The Boston Red Sox

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

* The Boston Globe

Catcher was receptive

Peter Abraham

Jason Varitek reached the height of his professional success in 2007. The Red Sox won their second World Series in

four years and he was at the center of it all as the catcher and team captain.

Life was a series of champagne celebrations and adulation. But Varitek‘s joy was tempered with the knowledge that

his marriage of nearly 13 years was coming to an end.

―You could see it in his eyes that he wasn‘t getting much sleep,‘‘ teammate Josh Beckett said. ―Those were some

rough days for him.‘‘

It was only the beginning of what Varitek now calls ―a time of transition‘‘ in his personal and professional life. He

filed for divorce 10 months after the Series, then lost his job as the everyday catcher midway through the 2009

season when the Red Sox traded for Victor Martinez.

In 2010, just as spring training was starting, Varitek learned that his father had lapsed into a coma and was near

death. He rushed to Orlando and spent one agonizing afternoon searching for Joe Varitek‘s living will.

―Doctor‘s orders. My dad had put it somewhere and I spent hours trying to find it,‘‘ Varitek said. ―It was probably

the most difficult thing I‘ve ever had to do.‘‘

His father pulled through. But Varitek‘s career took another downturn when he broke his right foot last June, the

injury leading to speculation that his tenure in Boston — if not his career — could be over.

At the same time, Varitek was learning the complicated process of being a single father, having gained split custody

of his three daughters.

―Almost everything in his life changed,‘‘ said Jared Varitek, one of Jason‘s three brothers. ―When I look back on it

now, I don‘t know how he handled it. He had to be a multitasker to the extreme.‘‘

Sitting in the dugout hours before a recent game, Varitek readily admitted to needing help. He underwent ―hundreds

of hours‘‘ of counseling, learning more about himself and how the changes in his life had affected him.

―It was the right thing to do,‘‘ he said. ―If I hadn‘t done that, I would not be where I am now.‘‘

For the first time, Varitek also discussed his readiness to try marriage again and the woman he recently asked to take

that step.

After years of zealously guarding his privacy, one of Boston‘s most respected athletes threw open a window to his

personality.

―People see me as this robot; we‘ll just leave him alone and let him do his job,‘‘ Varitek said. ―There‘s a whole

different element to me that can communicate and I‘ve learned how to do that. A lot has happened and there‘s a

different me coming out.‘‘

Winning her over

Catherine Panagiotopoulos was not too impressed the first time she met Varitek. It was at a charity event hosted by

Beckett last summer at the Lucky Strike Lanes across from Fenway Park.

For starters, he used a wingman.

―He had somebody approach me and say he wanted to meet me,‘‘ said Panagiotopoulos, 33. ―The captain, this big

baseball player. He was kind of dull.‘‘

They met again a few weeks later at Howl At The Moon, a piano bar in Boston. As Panagiotopoulos chatted with a

group of friends, Varitek barged in and introduced himself again.

―I thought he was the biggest jerk ever,‘‘ she said. ―I mean, wow, what a pompous guy.‘‘

Panagiotopoulos, who grew up in Marion, knew Varitek only from what she heard in the media. ―He had a

reputation,‘‘ she said. ―My first thought was to stay away.‘‘

But they started talking and exchanged phone numbers. Six weeks of calls and text messages followed, but she

steadfastly refused his entreaties to try dating.

―I pursued it,‘‘ Varitek said. ―We spent a lot of time getting to know each other as friends.‘‘

Panagiotopoulos agreed to give romance a try and quickly fell for Varitek, 39.

―What attracted me to him so much, to take steps closer to him, was that he opened up,‘‘ she said. ―He was so

adamant. He opened up his closet and said, ‗This is what is going on; this is what I have to do.‘

―The man loves to talk, he loves to laugh. To me, he‘s the most loving, trustworthy man I‘ve ever met in my entire

life.‘‘

Varitek proposed to Panagiotopoulos earlier this month at a surprise birthday party she planned for him. They have

not yet set a date.

―He‘s found somebody he enjoys being around,‘‘ said Beckett. ―You can see they‘re really good friends.‘‘

Panagiotopoulos has ―embraced all aspects‘‘ of their relationship.

