More optimism, less pessimism
Either you were born into the Red Sox, you were swept up by them, or you inherited them the same way people inherit baldness and high blood pressure. Inevitably, you passed them down to the next generation. You hoped everything would be worth it some day ... even if all evidence pointed to the contrary. You hoped. You hoped. You hoped.
- Now I Can Die In Peace, by Bill Simmons
I don't officially know when I became a fan of the Red Sox. Growing up in the 1980s in Augusta, Georgia, with your only option being the Braves ... you tend the look elsewhere. So, with family from New England and my disdain for any team from New York already strong at age seven, I checked out the Red Sox. I had given the New England Patriots a try in Super Bowl XX, only to watch the Chicago Bears shuffle their way to a 46-10 victory (with the inexcusable fact that Walter Payton did not score a touchdown, but William 'The Refridgerator' Perry does ... for shame Mike Dikta), so I gave the Red Sox a try. Boston had a couple of solid teams in the mid-1980s, and I got hooked.
So, when 1986 rolled around and they reached the World Series and took a lead against the New York Mets in Game Six, I figured this was how it was supposed to be. My team would win a title or so every other year ... and then Bob Stanley blew a few leads and Bill Buckner ... you know. I distinctly remember watching this game at the house of some of my parents' friends, and being really broken up about the Game Six loss. My father couldn't comprehend it and stared back at his devestated eight-year-old son with a 'whose son are you' kind of look on his face.
Still ... I loved 'em and followed them as much as a boy living in Georgia could in the late 1980s and early 1990s. I read the box scores in the paper and damn near memorized articles in Sports Illustrated which featured Boston (I distinctly remember some huge series between Toronto and Boston from either 1990 or 1991 being profiled and thinking how cool it was to see my team getting such play).
Then 1991 happened ... and the Braves, with perhaps the worst ensemble of players in the history of baseball (I mean, Sid Bream was the starting first baseman ... Sid Bream), somehow managed to reach the World Series and the entire Southeast got caught up. And then, the Braves, quite frankly, just never lost again. I mean, never ever. It's ridiculous. So I pushed Boston to the side and dove headfirst into being a Braves fan. I remember Xon and I being incredibly overjoyed that the Braves had traded for Fred McGriff in 1993 thinking 'at last, a marquee clean-up hitter.' In hindsight, with people belting out 40 home runs left and right, such joy was a little absurd.
But, on Nov. 18, 1997, the Red Sox traded for Pedro Martinez and, all of a sudden, they had landed literally the best pitcher in the universe. And with that one move, I was sucked back in ... riding the highs (Pedro bringing the Red Sox back from a 2-0 deficit against Cleveland in the 1999 American League Division Series) and lows (Aaron Boone ...) all the way until the beautiful 2004 postseason (OK ... seriously, I just almost cried right there).
So, with that ... this offseason, like most offseasons for Boston fans, has been one full of hopeful promise and backbreaking despair. Forget the dramas of the regular season and postseason ... enduring an offseason with the Red Sox is more traumatic than all of it (well, not really ... but still ... I'm going for effect here). Red Sox fans are the Tina Turner to the Boston front office's Ike ... the Nick Nolte to whatever it is that so thoroughly screwed him over that night. They'll slug you one minute (letting Johnny Damon go) and say 'baby, I'm sorry ... I didn't mean it' the next (acquiring Coco Crisp).
I think we can land Oil Can Boyd for a few prospects ...
Keeping that in mind ... let's look at the 2006 Boston Red Sox:
Catcher
We start off strong here. Though I hated to lose Doug Mirabelli, you have to realize that you got a pretty good second baseman in Mark Loretta for him ... so that's a nice little tradeoff sacrificing a guy who may squeeze out 125 at-bats a year for a dependable, everyday second baseman. But that doesn't matter any way ... as long as Jason Varitek is wearing a Boston uniform, he's going to start and hit .270 with 25 home runs and be the best field general in baseball.
