After having watched almost every single inning of that 176-game miracle season in 2004, I barely watched a quarter of that in 2005. So heading into this season, the Red Sox are still World Series Champions in my mind, even if the title officially belongs to the pair in black.
But a quick glance at this year's roster shows just how much the face of the Old Towne Team has changed. Heck, even the front office was unable to avoid controversy with the departure-and-return of wunderkind Theo Epstein. What that fiasco accomplished for anyone is beyond me, but the team is now poised to start a fresh chapter in Red Sox lore, although its cast of characters is far from familiar.
Not a single starter from the championship infield returns this season, and the only infielder left from 2004 is Kevin Youkilis. Bill Mueller's silent leadership is out in L.A. and Kevin Millar's obnoxious spirit is down in Baltimore. Orlando Cabrera and Mark Bellhorn didn't even last through the honeymoon of being World Series Champions, and Carbrera's replacement, Edgar Renteria, has already been sent packing.
Instead, we have question marks. Apart from Youkilis at first, the front office is taking a gamble on Mark Loretta at second, Alex Gonzalez at short and Mike Lowell at third. The trade-off between the improvement at first with Youkilis and the demotion at third with the loss of Mueller should balance out, which leaves us with Loretta and Gonzalez, and again we split. Despite Tony Graffanino's superb performance at second last season, Loretta's .301 average makes for a slight improvement at the position. And although he doesn't have comparable career numbers to Renteria, Gonzalez should have no problem clearing the low bar set last season by Theo's Folly.
Despite the changes to the infield, the old backyard boys are still there, except of course for the departure of Johnny "Judas" Damon at center. With the anchors of Manny Ramirez and Trot Nixon in the outfield, however, new centerfielder Coco Crisp is definitely going to be the wildcard of this season's team, and whether he can fill Damon's shoes remains to be seen. From his spring training games, we know he can hit, and his batting average has improved the past three seasons, peaking at .300 last year. At the very least, Crisp's arm will be a vast improvement over Damon's.
The team certainly has the pitching spectrum covered, with David Wells all but guaranteeing this to be his last season in the Big Leagues and Jon Papelbon emerging at the start of his promising career amidst comparisons to Roger Clemens. But whether this crossroads will result in pitching perfection or a lull of mediocrity will be determined as the season unfolds.
The team's new stud, Josh Beckett, has the makings of the ace on a squad that also boasts Curt Shilling and Wells. He's certainly got the numbers to give fans hope. In his relatively short career, Beckett's already amassed 607 career strikeouts and is a proven workhorse in the postseason. Still, he's only pitched three complete games in his career and has a paltry career-high of 15 wins in a season. If he stays healthy, he should be a legitimate ace for the club. That's a pretty big if.
Schilling may never return to his former glory, but the team better pray to his miracle sock (real or not) that he finds his groove and stays injury-free this season. Tim Wakefield, who is finally gaining the respect he deserves, should continue his success, but Grandpa Tim will not be enough to carry this team into October if Beckett and Schilling prove ineffective.
If Schilling has become one of the most hated figures in sports, Keith Foulke is certainly doing his best to give him some competition for that title. After early comments that highlighted his lack of commitment to baseball, the Savior of '04 better get his head in the game, because he's already on his second chance after last season's abysmal performance, and fans aren't going to give him another.
Though the team had no easily recognizable franchise player, Damon was surely becoming that face before he skipped town for a pinstripe suit. Schilling was too controversial, and Manny is, well, Manny. Jason Varitek is the captain and clubhouse commander, but the success of the Sox now lies in the hands of Big Papi David Ortiz.
Ortiz has got it all. He's a media and fan darling, he produces seemingly on command, and he shows the team spirit and exuberance that every fan craves in a sports hero. A lot is going to be riding on the broad shoulders of Boston's Paul Bunyan in 2006, but our mythic sports figure that can do no wrong should be up to the task.
Where did you go, Sox of '04? The Idiots are dead, and there ain't no one left to Cowboy Up. Welcome to the Uncertainty Era, where everything and anything can happen. At the very least, it should prove to be an interesting season.
