Outgoing Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein on Wednesday dismissed reports that a power struggle with team president Larry Lucchino led him to walk away from the organization this week. Epstein, 31, whose career in baseball started when Lucchino hired him as an intern with the Baltimore Orioles 14 years ago, rejected the team's offer of a $4.5 million, three-year extension that would have quadrupled his previous salary. ``Larry and I like each other,'' Epstein said in his first public comments since he shocked Boston sports fans by walking away from the bargaining table on Monday. ``As with any other working relationship there are complexities, there are ups and downs.'' The decision to leave, he said, was a personal one. ``This is a job you have to give your whole heart and soul to,'' he said. ``In the end, after a long period of reflection about myself and the program, I decided I could no longer put my whole heart and soul into it.'' Under Epstein, the Red Sox made the postseason three years in a row for the first time in franchise history, with the obvious highlight being the team's 2004 World Series win, Boston's first in 86 years. ``It was a time in my life I'll always look back on with fond memories,'' Epstein said.