The fraternity of GMs with New England roots added another member when Krivsky, who is from New Canaan, Conn., was hired last week by the Reds to succeed the fired Dan O'Brien. ''He blew us away," said Bob Castellini, the new Reds owner who obviously was more impressed by Krivsky than the Red Sox were during their abortive November search for a successor to Epstein. The Sox dismissed Krivsky after a single interview for which they'd given him virtually no time to prepare. ''He had a great game plan," Castellini said. ''He was totally prepared." Krivsky, who plans to apply the small-market success techniques he learned working as Terry Ryan's assistant GM in Minnesota, will be hamstrung initially by the timing of his hiring, on the eve of spring training, but is confident he will find a way to reverse the fortunes of a great franchise that hasn't had a winning season since 2000. Trading Adam Dunn and/or Ken Griffey Jr., short-term sacrifices to achieve longer-term goals, is not an unreasonable proposition for a team that has lots of holes to fill. Krivsky's father, William, now lives in Manchester, N.H., and runs a charter air service out of Nashua, according to his daughter-in-law, Linda. ''Wayne has the same 24/7 work ethic as his dad," said Linda Krivsky, who on her first date with her future husband scored big points after he noticed the framed photo she had of herself with Mickey Mantle, autographed by the Hall of Famer. Krivsky was so enamored of the photo, in fact, that he took it home with him. ''I liked him," she said, ''but not enough to send him home with my picture." Having become friendly with Mickey and his wife, Merle (who remains a friend) while working for former Dallas mayor Robert Folsom, Linda followed up that date by presenting Wayne with a book on his 30th birthday in which Mantle wrote: ''Happy Birthday. Best wishes. P.S.: Marry Linda." ''Wayne said, 'How can I go against the Mick?' " Linda Krivsky said. No one in the Krivsky household was surprised, incidentally, that the first call Linda Krivsky received after her husband was hired by the Reds was from Ryan. The roll call of GMs from New England: Duquette (Orioles), Epstein (Red Sox), Allard Baird (Royals), Ricciardi (Blue Jays), Dave Littlefield (Pirates), Brian Sabean (Giants), and Jim Bowden (Nationals). And the Indians' Mark Shapiro was born in Boston . . . No one, meanwhile, has had a more frustrating offseason than Maine's Jim Beattie, who after being bounced by the Orioles thought he was on the verge of being hired by the Red Sox before Epstein came back, then finished runner-up to Krivsky in Cincinnati.