―It takes a strong person, you have to have a tough skin and let things roll off your shoulders,‘‘ she said. ―He‘s not

just a normal guy. Everybody in Boston knows him. But the person I know is so down to earth.‘‘

Varitek married his ex-wife, Karen, when he was 23 and just out of Georgia Tech. Their breakup was difficult and

he still has regrets.

―Divorce isn‘t anything I‘d wish upon anyone,‘‘ Varitek said. ―To have to go through that, it‘s not a fun thing. It

wasn‘t fun for her, it wasn‘t fun for me, it wasn‘t fun for the kids. It wasn‘t fun for families on both sides.

―It‘s hard to talk about these things personally. But I can always be really appreciative because she‘s been a

wonderful mom to our kids and has done a great job with them. We‘ll forever have to be a part of each other‘s lives

in raising these kids.‘‘

Now, with Panagiotopoulos, Varitek is ready to try again.

―She‘s been such a huge support not only for me and for my girls, for my life and who I am as a person and allowed

me to be the person that I am. It‘s been great,‘‘ he said.

―She sees the man and who I am and who I am deep down inside. It‘s a huge joy in life.‘‘

‗I‘m just their dad‘

You remember Varitek punching Alex Rodriguez in the face, instigating a memorable brawl with the Yankees in

2004. Or watching him block the plate with apparent disregard for his own safety.

What you don‘t know is how quickly he can put hair into a ponytail. Or that Belle is his favorite Disney princess.

That‘s what comes with being a father to three girls. Alexandra is 11, Kendall 9, and Caroline 5.

―I love to take off the catcher‘s mask and put on my girl hat,‘‘ Varitek said. ―It makes going home that much easier

because I‘m not always a catcher to them. I‘m just their dad.‘‘

Varitek and his ex-wife live a few miles away from each other in the Atlanta suburb of Suwanee. The girls spend

most of their time there, and parts of the summer in Boston.

―It‘s a totally different world when they‘re around,‘‘ Varitek said. ―Along with my fiancee, they‘re my life.‘‘

Varitek‘s trainer and personal assistant, Leslie Eddins, says the tough-guy catcher is happiest when his house is full

of kids.

―Jason loves to have his girls and all their friends over. They take it over,‘‘ Eddins said. ―He‘s Super Dad.‘‘

Said Panagiotopoulos: ―He has a routine just like he does with baseball. Up at 6 a.m., getting his coffee ready,

making their lunches, backpacks packed, clothes are out.‘‘

Varitek talked to his daughters before he proposed to Panagiotopoulos. Their approval had to come first.

―It‘s a huge responsibility for me and a huge part even for her,‘‘ he said. ―She‘s taken the bull by the horns with

them. My kids couldn‘t have been happier than when I told them what was going to transpire and called them after.

She‘s going to be in their life always.‘‘

After so many years in the male-dominated world of baseball, Varitek leads a different life away from the field.

―I‘m surrounded by females,‘‘ he said with a laugh. ―Three girls, my fiancee, and even two girl dogs.‘‘

All about the team

Varitek has been a major leaguer for parts of 15 seasons, all of them with the Red Sox. Only three players — Hall of

Famers Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, and Jim Rice — have spent more time with the team without playing for

another franchise.

―Being on that team, being the captain, that‘s part of my personality,‘‘ he said. ―It‘s in my blood.‘‘

Varitek has caught a team-record 1,430 games. Four of those were no-hitters, a major league record. He also has

represented the team in countless charity endeavors around Boston.

―He cares about us as an organization, how we‘re perceived,‘‘ manager Terry Francona said. ―It means something to

him that we play the game the right way. You‘d like to think everybody feels that way. But some people are special.

He‘s special.‘‘

Varitek received a standing ovation from the Fenway Park crowd last Oct. 3 when he was taken out of the game in

the ninth inning. It was a tribute and a possible farewell.

Jared was in the stands applauding his brother, as were Catherine and his daughters.