First Baseman
Switching the less-than-frightning tandem of John Olerud/Kevin Millar for a even potentially more timid duo comprised of Kevin Youkilis/J.T. Snow is odd. Out of all of the Red Sox's offseason moves, this is the most puzzling. Along with the bullpen, you knew this was your weakest link ... and J.T. Snow, who needs a walker to cover the bag, is the best of the lot. Plus, Youkilis has been a 'top prospect' in the organization since 1958. You're going to be lucky to squeeze out a .260 average with 18 homers and 60 RBIs from this position. Lucky I say.
Second Baseman
Has there been more turnover at any other position the past three years in the organization? I'm expecting them to bring back Jose Offerman by mid-season. I loved Mark Bellhorn (so much so that, while attending the 2004 Georgia-Auburn game in Auburn, I stood up and applauded him being honored before kickoff ... the rest of the Georgia fans were displeased and my father replaying the Game Six look), but he got released last year. Then I really liked Tony Graffinino, but he has all but lost his job with the acquisition of Loretta. Now I think Loretta is going to do just fine, but I wouldn't be shocked to see him dangled in front of other teams by July.
Ah ... the good ole days ... with Offerman fumbling and bumbling as he played every infield position ... and batted lead-off.
Third Baseman
This was my favorite pick-up until Jan. 27, 2006. Sure, Lowell was absolutely terrible last year. But he's tough, and the short porch in left field is going to be perfect for him. No more hitting .230 anymore ... I'm going to boldly say Lowell wins Comeback Player of the Year honors after batting .312 with 30 home runs.
Shortstop
OK, we all got a little giddy over the Miguel Tejada thing, but ... Alex Gonzalez? Really? We've cycled through Nomar, then Orlando Cabrera (who never should have been allowed to leave), then the ill-fated Edgar Renteria experiment and now to Gonzalez. The Boston Globe even did a piece on Gonzalez saying he could be the best defensive shortstop in Red Sox history ... despite the fact that his fielding stats were considerably worse last year than Renteria's the year before he joined the team (and, let's not forget, that Renteria won two Gold Gloves before committing 187 errors last season). Probably my least optimistic slot.
Left Field
Manny being Manny. He's going to ask for at least four more trades, but still hit somewhere around .300 with 40-plus home runs ... all the while playing left field as if his eyes were glued shut and he had drank a 12-pack of Sam Adams just before the first pitch and he had just been kicked repeatedly in the lower back by a mule and someone had surgically removed his entire left inner ear canal. Remember Ryan Klesko playing left field for the Braves? OK, remove his eyes and you've got Manny guarding the wall. And that's why you love him.
Center Field
OK ... this was the best move Boston made all offseason, and it's rather poetic it comes to fill a void made by some of their worst offseason management. First off ... Johnny Damon should have never left the team. The management should have been more willing to negotiate with him and paid him the respect he was due. Still, Damon should have, you know, actually given a flip about wanting to stay in Boston and asked 'Where the heck is Theo?' Regardless, he's a Yankee now and that put me in a two-week depression. Seriously, my eyes almost bled when I saw him get his hair chopped off. But, with Theo back in the fold, the Red Sox nabbed the best young centerfielder in the game not named Carl Crawford. Not only does Coco Crisp have a rather terrific name, but he's 27-years-old, plays solid defense and is going to hit .300, slug 15 to 20 homers and still 15-25 bases a year.
For a while, I thought Drew Berrymore was going to have to take over in center.
Right Field
Ah ... good ole Trot Nixon. I've always loved Trot Nixon, and not simply because he's got Popeye's forearms. Trot's as dependable of a player you could ever ask for. You know he's going to go out there and hit his 20-plus home runs, play solid defense and do what the team needs him to do. Plus, I think he's been with the team since the Dwight Evans era. Hell ... he could be Dwight Evans.
It's the canned spinach which works, not the frozen boxed kind.
Designated Hitter
Big Papi, baby. Outside of a juiced Barry Bonds and, perhaps, Albert Pujols, the best clean-up hitter on the planet. And, unlike Pujols, David Ortiz is money in the clutch. He had three game-winning home runs last year and singlehandedly kept Boston alive in Games Four and Five of the 2004 American League Championship Series. I mean, is there a more frightning 1-2 punch in baseball other than Manny and Big Papi?
