An Open Letter to Dan Shaughnessey

Dan,

You helped drive Theo out of town with that column a few days before Halloween and, strangely, I believe this will actually make the Sox stonger because it allowed him to sort out some of his issues with the organization. No thanks to you. He is now back on his own terms. Now only a few hours after his rerturn you submit that he is coming back ignorant of his new role: "We have no idea where he'll rank on our flow chart..."

Dan, you and I both know that Theo would not return without having some idea of where he will rank on the 'flow chart'. Furthermore, slipping in those jabs towards the end. "He's been at best, immature and at worst, duplicitous." I'm not sure how you construe being principled as being immature. He was unhappy with his job so he left, and he said that he would not come back until things changed. This seems entirely mature and professional to me. An immature man would have left the organization in a fit of rage and rashly vowed never to come back. And duplicitous? That is beyond hyperbole.

It seems to me that an immature and duplicitous man... a man who hates his job... would use his column to create controversy, cause in- fighting, and basically toy with peoples' emotions to make them perceive issues that aren't there.

I'm saddened because, when I was young, I used to think that you were a great columnist. Maybe I was young and naive. Or maybe you were a great columnist but now you are nothing but a bitter, hollow man who doesn't seem to believe in anything but increasing readership. Actually, make that a bitter old man. If I can remember reading you when I was young... You should really update that little black and white picture they put next to your column.

Anyhow, I will no longer read your work. This letter will be posted on numerous blogs and will be forwarded through email and print. Hopefully people will join me. I know this won't scare you. It's not meant to. I don't have a big enough soapbox to turn people against you en masse, but just know that slowly people are realizing what you are. I hope you take this to heart even though that may be impossible.

Boston Dan