Dombrowski on Red Sox firing: ‘I don’t think I was treated right’ originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Philadelphia Phillies‘ World Series berth adds another gut punch to the Boston Red Sox‘ failed 2022 season.
Sox fans had to watch as slugger Kyle Schwarber, a major part of last year’s playoff run, powered Philly to and through the postseason. Adding insult to injury was the Phillies taking Boston’s 2021 playoff anthem while Red Sox legend David Ortiz danced alongside the Phillie Phanatic.
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The icing on the cake? The man leading the charge is former Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. The Phillies hired Dombrowski to lead their front office shortly after Boston fired him and replaced him with Chaim Bloom in 2019.
It all worked out just fine for Dombrowski, but the way his Red Sox tenure ended doesn’t sit well with him to this day.
“I don’t think I was treated right,’’ Dombrowski told USA TODAY Sports. “It hurt. It didn’t end the way I hoped or was handled.’’
A year before his firing, Dombrowski helped assemble the Red Sox roster that won the 2018 World Series. Boston won three consecutive division titles under his leadership. But with the organization’s long-term future in mind, ownership chose to go in a new direction.
Phillies owner John Middleton is thankful for how it all unfolded.
“I still don’t have any idea why John Henry fired him,’’ Middleton said, per USA TODAY Sports. “I really don’t understand it. But I’m grateful he did. We wouldn’t have Dave Dombrowski and we wouldn’t be in the World Series.’’
Meanwhile, the Red Sox are coming off a last-place season with a number of question marks heading into free agency. Some consider the 2023 campaign a make-or-break season for Bloom as Boston’s chief baseball officer.
As for Dombrowski, he isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
“There’s not a chance that we’ll let him get away,’’ Middleton added.
Game 1 of the 2022 World Series between the Phillies and Houston Astros is set for Friday at 8:03 p.m. ET.