Is this Game Four of the 2004 ALCS ... or Game Five ... or one of the three game-winning homers in 2005 ... or any of the other 22 game-winning RBIs he had last season?
Starting Pitching
If they stay healthy (and happy), it's the deepest rotation in baseball. Two aces in Curt Schilling and Josh Beckett, one gritty veteran in David Wells, two guys who could go either way in Matt Clement and Bronson Arroyo, one guy who can pitch until he's 79 in Tim Wakefield and two of the best pitching prospects in the game in Jonathan Papelpon and Jon Lester. If they stay healthy (and happy), the Red Sox are loaded. If Schilling's ankle disingrates, Beckett lasts only 87 innings, Clement pitches like he did in August and September rather than April and May, Arroyo wears his cornrows too tight, Wells starts itching for the West Coast again and Papelpon and Lester aren't ready yet ... then you've got last year all over again, and Wakefield is your 'go-to guy' ... and we see how well that worked out.
Bullpen
Well, it's hard to say it can get any worse. At the very least, Foulke should be able to post an ERA of 3.75 to 4.00 and save 25-plus games. Plus Julian Tavarez and David Riske should see to it that Mike Timlin isn't appearing in 141 games this year. Plus, I remember Timlin from the 1992 and 1993 World Series ... so he's got to be pushing it now.
Outlook
I've gone from deep pessimism about this time to pretty optimistic. I think it can be a special team. If Schilling and Foulke can recover from their injuries, Beckett can withstand the pressure of pitching in Boston, the infield can learn each other's names and the bullpen doesn't, you know, have an ERA of, like, 6.54 ... Boston can get back to the playoffs. And if that's the case, with a deep rotation, the Red Sox can make some noise.
The A.L. East is tough. Toronto spent a whole lotta money on a whole lotta nothing, but should make a run at the wild card. The Yankees are the Yankees, though they have to contend with 'The Curse of A-Rod' these days.
Two years, one MVP, plenty of pretty-boy moments ... zero titles .
If nothing else, the Red Sox get the wild card and then who knows. Things go right, then can win the division and make a run. And, I can say this now, it's happened before.
- Now I Can Die In Peace, by Bill Simmons
I don't officially know when I became a fan of the Red Sox. Growing up in the 1980s in Augusta, Georgia, with your only option being the Braves ... you tend the look elsewhere. So, with family from New England and my disdain for any team from New York already strong at age seven, I checked out the Red Sox. I had given the New England Patriots a try in Super Bowl XX, only to watch the Chicago Bears shuffle their way to a 46-10 victory (with the inexcusable fact that Walter Payton did not score a touchdown, but William 'The Refridgerator' Perry does ... for shame Mike Dikta), so I gave the Red Sox a try. Boston had a couple of solid teams in the mid-1980s, and I got hooked.
So, when 1986 rolled around and they reached the World Series and took a lead against the New York Mets in Game Six, I figured this was how it was supposed to be. My team would win a title or so every other year ... and then Bob Stanley blew a few leads and Bill Buckner ... you know. I distinctly remember watching this game at the house of some of my parents' friends, and being really broken up about the Game Six loss. My father couldn't comprehend it and stared back at his devestated eight-year-old son with a 'whose son are you' kind of look on his face.
Still ... I loved 'em and followed them as much as a boy living in Georgia could in the late 1980s and early 1990s. I read the box scores in the paper and damn near memorized articles in Sports Illustrated which featured Boston (I distinctly remember some huge series between Toronto and Boston from either 1990 or 1991 being profiled and thinking how cool it was to see my team getting such play).
Then 1991 happened ... and the Braves, with perhaps the worst ensemble of players in the history of baseball (I mean, Sid Bream was the starting first baseman ... Sid Bream), somehow managed to reach the World Series and the entire Southeast got caught up. And then, the Braves, quite frankly, just never lost again. I mean, never ever. It's ridiculous. So I pushed Boston to the side and dove headfirst into being a Braves fan. I remember Xon and I being incredibly overjoyed that the Braves had traded for Fred McGriff in 1993 thinking 'at last, a marquee clean-up hitter.' In hindsight, with people belting out 40 home runs left and right, such joy was a little absurd.
