The strained relationship between Boston Red Sox fans and principal owner John Henry added another chapter on Thursday.
Henry attended the scantly publicized Sports Business Awards on Wednesday night, hosted by the Sports Business Journal. He was presented with a lifetime achievement award, which he had already been announced as the winner of by SBJ earlier this spring. David Ortiz, the Red Sox's legendary designated hitter who helped Henry to his first three World Series titles as an owner, was present to introduce him.
Then, Henry spoke. No, it wasn't his first on-camera interview in six years, but he still dropped a quote that he had to know wouldn't be well-received.
"When I arrived in Boston 25 years ago, I was told, 'If you win the World Series in Boston, you'll never have to buy another drink in this town. It doesn't actually work that way," Henry said, via Chris Cotillo of MassLive.
As one might imagine, the comments section on Cotillo's tweet has not been particularly kind to Henry. There have been "Sell the Team" chants echoing throughout Fenway Park for much of the season, as the Red Sox have limped to a 22-27 start (which looks better than it was a few days ago), fired manager Alex Cora and much of his coaching staff, and put up some of the worst offensive numbers in franchise history.
Though Henry's Fenway Sports Group has greenlit spending over the luxury tax in the past two seasons, it would be fair to say the Red Sox have not kept up with inflation in terms of big-market spending. After they won the World Series in 2018, they ranked first in tax payroll for the following season. This year, they're sixth in terms of luxury tax payroll, but their actual cash payroll is only 15th, due to their high volume of backloaded team-friendly extensions.
And, of course, no one who watched the Red Sox win the World Series in 2004 could have predicted that Henry would one day trade his franchise's best player, Mookie Betts, as part of a cost-cutting strategy. That's the kind of move that can undo even quadruple-championship goodwill.