―There were tears in my eyes,‘‘ Jared said. ―The girls were asking me why I was crying. Then next thing you know

they were crying, too.‘‘

After the game, in the Red Sox family room adjacent to the clubhouse, Varitek tried to get his brother to lighten the

mood.

―He‘s the guy who makes everybody laugh and he can‘t say a word,‘‘ Varitek said. ―Everybody was upset. That‘s

when I realized this was their home as much as mine. My girls have grown up here.‘‘

When Martinez signed with the Tigers, the Red Sox made a deal to bring Varitek back within 24 hours. He reported

to spring training looking more like a linebacker, not an aging catcher.

―He can play another two or three years,‘‘ Eddins said. ―Nobody knows better than I do how hard he has worked.‘‘

Varitek has embraced a backup role, working closely with the pitchers and tutoring first-stringer Jarrod

Saltalamacchia.

―He has put his pride aside,‘‘ Panagiotopoulos said. ―He never wants to play anywhere else and I don‘t think he will.

He lives, eats, breathes, and sleeps the Red Sox.‘‘

The changes in his personal life and the lessons learned in therapy have helped Varitek adjust to his new role.

―My first reaction to things is I‘m quiet,‘‘ he said. ―But now I‘m able to joke around, make some guys laugh in the

clubhouse, make them laugh in the dugout, but yet still can take my job seriously.

―I‘ve learned how to communicate a lot better. You tend to enjoy things a little better now. I‘ve had players I‘ve

played with enjoy it. I‘ve tried to enjoy it, but it just didn‘t always look like it was on my face because of

responsibility and things that you have to carry. It‘s been a fun transition.‘‘

The players have noticed the changes. Varitek, more than ever, commands their respect.

―Whenever you have tough times in your life, you come out one way or another,‘‘ Beckett said. ―You either learn a

lot or you feel sorry for yourself. He‘s never been the kind of guy who feels sorry for himself.‘‘

Striking a balance

Joe Varitek is driving again and soon may see his son play in person, perhaps in June when the Sox play the Rays in

St. Petersburg. Their father‘s illness brought the brothers even closer.

―We had to support each other,‘‘ Jared said. ―We all learned a lot.‘‘

Alexandra, Kendall, and Caroline play for their own sports teams now. ―I try and stay quiet and just watch,‘‘ Varitek

said.

The Red Sox have won eight of their last nine games after a rough start and the team is 6-2 when Varitek starts.

―It starts with Catherine,‘‘ he said. ―She sees my heart and has my back and she supports the other love of my life —

my girls. I‘ve always loved the game. But now I have a great balance. I‘m at a very good place.‘‘

Buchholz knows trouble spots

Peter Abraham

As his rotation-mates shine, Red Sox righthander Clay Buchholz is still trying to get a good handle on his season.

Buchholz, who faces the Orioles at Camden Yards tonight, is 1-2 with a 5.31 earned run average in four starts. He

has allowed six home runs, three fewer than last season. He also is averaging 6.2 walks per nine innings, nearly

double his average last season.

―It seemed like I never gave up home runs last season,‘‘ Buchholz said. ―I don‘t think it‘s one of those things. I think

I need to do a better job of keeping the ball down. That would help.‘‘

The walks are even more troublesome.

―I can‘t up the free passes. That‘s going to get you in trouble every time,‘‘ he said. ―That‘s something I‘ve been

trying to work on. If I can cut down on the walks, I‘ll go deeper in the games. That‘s on me to fix that.‘‘

Facing the Orioles could be helpful. Buchholz is 5-2 with a 2.98 ERA in eight career starts against them. He did not

allow an earned run in 15 innings against Baltimore last season, allowing only nine hits and four walks.

The Orioles will start lefthander Zach Britton, a 23-year-old rookie who is 3-1 with a 3.16 ERA.

To the defense

Through Sunday, the Sox were tied with the Brewers with seven errors, the fewest in baseball. The team has shown

marked improvement in the field after what was often an inept 2010 season.

―I think we‘ve been pretty good on defense,‘‘ said new first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, a two-time Gold Glove

winner. ―That‘s what we expected. I can‘t remember too many plays we didn‘t make.‘‘

The pitchers, in particular, have shown improvement. After committing 21 errors last season, they have yet to have a

miscue.

