Twenty degrees in Boston, 30 degrees in New York City, 40 degrees in Baltimore, and a high of 50 in Seattle. As the temperatures slowly rise across the United States, there are still mounds of snow piling up on the streets and fields of Boston. Nonetheless, baseball fans can smell the fresh hot dogs and hear the screams of "Play Ball!" that umpires around America will soon shout.
It is the beginning of February and pitchers and catchers report for duty this week. That's right, spring training begins in four days.
Now, teams across the country are heading towards their winter homes in Florida or Arizona for the roughly two months of spring training. But who really wants to hear about all the teams throughout major leagues. Tufts is in Boston and the only team for people who live in Boston is the Red Sox.
The hot stove talk has gotten Red Sox fans through the winter months. With the signing of free agent Manny Ramirez, many fans now believe that the Sox can come out strong on Opening Day and eventually emerge from the American League East, finally silencing the hated Yankees.
A large focus at spring training will be the starting rotation. Unfortunately, the Sox don't have five Pedros (Martinez), so they will have to pick four backup singers (out of ten or so possibilities) to support their leading man. Last season, the Sox pitching staff minus Pedro went 35-46 and had 42 quality starts in 133 games. Trying to improve this season, there will be a collection of - ahem - well-traveled arms. Veteran hurlers Rolando Arrojo (5-2 with Sox in '00), Frank Castillo (10-5 in '00), Hideo Nomo (8-12 in '00), Kent Mercker (1-3 in '00), Bret Saberhagen (disabled in '00), Cone (4-14 in '00), and Tim Wakefield (6-10 in '00). Pete Schourek (3-10 in '00) will battle rookies Tomokazu Ohka (12 starts in '00 ) and Paxton Crawford (four starts in '00) for the four starting positions. While there are certainly more question marks than exclamation points in the group, the law of averages seems to suggest that at least a couple of the aforementioned pitchers will pan out.
The Bo Sox ended with Nomar Garciaparra batting in the third spot in the batting order and Everett cleaning-up. But, with the recent purchase of Ramirez, the line-up may need tweaking. Will Nomar continue in the three hole or will he move to the cleanup position - batting behind Manny (some have even suggested that Nomar may move up to second in the order a la Derek Jeter). Where does Everett fit into the picture? Who could possibly lead off? Jose Offerman was hampered by a knee injury and hit a paltry .255 with no stolen bases, Darren Lewis will be pushed into the 4th outfielder role this season, and Nixon fight for the final outfield spot. Over the next two weeks, Boston must find answers to most of these questions.
Not only offensive changes will have to be made, but defensive corrections as well. Will John Valentin come back strong enough to reclaim his role as third baseman or will Wilton Veras or Chris Stynes get the spot? Right now, the Sox have five possible outfielders - O'Leary, Lewis, Everett, Ramirez, and Nixon. Who will make the cut as the strongest three? Could newcomer Dernell Stenson shine through and claim a spot in the infield?
This year's spring training will be an interesting one. Jimy Williams and the rest of the coaching staff must make major decisions. There will be a number of new faces assisting Williams. "With the additions of Rick Down, Gene Lamont, and Nelson Norman to Joe Kerrigan and Tommy Harper, the Red Sox may have the best veteran coaching staff in the business, and that will go a long way during the season," said one AL GM.
While there is much cause for optimism around New England, these are still the Red Sox, and all the offense in the world won't save them if Pedro's magical elbow begins to hurt. But for now, Sox fans can bask in the excitement of the Ramirez signing and dream that finally, this could be the year.
