meltdown which seemed nearly impossible. Yet after the season, Epstein's presence in Boston disappeared almost as fast as the Red Sox's playoff chances during the September collapse. Eventually news spread that Epstein had signed a five year contract to become the president of baseball operations with yet another curse stricken team in the Chicago Cubs. 

     At the time of Theo's departure my thoughts were initially that he was running away from a bad situation in Boston and quitting as soon as the going got tough. However it was when he decided to go to the city of Chicago that I asked, what is going on in the mind of Theo Epstein?

     As I sit here today however I wonder, did Theo Epstein quit on the Red Sox or relish the chance to change another franchise that has experienced a great deal of disappointment? New England fan's need to realize the new opportunity at hand for Epstein. To go from reversing the curse in Boston to being put in the position to give Chicago fans the chance to forget about the curse of the Billy Goat is truly specials. So I leave you with this question is Theo Epstein a quitter or perhaps the most competitive and driven man in the game of baseball?

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Always Strive to Be Better,

Aaron Granoff

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