Duquette Is Getting Sox Knocked Off

And the Angels thought their season went south quickly.

The Boston Red Sox have lost altitude like a skydiver before pulling the ripcord, out-collapsing the Angels with a three-week nose dive during which their once-promising season blew up in their faces.

It began when General Manager Dan Duquette fired Manager Jimy Williams on Aug. 16, then it boiled over last week. Pedro Martinez, the team’s star pitcher, blasted Duquette for doubting the extent of Martinez’s arm injury. Then Boston’s star player, the normally regal and reserved Nomar Garciaparra, railed at the absurdity of the whole mess.

In between was more chaos:

* Duquette dismissed pitching coach John Cumberland last Sunday--after Red Sox starters had not given up an earned run in 211/3 innings of a three-game series with the New York Yankees.

Duquette suggested Cumberland had a drinking problem, which Cumberland denied.

“He needs to get evaluated,” Duquette said of Cumberland.

“He needs to evaluate himself,” Cumberland said of Duquette.

* The Red Sox lost nine consecutive games and fell out of playoff contention. They were five games behind New York in the East and two behind Oakland in the wild-card race when Joe Kerrigan replaced Williams; they are 7-15 since and have fallen 12 games behind the Yankees and A’s.

* Manny Ramirez reportedly was so fed up with all the dysfunction and front-office interference, he told teammates he wished he’d never signed his eight-year, $160-million deal.

Boston outfielder Dante Bichette said, “It is mentally taxing to play here.”

Duquette, the somewhat reclusive and often aloof GM, is usually the source of such angst, saying and doing things that anger coaches, players and fans.

For instance, when Martinez revealed he had a slight tear in his rotator cuff--the team maintained he was sidelined for July and much of August because of inflammation--Duquette said, “He’s fine, and if he’s healthy and he can pitch, we’d like him to pitch.”

Martinez responded, “What I don’t appreciate is Duquette saying I’m healthy because, damn it, it’s not true. ... If you want, I can leave you the damn paycheck [in the front office]. Take it, and I’ll go home and rehabilitate my shoulder and not feel guilty about anything.”

Martinez and Duquette reportedly spoke by phone Wednesday, and Martinez claimed, “Everything is fine between me and him.”

That’s probably not the case with other players and the fans.

After Cumberland was essentially fired Sunday night, Garciaparra, on his way out of the shower, blurted out to anyone within earshot, “This is why no one wants to ... play here!”

During Wednesday night’s game in Fenway, fans displayed a banner saying, “Bye-Bye Dr. Dan.” Security personnel tried to confiscate the banner, but the fans played keep-away, passing it from section to section for about 20 minutes.

*

In the third inning of last Sunday’s 19-10 loss to the White Sox, Cleveland third baseman Travis Fryman questioned a checked swing that umpire Brian Runge had called a strike.

“I said to him, ‘Are you sure? You’ve got three other umpires out here, why don’t you check with them?”’ Fryman said. “And he said to me something I’ve never heard an umpire say to a player. He said, ‘If you think that call was bad, wait until you see my next one.”’

Fryman grounded out but as he was jogging to his position for the next half-inning, he stopped at home plate, went nose to nose with Runge and was ejected. Afterward, he was still in disbelief .

“In 12 years in the big leagues, I’ve never had an umpire say anything remotely close to that,” Fryman said.

Fryman had no history of trouble with Runge. “I didn’t even know his name,” Fryman said.