Showing Showalter

Baltimore has lost three straight and 11 of its last 13 to fall into last place in the American League East.

Orioles manager Buck Showalter raised the ire of the Sox during spring training when he was quoted in a magazine

article saying he enjoyed ―whipping the butt‘‘ of the Red Sox because of their high payroll.

Showalter also ripped Boston general manager Theo Epstein.

―I‘d like to see how smart Theo Epstein is with the Tampa Bay payroll,‘‘ he said. ―You got Carl Crawford because

you paid more than anyone else, and that‘s what makes you smarter?‘‘

Showalter later apologized to Epstein for his remarks, but only after Sox manager Terry Francona said during spring

training he was ―aggravated‘‘ by Showalter‘s comments and felt they were out of line.

The Sox were 9-9 against the Orioles last season.

Power outage

The Sox are seventh in the American League with 19 home runs, right in the middle of the pack. But two players

expected to provide some pop, Gonzalez and David Ortiz, have been quiet of late. Gonzalez hit his only home run of

the season April 6. Ortiz has two, the last coming April 2 . . . Entering last night‘s games, Kevin Youkilis was tied

for third in the American League with 17 walks . . . The Sox are 6-0 when leading after the sixth inning . . . Minor

league outfielder Ryan Kalish confirmed yesterday that he has a partially torn labrum in his left shoulder that could

require surgery.

* The Boston Herald

Jonathan Papelbon's alter ego frighteningly effective

John Tomase

He‘s one of the most important players on the Red Sox, and yet we know almost nothing about him.

He makes the Dos Equis Most Interesting Man in the World look like a monk. He strikes equal fear in opponents

and teammates. He combines the terror of Jaws with the mystery of Nessie.

He is Cinco Ocho. And he is the Sphinx, the pyramids, a column on Easter Island — an enigma that is oft seen, but

little understood.

―I don‘t know if I‘m the right guy to answer that question,‖ Red Sox reliever Dan Wheeler said. ―I‘m still trying to

figure it out myself.‖

Many believe Cinco Ocho is simply closer Jonathan Papelbon [stats], but the reality is the two share nothing except

a body.

Papelbon is the player who pulls on his uniform before a game. Cinco Ocho is the alter ego he created years ago to

slam the door, a serial killer who wears No. 58 (hence, the name) and closes games with malice.

―I think everybody‘s got a little bit of that in them, every good pitcher,‖ said right-hander Daniel Bard. ―You have

to. We just don‘t all have a name for it. He does.‖

So who is Cinco Ocho? He‘s best viewed in juxtaposition to Papelbon.

Papelbon is fairly subdued. Cinco Ocho is raging id. Papelbon might lie on the clubhouse couch and play along with

Discovery Channel‘s ―Cash Cab‖ (he‘s better than you‘d think). Cinco Ocho is more likely to cause a scene like

Sunday‘s, when he screamed his ABCs while the rest of the clubhouse tried to listen to their unofficial anthem, ―Out

Here Grindin‘ ‖ by DJ Khaled after a 7-0 victory against the Angels.

―Now I know my ABCs, next time won‘t you sing with me?‖ Cinco Ocho finished with an unhinged flourish.

―You like that?!‖ he dared everyone and no one in particular.

For his part, Papelbon has little to say about Cinco Ocho, save for a faint smirk.

―I can‘t do it,‖ he said. ―I‘m sorry, man. What I think you‘re going to have to do is some homework.‖

OK, fine. His teammates spelled out a few simple ground rules:

No. 1: Do not talk to Cinco Ocho.

―It‘s only scary when you try to talk to him,‖ Bard said. ―I know better. Others try. They get shot down. He‘s not a

good guy to talk to.‖

No. 2: Do not make eye contact with him.

―Everybody loves Pap,‖ said catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia. ―Nobody likes Cinco Ocho.‖

No. 3: If you ever meet him in a dark alley, pray to your maker.