But, on Nov. 18, 1997, the Red Sox traded for Pedro Martinez and, all of a sudden, they had landed literally the best pitcher in the universe. And with that one move, I was sucked back in ... riding the highs (Pedro bringing the Red Sox back from a 2-0 deficit against Cleveland in the 1999 American League Division Series) and lows (Aaron Boone ...) all the way until the beautiful 2004 postseason (OK ... seriously, I just almost cried right there).
So, with that ... this offseason, like most offseasons for Boston fans, has been one full of hopeful promise and backbreaking despair. Forget the dramas of the regular season and postseason ... enduring an offseason with the Red Sox is more traumatic than all of it (well, not really ... but still ... I'm going for effect here). Red Sox fans are the Tina Turner to the Boston front office's Ike ... the Nick Nolte to whatever it is that so thoroughly screwed him over that night. They'll slug you one minute (letting Johnny Damon go) and say 'baby, I'm sorry ... I didn't mean it' the next (acquiring Coco Crisp).
I think we can land Oil Can Boyd for a few prospects ...Keeping that in mind ... let's look at the 2006 Boston Red Sox:
Catcher
We start off strong here. Though I hated to lose Doug Mirabelli, you have to realize that you got a pretty good second baseman in Mark Loretta for him ... so that's a nice little tradeoff sacrificing a guy who may squeeze out 125 at-bats a year for a dependable, everyday second baseman. But that doesn't matter any way ... as long as Jason Varitek is wearing a Boston uniform, he's going to start and hit .270 with 25 home runs and be the best field general in baseball.
First Baseman
Switching the less-than-frightning tandem of John Olerud/Kevin Millar for a even potentially more timid duo comprised of Kevin Youkilis/J.T. Snow is odd. Out of all of the Red Sox's offseason moves, this is the most puzzling. Along with the bullpen, you knew this was your weakest link ... and J.T. Snow, who needs a walker to cover the bag, is the best of the lot. Plus, Youkilis has been a 'top prospect' in the organization since 1958. You're going to be lucky to squeeze out a .260 average with 18 homers and 60 RBIs from this position. Lucky I say.
Second Baseman
Has there been more turnover at any other position the past three years in the organization? I'm expecting them to bring back Jose Offerman by mid-season. I loved Mark Bellhorn (so much so that, while attending the 2004 Georgia-Auburn game in Auburn, I stood up and applauded him being honored before kickoff ... the rest of the Georgia fans were displeased and my father replaying the Game Six look), but he got released last year. Then I really liked Tony Graffinino, but he has all but lost his job with the acquisition of Loretta. Now I think Loretta is going to do just fine, but I wouldn't be shocked to see him dangled in front of other teams by July.
Ah ... the good ole days ... with Offerman fumbling and bumbling as he played every infield position ... and batted lead-off.Third Baseman
This was my favorite pick-up until Jan. 27, 2006. Sure, Lowell was absolutely terrible last year. But he's tough, and the short porch in left field is going to be perfect for him. No more hitting .230 anymore ... I'm going to boldly say Lowell wins Comeback Player of the Year honors after batting .312 with 30 home runs.
Shortstop
OK, we all got a little giddy over the Miguel Tejada thing, but ... Alex Gonzalez? Really? We've cycled through Nomar, then Orlando Cabrera (who never should have been allowed to leave), then the ill-fated Edgar Renteria experiment and now to Gonzalez. The Boston Globe even did a piece on Gonzalez saying he could be the best defensive shortstop in Red Sox history ... despite the fact that his fielding stats were considerably worse last year than Renteria's the year before he joined the team (and, let's not forget, that Renteria won two Gold Gloves before committing 187 errors last season). Probably my least optimistic slot.
