When Web designer and lifelong Red Sox fan Mike Mahoney decided this fall to launch a Web site called Duquettesucks.com, he was surprised the name was still available.

"The two words," says Mahoney, "they flow."

Like a lot of his brethren in Red Sox Nation, Mahoney is fed up with Duquette, the geeky general manager whose ham-handed personnel moves and flat demeanor have made him executive non grata in the Fenway Park locker room. But rather than take his case to talk radio like most frustrated fans, the 26-year-old Malden resident turned to the Internet. His site features scrolling photographs of the general manager’s victims, including former first baseman Mo Vaughn, former Red Sox manager Jimy Williams, and former Sox ace and future Hall-of-Famer Roger Clemens. There’s also a "2001 Blame Pie" chart, which pins 50 percent of the responsibility for last season’s demise on Duquette for "assembling a team of too many over-the-hill, overpaid, whining players," and a continuous counter for the number of days "Dan Duquette has been ruining Baseball in Boston." It also contains a useful archive of Duquette-related articles from various news outlets.

"This site is intended to detail why Dan Duquette is the worst GM in baseball," reads the mission statement on the homepage. "He is a poor judge of talent, lacks character and provides no sense of leadership. His tactics create tension rather than spirit. He causes rifts in the clubhouse and leaves his coaching staff out to hang like laundry in the wind. The Boston Red Sox are up for sale and we need to make it clear that we will no longer accept the antics of one Dan Duquette."

Duquettesucks.com’s mid-September launch came on the heels of one of the team’s most disgraceful end-of-season implosions. After climbing to first place despite injuries to shortstop Nomar Garciaparra, catcher Jason Varitek, and pitching ace Pedro Martinez, the scrappy team self-destructed. The Sox simply gave up and eventually finished the season in second place, 13.5 games behind the Yankees.

Yet, as Mahoney writes in a September 18 editorial, he doesn’t put the blame solely on Duquette. "This site could just as easily been titled: JoseOffermansucks.com, TroyO’learysucks.com, DerekLowesucks.com, CarlEverettsucks.com, RodBecksucks.com, DanteBichettesucks.com, ScottHattebergsucks.com., etc.... This is truly a cast of stumble bums, overrated, injury-plagued, whining, self-centered LOSERS. The players simply didn’t show up time and time again and the GM was content to let the proverbial shit hit the fan on a daily basis."

For Mahoney, the site isn’t so much an opportunity to pick on Duquette, who is already something of a punching bag for Boston sportswriters and fans, as it is a therapy of sorts for a much-bewildered fan. "It’s just so frustrating," Mahoney says. "When you call sports radio, you don’t get enough off your chest. And because I do Web design, I figured this was what I needed to get everything off my chest."

He’s not the only fan in need of a good session. After first getting a mention on ESPN.com from baseball guru Peter Gammons, Mahoney says he averaged about 1500 hits a day. Lately, that number has curled off to about 500.

"People come to me and say, ‘Don’t go to the games,’ " Mahoney says. "Well, growing up, people like Rice, Evans, Clemens — those guys were important to me. And the current team is still important to me. What’s happened between the lines still matters, and that’s why I’ll still go to the games."

Mahoney isn’t worried about what will become of his Web site when the much-anticipated sale of the Sox takes place and — as many predict — Duquette is ousted from the GM position he’s held since 1994. Mahoney says he will probably change the site but keep it Red Sox–related since he has gotten so much positive feedback from fellow fans.

In fact, the sooner he can get rid of the site, the better for the Hometown Nine and Red Sox Nation.

"Duquette’s days," Mahoney says, his voice filling with satisfaction, "are numbered."

Issue Date: December 13 - 20, 2001

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