―Go the other way,‖ Saltalamacchia said. ―Go the other way as fast you can, because even his best friends don‘t

stand a chance when Cinco Ocho‘s there.‖

―That sounds pretty reasonable,‖ Papelbon allowed.

Right fielder J.D. Drew [stats] laughed when informed of the Cinco rules.

―That‘s ridiculous,‖ he said. ―That doesn‘t even make sense. What is he, not human or something? That‘s what

they‘re telling you in your research? Whoever‘s giving the intercession on Cinco Ocho‘s part has definitely been

hoodwinked, I think, with his Cinco Ocho-ness.‖

Papelbon, who has saved five games in five chances with a 2.16 ERA this year, will allow this much: When he‘s on

the mound, he‘s a different person.

―No question,‖ he said. ―I think everybody gets in their own zone, finds their own way to get locked in. You can ask

anybody in there, they‘ll say the same thing.‖

Bard consented to a little SAT-style word association. Pap is to Cinco as a Chevy Volt is to . . .

―An F-16,‖ Bard said.

―Oh gosh,‖ Drew retorted. ―Now he‘s got wings?‖

The Cinco Ocho phenomenon surfaced in 2007 during an interview with Comcast SportsNet. Papelbon was at the

height of his powers. A few months later, he‘d close out the Red Sox‘ second World Series in four seasons.

―When I‘m out there pitching, it‘s not Jonathan Papelbon pitching, it‘s Cinco Ocho pitching,‖ he said at the time.

Papelbon typically makes the transformation sometime around the eighth inning, by Bard‘s reckoning, which is

when it‘s best to keep a distance. He usually doesn‘t come down until a half-hour or so after the game.

Once he takes the field, his persona is instantly recognizable. The slow jog from the bullpen, to the strains of ―I‘m

Shipping Up to Boston.‖ The unblinking stare from the mound, his right arm dangling like a holstered pistol. And

then the fist pump and wide-eyed scream when he seals the deal.

―It gets you pumped up,‖ Saltalamacchia said. ―He means business. It‘s pretty cool. The first time I caught him at

Fenway, opening weekend, he came into the game and closed it out and the song came on — it gives you goose

bumps.‖

A large part of Cinco Ocho‘s game is intimidation.

―As a starter, reliever, hitter, confidence scares everybody,‖ Saltalamacchia said. ―A guy like Albert Pujols you‘re

going to fear more than, hell, me. It‘s because of what he brings to the plate and the confidence he has.

―Pap‘s the same way when he comes in, staring you down, staring at the mitt. It‘s going to freak you out a little bit.‖

If Cinco Ocho made an appearance in 2010, he wasn‘t exactly himself, with eight blown saves and a career-worst

3.90 ERA.

All that matters is he‘s back now, averaging almost 12 strikeouts per nine innings.

―Without a doubt,‖ Saltalamacchia said. ―He‘s out to prove something, for sure. He‘s been lights out. It‘s been fun

to catch him, fun to watch him. He just looks like he‘s got that confidence back, going out there and blowing people

away.‖

And that may be as close as we get to deciphering the mystery.

―I can‘t tell you anything, man,‖ Papelbon said. ―You‘ll have to do your homework, brother. You‘re on the right

path, though.‖

Of course Papelbon had nothing to say.

He‘s not messing with Cinco Ocho either.

Sox most need Jacoby Ellsbury on base

Scott Lauber

Last spring, before the cracked ribs and a season filled with more medical melodrama than an episode of ―ER,‖

Jacoby Ellsbury inspired this prediction from Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon: ―He could hit 20-plus home

runs.‖

A year later, Ellsbury is well on his way.

But although the Red Sox [team stats] appreciate Ellsbury‘s power surge — he is tied with cleanup-hitting Kevin

Youkilis [stats] for the team lead with four homers, five off his career high — they have other priorities for their

speedy center fielder. Healthy again, he‘s expected to reach base with great frequency, run at will and be a

disruptive catalyst for a lineup that has no shortage of run-producers.

To that end, Ellsbury has been lacking. He‘s batting .219 with a woeful .296 on-base percentage that actually has

gotten a boost with six hits and two walks in 20 plate appearances in his last four games. He already has struck out

21 times in only 73 at-bats.

