I went to school with a kid named Patrick Whelan. He was a good student, a good athlete and generally was an all around good guy. In his younger years he had a little bit of a quirk. Whenever he got a little excited he would start to have some breathing problems. We found out that it was called hyper ventilation and a simple solution was for him to breathe into a paper bag, get a little extra carbon dioxide into his system and he would soon be ok. So for a year or two he had a paper bag with him at all times.
I am carrying a paper bag with me these days because now that Opening Day is approaching I can't help but begin to hyper ventilate over the Red Sox chances. The mere thought of this line up and pitching staff makes my heart race and my breathing get heavy.
The off season has been one of frenzied activity by Theo and the boys in the front office. One thing that they cannot be accused of is standing pat. They have four major free agent signings which shore up positions in the field, the batting order and the pitching staff, both starting and relieving.
Daisuke Matsuzaka is the biggest catch, coming over from Japan after the Sox paid the highest rights fees in history. In retrospect, the stunning 50 plus million dollar bid for just the right to negotiate with him may have been the throwing down of the gauntlet in a bid to end the 9 year dominance of the Evil Empire atop the Eastern Division of the American League.
One pitcher however will not do the job alone and Theo's thinking became apparent when the Sox bolstered the offense at shortstop with the acquisition of Julio Lugo and the offense and defense in right field with the signing of J.D. Drew. The money spent on Drew has been questioned in some quarters, however career stats don't lie. Drew has an excellent on base percentage, is a good citizen, can hit with power and near .290 for batting average. The one knock on him has been his inability to stay on the field for a full season. Drew has the opportunity of a lifetime hitting behind Ortiz and Ramirez. If I was him I would be sleeping at Fenway so as to make sure I didn't miss one at bat with this crew.
The bull pen with the exception of Papelbon was a major disappointment last year and the brass has taken a number of steps to bolster the staff. Joel Piniero was acquired with the idea of switching him from a starter to a reliever but his failure to impress in spring training has resulted in the abandonment of the Papelbon change to a starter.
The pen will have the rather unusual presence of three left handers with the addition of J.C. Romero and Hideki Okajima to go with last year's acquisition of Javier Lopez. Mike Timlin will start the year of the disabled list. He is getting a bit long in the tooth but he has been a mainstay and will be a key to setting up for Papelbon. For the time being Brendan Donnelly and Piniero will be filling that role. I look for Donnelly to become a fan favorite.
The depth of the starting and relieving pitching is much improved with the likes of Manny Delcarmen, Craig Hansen and Devern Hansack starting the year down on the farm waiting for an opportunity if there is an injury or someone falters. Jon Lester who is in extended spring training after last year's bout with cancer may also be a factor as depth for the starting rotation.
The only major question mark in the entire line up is at second base with the addition of Dustin Pedroia. He became the heir apparent after the Sox refused to re-sign Mark Loretta. In a spring call up last year it was apparent that Pedoia couldn't get his bat on anything smaller than a beach ball. He has taken this opportunity seriously however by dropping 15 pounds and coming into camp in the best shape of his life. Francona will give the kid some time but if he can't make regular contact he will be quickly yanked in favor of steady Alex Cora.
The infield offense may have improved with the addition of Lugo however it is unlikely he will make everyone forget the artistry of Alex Gonzalez. It was some what surprising to see both Loretta and Gonzalez let go by the Sox. These two helped make the Sox the best fielding team in baseball. It is doubtful the team will repeat that performance.
Any run for a championship requires both skill and luck. The team as currently constituted has awesome potential if everything goes right. Even if they get nicked in a few places they still have enough to win it all. But if all the potential trouble spots manifest themselves it will be difficult to over come. Some of the potential trouble spots are as follows. Schilling and Wakefield are both in their forties. The Sox opted not to extend Schilling for another year at 13 million primarily for this reason. Can they both produce every fifth day?
Will Manny come to play every day or will some phantom knee injury put him on the pine during a critical period? Can Drew keep himself on the field for 130 games or will he continue his injury plagued history? Is Papelbon fully recovered from last year's shoulder subluxation? Is Varitek washed up at the plate? In life, three things can age very quickly, dogs, running backs and catchers. The Sox have two very experienced but old catchers.
Lastly and most importantly is Daisuke Matsuzaka the real thing? he is coming to the American League East directly from the Seibu Lions of the Japanese leagues. No other Japanese pitcher has made the move with expectations this high. His spring training performances have indicated he is worthy of such a build up, but what will happen the second time through the schedule?
I have no idea but I am breathing into a paper bag just thinking about it. My bet is they win the whole thing.