Left Field
Manny being Manny. He's going to ask for at least four more trades, but still hit somewhere around .300 with 40-plus home runs ... all the while playing left field as if his eyes were glued shut and he had drank a 12-pack of Sam Adams just before the first pitch and he had just been kicked repeatedly in the lower back by a mule and someone had surgically removed his entire left inner ear canal. Remember Ryan Klesko playing left field for the Braves? OK, remove his eyes and you've got Manny guarding the wall. And that's why you love him.
Center Field
OK ... this was the best move Boston made all offseason, and it's rather poetic it comes to fill a void made by some of their worst offseason management. First off ... Johnny Damon should have never left the team. The management should have been more willing to negotiate with him and paid him the respect he was due. Still, Damon should have, you know, actually given a flip about wanting to stay in Boston and asked 'Where the heck is Theo?' Regardless, he's a Yankee now and that put me in a two-week depression. Seriously, my eyes almost bled when I saw him get his hair chopped off. But, with Theo back in the fold, the Red Sox nabbed the best young centerfielder in the game not named Carl Crawford. Not only does Coco Crisp have a rather terrific name, but he's 27-years-old, plays solid defense and is going to hit .300, slug 15 to 20 homers and still 15-25 bases a year.
For a while, I thought Drew Berrymore was going to have to take over in center.Right Field
Ah ... good ole Trot Nixon. I've always loved Trot Nixon, and not simply because he's got Popeye's forearms. Trot's as dependable of a player you could ever ask for. You know he's going to go out there and hit his 20-plus home runs, play solid defense and do what the team needs him to do. Plus, I think he's been with the team since the Dwight Evans era. Hell ... he could be Dwight Evans.
It's the canned spinach which works, not the frozen boxed kind.Designated Hitter
Big Papi, baby. Outside of a juiced Barry Bonds and, perhaps, Albert Pujols, the best clean-up hitter on the planet. And, unlike Pujols, David Ortiz is money in the clutch. He had three game-winning home runs last year and singlehandedly kept Boston alive in Games Four and Five of the 2004 American League Championship Series. I mean, is there a more frightning 1-2 punch in baseball other than Manny and Big Papi?
Is this Game Four of the 2004 ALCS ... or Game Five ... or one of the three game-winning homers in 2005 ... or any of the other 22 game-winning RBIs he had last season?Starting Pitching
If they stay healthy (and happy), it's the deepest rotation in baseball. Two aces in Curt Schilling and Josh Beckett, one gritty veteran in David Wells, two guys who could go either way in Matt Clement and Bronson Arroyo, one guy who can pitch until he's 79 in Tim Wakefield and two of the best pitching prospects in the game in Jonathan Papelpon and Jon Lester. If they stay healthy (and happy), the Red Sox are loaded. If Schilling's ankle disingrates, Beckett lasts only 87 innings, Clement pitches like he did in August and September rather than April and May, Arroyo wears his cornrows too tight, Wells starts itching for the West Coast again and Papelpon and Lester aren't ready yet ... then you've got last year all over again, and Wakefield is your 'go-to guy' ... and we see how well that worked out.
Bullpen
Well, it's hard to say it can get any worse. At the very least, Foulke should be able to post an ERA of 3.75 to 4.00 and save 25-plus games. Plus Julian Tavarez and David Riske should see to it that Mike Timlin isn't appearing in 141 games this year. Plus, I remember Timlin from the 1992 and 1993 World Series ... so he's got to be pushing it now.
Outlook
I've gone from deep pessimism about this time to pretty optimistic. I think it can be a special team. If Schilling and Foulke can recover from their injuries, Beckett can withstand the pressure of pitching in Boston, the infield can learn each other's names and the bullpen doesn't, you know, have an ERA of, like, 6.54 ... Boston can get back to the playoffs. And if that's the case, with a deep rotation, the Red Sox can make some noise.
The A.L. East is tough. Toronto spent a whole lotta money on a whole lotta nothing, but should make a run at the wild card. The Yankees are the Yankees, though they have to contend with 'The Curse of A-Rod' these days.
Two years, one MVP, plenty of pretty-boy moments ... zero titles .If nothing else, the Red Sox get the wild card and then who knows. Things go right, then can win the division and make a run. And, I can say this now, it's happened before.
posted by Jmac at 5:31 PM
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