Thus, manager Terry Francona removed Ellsbury from the leadoff spot for a 12-game stretch, putting right fielder

J.D. Drew [stats], sizzling shortstop Jed Lowrie and even badly slumping left fielder Carl Crawford atop the lineup

before reinstalling Ellsbury last weekend in Anaheim, Calif. And although Francona maintains the Red Sox‘ best

batting order is headed by Ellsbury, he wants his leadoff man to behave like one.

―He‘s going to hit some home runs. He‘s a strong kid, stronger than he looks,‖ Francona said. ―But when he‘s on

base creating havoc, that‘s what we really get excited about. When you have a guy that gets on base at a high rate,

then he hits home runs, you‘ve got a star. He‘s got those skills.‖

Nevertheless, Ellsbury never has been the prototypical leadoff hitter. In 2009, his last full season, he averaged 3.77

pitches per plate appearance, seventh among Red Sox regulars. He never has drawn more than 49 walks in a season,

and since 2007, when he posted a .394 on-base percentage in 33 games, he hasn‘t reached base more than 35.5

percent of the time.

But few players in the majors are more dynamic on the bases. Ellsbury led the league with 50 steals in 2008, and

followed with 70 swipes in ‘09. For his career, he has stolen 141 bases in 168 attempts, an 83.9 percent success rate.

Hitting coach Dave Magadan concurs that it‘s most important for Ellsbury to get on base. But he also doesn‘t want

to diminish Ellsbury‘s aggressiveness at the plate by directing him to see more pitches or draw more walks.

―It‘s kind of a fine line,‖ Magadan said. ―When he‘s getting on base and he‘s doing what he needs to do as a leadoff

hitter, I think he has to come from a place of being ready to hit on every pitch and being aggressive in the strike

zone. I think when he gets a little passive at the plate, he tends to swing at more balls because he‘s late recognizing

pitches. When he‘s ready to hit from pitch one, it gets him on the right track as far as swinging at strikes.‖

Ellsbury insists he hasn‘t made a conscious effort to swing for the fences. While many successful leadoff hitters,

including Rickey Henderson and Johnny Damon, began to post double-digit homer totals at a similar stage in their

careers, Ellsbury said his approach hasn‘t changed.

―It‘s just about putting good swings on the ball,‖ he said. ―I put a good swing on the ball, it‘s going to go. It could be

a ground-ball single, too. If you put a good swing on the ball, the results are going to come. That‘s the approach

you‘ve got to have.‖

Like any hitter, Ellsbury has the tendency to get ―pull-happy,‖ according to Magadan. But the higher strikeout totals

aren‘t necessarily indicative of an increased desire to hit homers.

―I think he‘s frustrated with the strikeouts because he‘s the type of guy, with his speed, he gets two strikes and he

needs to put the ball in play,‖ Magadan said. ―When he‘s in a mode of hitting line drives and staying through the

ball, the home runs are going to happen. He‘s aware of that.‖

Just like Francona is aware of the impact Ellsbury could make if he begins to get on base more consistently.

Drew, known for his keen eye and knowledge of the strike zone, is an intriguing leadoff possibility, especially

against right-handed pitchers. But the Red Sox like him lower in the lineup, where he can drive in more runs. And

although Crawford has the skills to bat leadoff, he‘s gone 3-for-32 (.094) in seven games in that role this season.

So, it‘s back to Ellsbury, who has started to do more of what Francona wants.

―He‘s thrown about three or four hits into short right field that broke his bat a couple times, but he‘s stayed on it

enough to get some hits,‖ Francona said. ―And when he gets on base, he‘s kind of a game-changer. Three-run

homers can come anywhere, but when he‘s on base, that‘s what we‘re shooting for.‖

Don't worry, be happy

Scott Lauber and John Tomase

Throughout the season-opening road trip, when the Red Sox went 0-6 against the Texas Rangers and Cleveland

Indians, and even after they slid to 2-10 and clinched their worst start in 14 seasons, first baseman Adrian Gonzalez

stood in front of his locker each day and did his best impression of Alfred E. Neuman.

