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"I think the biggest thing now is there's so many young [executives] now that don't know him," says former Red Sox general manager Lou Gorman, who hired Hobson to manage in Boston. "They have their own people in mind. They are probably unaware of what Butch Hobson has done."
'Proven' Manager
Hobson is the navigator, riding shotgun in a black Infiniti on its way to Hallowing Point Park. Hobson reads the handwritten directions, but the drive is mostly quiet as the car rolls past farms and fields. Blue Crabs marketing assistant Ian Humphrey drives and rookie catcher Anthony Perry sits in the back, the three of them bound for a Calvert County Little League picnic.
For Hobson, this is life in the minors. It means acting as field manager and general manager, job descriptions that include waving home a base runner in the game and negotiating contracts during the offseason. Anytime in between, he is an ambassador for the fledgling Blue Crabs.
On this afternoon, Hobson is getting the word out at a Little League celebration. There's a moonwalk, face painting, lemonade, a dunk tank and snow cones with a choice of orange, green, blue or purple coloring. Wearing his Blue Crabs cap and sunglasses, Hobson ambles around the park, and people come up to shake his hand.
"I saw you play in Fenway Park," says Robert Ridgewell, 42, who sometimes skipped school to watch the Red Sox as a child growing up in Warwick, R.I. "I'm a Boston fan. I gotta tell my father about this. Man, it's good to see you, man. I saw you play for the Red Sox."
Butch Hobson is far from Fenway, and it's been a long time since he's been near the big leagues. But he nods politely and smiles. Soon, he leaves the park and heads back to the stadium.
"I look at my life in independent ball, I think I've proven I can still manage," Hobson says that night. "Players know how much I care about them. If something opens up [in the majors], it opens up.
"You never know. You never know what's in store for you."
