Red Sox Owner Fires V.P., Replaces Her With Young Newlywed
Trophy brides are getting more sophisticated, which is a scary development if you think about it. I blame all those “Real Housewives” TV programs for showing normal succubi how to maximize their potential. No longer are they content to score the ring and dally about their inherited mansions and villas, spending money they didn’t earn. No, now they’re demanding their own money and their own means of earning it. Those means are where the sophistication lie. Take Red Sox owner John Henry, 59, and his newlywed wife Linda Pizzuti, 30, for example.
Earlier this summer, Henry fired the team’s Vice President for Planning and Development Janet Marie Smith, 51, who had been in charge of each and every change and development in Fenway Park for the better part of this decade. She’s the one that installed seats on top of the Green Monster – a travesty to Fenway purists, but man did those seats sell! Smith was generally considered to be quite good at her job and had a long track record of success. That’s all well and good, but Smith was neither 30 years younger than the boss nor married to him, which meant she had to go.
Several weeks after Henry and Pizzuti were married, Smith was out the door. And just last week, Pizzuti took her place at one of the big desks in Fenway’s executive offices. Damn those Real Housewives, because here’s the slick part: Pizzuti, a sustainable land developer for Boston’s North end, is completely qualified to take over Smith’s position. She earned a bachelors from Babson College and a masters in Real Estate Development from MIT.
So what’s the problem? Well, for Sawx fans or enthusiasts of the old building on Yawkey Way, this regime change carries with it implications big enough for Jason Varitek’s thighs to fit in.
The first implication is that the days of Team President and CEO Larry Luccino are numbered. Luccino was the biggest supporter of Smith and her belief that the Red Sox should buy the property around the ballpark so that no condos or office buildings can be built to overshadow it.
What’s that you say? Pizzuti worked as a luxury condo developer before latching on to John Henry? Oh, okay. I see what’s going on here.
For years, there has been a civil war between those who think the Red Sox should profit off of the land surrounding Fenway that the team owns and the preservationists who feel, like Wrigley Field in Chicago and Camden Yards in Baltimore, that the atmosphere surrounding the ballpark is a large selling point for the Red Sox brand. Up until this point, the preservationists had prevailed, but with this latest personnel shuffle, it looks as if that’s about to change.
Both sides deny that Smith was fired, leaving the public to either distrust a lying Red Sox front office or believe that this is all just a kooky coincidence. I’m gonna go with the former of the two choices, if for no other reason than the bobblehead pictured at right. Look at that thing. It was given to everyone who attended their wedding. But compare it to the above photo. John Henry is standing in the exact same pose, wearing the same clothes. I don’t trust a man who walks around striking bobblehead poses. It’s just that simple.
From the Boston Herald:
“Janet Marie was told to go because Linda’s taking over the whole damn place,” said one person familiar with Smith’s exit. Another source said, “Janet was thrown under the bus and everything is a mess as a result of the young bride. The Chinese symbol for conflict is two women under one roof.”
It’s all so seedy. While Smith fought for the park’s preservation and growth, Pizzuti was sidling up to the owner, posing in matching black shirts for bobbleheads and planning on how to apply her trade for the biggest game in town. Heck, they even had their wedding on the grounds where the war was being waged. How sick is that?
Photos courtesy of Flickr
Leave a Reply