―What, me worry?‖

Gonzalez remained unfailingly certain the Sox would turn things around. Sure enough, led by lights-out starting

pitching, they have won eight of their last nine games and crept to within one game of .500, hardly cause for

celebration but a significant accomplishment considering the hole they had dug for themselves.

―I don‘t think we ever lost confidence,‖ Gonzalez said Sunday after the Red Sox completed their first four-game

sweep of the Angels in Anaheim, Calif., since the Carter administration. ―If anything, we were kind of like

wondering what was going on. We‘re starting to play like the way we‘re going to be capable of playing all season

long.‖

In fact, Gonzalez believes the offense hasn‘t yet reached its potential.

Three regulars — third baseman Kevin Youkilis [stats] (.222), left fielder Carl Crawford (.171) and center fielder

Jacoby Ellsbury [stats] (.219) — are hitting well below their usual numbers. Catchers Jarrod Saltalamacchia and

Jason Varitek [stats] have combined to hit only .143. Gonzalez has only one home run and eight extra-base hits in 85

at-bats.

And with runners in scoring position, the Red Sox still are batting only .207 with a .595 OPS.

―If you look at the numbers, we‘ve still got a lot of guys who are below their career average or where they‘re

normally at,‖ Gonzalez said. ―The good sign with that is everybody is going to hit a lot better going forward, and the

numbers are going to go up. That‘s a good thing to know.‖

For now, Gonzalez knows the turnaround can be attributed primarily to the starting pitching. In the past nine games,

ace left-hander Jon Lester [stats] and right-handers Josh Beckett [stats], Clay Buchholz, John Lackey and Daisuke

Matsuzaka [stats] have combined to allow six runs in 611⁄3 innings (0.88 ERA).

―They‘ve been going out there and pitching seven, eight innings consistently, not giving up runs,‖ Gonzalez said.

―It‘s been impressive.‖

Rested development

One additional byproduct of the back-to-back gems turned in by Matsuzaka and Lackey against the Angels: The

bullpen is well-rested.

With both set-up man Bobby Jenks and closer Jonathan Papelbon [stats] unavailable Saturday night after appearing

in three consecutive games, Matsuzaka delivered eight innings before Daniel Bard tossed a scoreless ninth. On

Sunday, Lackey logged eight innings before Dan Wheeler completed the 7-0 shutout.

Bard, Jenks and Papelbon will be fresh for tonight‘s series opener in Baltimore against the Orioles.

―We always try to keep (rest) in mind,‖ manager Terry Francona said. ―What Daisuke did really helped us. It gets us

back to, (tonight), when we need (the relievers), they have a chance to be what they are and not go too far. That was

good.‖

Arm strength

It‘s no secret that Red Sox starters were pretty bad for the first 10 games of the season, going 2-5 with a 7.24 ERA.

They‘re 7-2 with an ERA just over 1.00 in the last 11 games.

The way Buchholz, tonight‘s starter, sees it, the early-season struggles were proof that the old adage about pitchers

being ahead of hitters in April isn‘t always true.

―We‘re doing now what we‘re supposed to do,‖ Buchholz said. ―Early during the season, the first week or two, guys

are trying to get a feel for everything. It looked like the hitters were a little ahead of the pace.‖

And now?

―All of us have confidence enough to know we can go out there and give our team a chance every time,‖ he said. ―It

shows everyone‘s been working, doing all the little things off the field to go out there and throw seven, eight, nine

innings.‖

Kalish optimistic

Ryan Kalish told Triple-A Pawtucket radio broadcaster Dan Hoard that it‘s ―very possible‖ he won‘t need surgery to

repair a partially torn labrum in his left (throwing) shoulder. The outfield prospect said he‘s ―optimistic that I‘m

going to be back shorter than everyone says or thinks.‖

Kalish was injured last Thursday at McCoy Stadium while making a diving catch. He‘s expected to continue with a

rehab program for the next two weeks before being re-evaluated.

