EVENTS
 Sportsman of the Year
 Heisman Trophy
 Swimsuit 2001

2. Boston Red Sox

Next year? Wait till this year, say the Sox, who are seriously thinking Series

By Tom Verducci

Offense Defense Starting Pitching Bullpen Manager 1999 Record 94-68 (second in AL East) Batting Order 2B Jose Offerman 3B John Valentin CF Carl Everett SS Nomar Garciaparra LF Troy O'Leary 1B Mike Stanley DH Brian Daubach C Jason Varitek 2B Trot Nixon Bench IF Marty Cordova C Scott Hatteberg OF Darren Lewis IF Manny Alexander Starters RH Pedro Martinez RH Ramon Martinez LH Jeff Fassero RH Tim Wakefield RH Brian Rose Bullpen RH Derek Lowe RH Rod Beck RH John Wasdin RH Rich Garces LH Rheal Cormier RH Juan Peña Next Up... The two big league starts Juan Peña made last May did not represent your typical cup of coffee. Call it a double shot of espresso: He beat the Angels and the Blue Jays, giving up only one run and striking out 15 batters in 13 innings. "He knows exactly what he's doing with every pitch," Boston pitching coach Joe Kerrigan says, "and he has command of all four pitches. That's a gift, especially with a young pitcher." Called El Diablo for his devilish mound demeanor, Peña is only 22, which Red Sox veterans find hard to believe, given the poise he showed in 1999. The 6'5", 215-pound righthander, however, has had trouble staying healthy; he threw only 69 1/3 innings overall in the majors and minors last year because of a sore shoulder and elbow stiffness. Is he the solution to Boston's problem with the fifth spot in the rotation? The Red Sox would love to see enough of him to find out. The Book An opposing team's scout sizes up the Red Sox "Their end results were very close last year, but the Red Sox were still a ways from the Yankees talentwise. Boston is closer this year; still, there are a lot of ifs.... The rotation is the key: Pedro Martinez is the best pitcher in the game, but there are major issues two through five.... Derek Lowe will be fine as the closer, but the Red Sox lose what they had last year, an excellent setup man.... Rod Beck will try to fill that role, but unless he gets ahead in the count, he can't throw the splitter, his best pitch, and his fastball is only in the 85-to-87-mph range.... Will Brian Daubach and Trot Nixon reach the levels they did last year? The team needs their bats.... Carl Everett gives you offense in center, where they got nothing last year. I hope they take advantage of his speed to steal bases.... Remember how clutch John Valentin was in the playoffs? He might've saved his job. Wilton Veras is the future at third, but there's no room for him now.... The right side of the infield is a problem. Mike Stanley is rough at first, and in the playoffs Jose Offerman couldn't turn a double play."

The Red Sox had just been scorched by the Indians 11-1 in Game 2 of the Division Series last year, leaving them one loss from elimination at the hands of the greatest run-scoring machine in half a century. Meanwhile, Boston's best pitcher, Pedro Martinez, was injured. Bleak? To find a worse predicament you'd have to go back to Custer. In short, it was exactly the right moment for a little Jimywocky: the homespun, cornball dialect of Boston manager Jimy Williams, who says "gosh" and refers to major league players as "kids."

"They better sweep us," Williams told his kids in the clubhouse, "because if we win one, they're in trouble."

"Everyone believed him," third baseman John Valentin says.

Always a good glove man and handler of pitchers, Varitek has transformed himself from an average hitter to a 30-home-run threat.John Iacono

The Red Sox ripped off three straight wins, outscoring Cleveland 44-18. "By the time we got to the last game, we knew we were going to win. We just knew it," says Valentin, though there were some tense moments. In Game 5 Boston came back from a 5-2 deficit and needed a Willis Reed-like entrance from an ailing Martinez to advance to the American League Championship Series against the Yankees. The Red Sox run ended there, but not by much. They lost twice after taking a lead into the seventh inning and another with a lead into the fourth. Besides Martinez, the mettle they showed in October is the primary reason that the Red Sox have reasserted themselves as the greatest Yankees antagonist.

"Boston is dangerous," New York manager Joe Torre says. "They learned how to win last year, and that means a lot, especially come playoff time."

Never have the Red Sox played in the postseason in three straight seasons. They will do so this year, but they're thinking much larger. "We have a legitimate chance to win it all, and the players know it," general manager Dan Duquette says.

Martinez and his big brother, Ramon, who looked terrific in spring training after missing most of last season rehabbing from rotator cuff surgery, must win big because the rest of the rotation poses more questions than Regis Philbin. Can Jeff Fassero's reunion with pitching coach Joe Kerrigan, his mentor in Montreal, prove his 7.20 ERA last year was just a blip caused by mechanical glitches? Can Tim Wakefield prove himself useful again after Williams left him off the ALCS roster? Can Bret Saberhagen, who will miss at least the season's first half, come back from a torn rotator cuff to contribute down the stretch the way Ramon Martinez did last year? Can just one of Boston's cadre of young pitchers emerge as a bona fide big league starter? Brian Rose, Juan Peña and Tomo Ohka have all teased the Red Sox with their ability without sustaining their success or health.

Watch out especially for Sun-Woo (Sunny) Kim, a righthander with a ferocious fastball who dominated the Arizona Fall League (5-1, 2.27) and may be the best of the young arms. After pitching in an international tournament game at Fenway Park in 1995, Kim scooped up a handful of dirt, preserved it in a jar and promised he would come back someday to pitch for Boston. He will likely start the season in the minors but could be in Boston by June. In the meantime the brothers Martinez are good enough to keep the rotation afloat until the rest of the staff takes shape. If that doesn't happen by the end of July, Duquette says he'll try to pry a top, free-agent-to-be starting pitcher from another team, such as Mike Mussina or Brad Radke. "We have the farm system to make a deal like that," the G.M. says.

Last season the Red Sox narrowed the gap between themselves and the Yankees from 22 games in 1998 to four, despite a pedestrian offense. Boston will score more with the explosive Carl Everett replacing Darren Lewis in centerfield and Jason Varitek and Trot Nixon beginning 2000 as established players. Last year Varitek emerged as the American League's second-best catcher behind Ivan Rodriguez, and Nixon survived a 2-for-34 start to outhit (.296-.275) and outhomer (12-9) Yankees' rightfielder Paul O'Neill after the All-Star break. Meanwhile, shortstop Nomar Garciaparra, whose batting average and slugging and on-base percentages have improved for three straight years, now has Everett and Troy O'Leary protecting him in the lineup. "One of the biggest things that happened last year was Troy O'Leary came around as an RBI threat hitting behind Nomar," Duquette says.

Interest in the Sox these days is more robust than homemade chowdah. In January, Williams was amazed to see fans lined up around Fenway Park awaiting an autograph session in a 0° windchill. Are they overly optimistic to be thinking world championship? No more so than Duquette, who says, "We have a nucleus in place that can win it two or three times."

Issue date: March 27, 2000

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