Searching for a leading man

Scott Lauber

Given Jacoby Ellsbury‘s early-season struggles to reach base and put the ball in play consistently, Red Sox manager

Terry Francona has employed four leadoff hitters in 21 games. None has stayed atop the order for more than six

consecutive games. Overall, Red Sox leadoff men are batting only .198 (18-for-91) with a .263 on-base percentage.

Here‘s a look at how each of the Red Sox‘ table-setters have fared in the leadoff spot:

JACOBY ELLSBURY

Stats:

9 Games, .237 AVG, .310 OBP, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 3 SB, 4 BB, 13 K

Skinny: Having averaged only 48 walks per 162 games in his career, he never will be mistaken for a patient hitter.

But his skill set, especially his speed, still makes him Francona‘s most logical long-term leadoff option.

CARL CRAWFORD

Stats:

7 Games, .094 AVG, .121 OBP, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB, 0 BB, 4 K

Skinny: It wasn‘t that Crawford didn‘t like leading off for the Tampa Bay Rays. It merely was that he didn‘t think he

was particularly good at it. He always has been a better fit in the No. 2 or 3 holes. One problem: With Dustin

Pedroia [stats] and Adrian Gonzalez, the Red Sox are set in those areas.

J.D. DREW

Stats:

3 Games, .250 AVG, .400 OBP, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 0 SB, 3 BB, 3 K

Skinny: He always ranks among the league leaders in pitches per plate appearance, and his command of the strike

zone is well-known. Against right-handed pitchers, in particularly, he‘s an intriguing leadoff option. Overall,

though, his run-producing capability likely leaves him better suited to hit with men on base.

JED LOWRIE

Stats:

2 Games, .333 AVG, .333 OBP, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 0 SB, 0 BB, 2 K

Skinny: With the way he has been swinging the bat, the Red Sox wish he could occupy every spot in the lineup. But

even Francona admitted his two-game stint in the leadoff spot wasn‘t likely to last. He‘s more cut to bat in the

middle of the order.

* The Providence Journal

Is Lowrie answer to longtime problem?

Brian MacPherson

Jed Lowrie looks like he might solve the revolving door the Red Sox have had at shortstop even before Jose Iglesias

arrives. Lowrie has hit .431 with a .455 on-base percentage and .686 slugging percentage in 55 plate appearances

this season.

More telling, he‘s hit .320 with a .397 on-base percentage and .563 slugging percentage in more 250 plate

appearances since his return to the major leagues late last July, similar to the numbers he posted in the minor leagues

before a wrist injury and mononucleosis sidetracked him.

If Lowrie is indeed the solution to the shortstop problem, it would only be fitting. The revolving door was what

brought him to Boston in the first place.

As part of the run to a World Series title in 2004, the Red Sox traded Nomar Garciaparra to the Chicago Cubs in a

four-way trade that netted them Orlando Cabrera from the Montreal Expos. The Red Sox then allowed Cabrera to

walk away via free agency, netting a first-round pick and a supplemental first-round pick as compensation.

The Red Sox likewise allowed Derek Lowe and Pedro Martinez to walk away via free agency, netting four more

draft picks in the process.

With the first-round pick they received from the Angels for Cabrera, the Red Sox drafted Jacoby Ellsbury at No. 23

overall. With the first-round pick they received as compensation from the Dodgers for Lowe, the Red Sox drafted

Craig Hansen at No. 26 overall. With the supplemental first-round pick they received for Martinez — the Mets‘

first-round pick was protected — the Red Sox drafted Clay Buchholz at No. 42 overall.

The next pick the Red Sox had was No. 45 overall, their supplemental first-round pick for Cabrera. With that pick,

the Red Sox drafted Lowrie. Had the Red Sox retained Cabrera, they might never have had a crack at him.

True, the Red Sox had the No. 47 pick — a pick they used on Michael Bowden. There‘s a chance Lowrie would

have slid past the Cardinals at No. 46. But that was far from a guarantee.

―We liked Jed Lowrie and certainly had him in strong consideration for that selection,‖ Jeff Luhnow, the Cardinals‘

vice president for player procurement, wrote in an e-mail, declining to go into more detail about the team‘s draft

board that year. ―Jed‘s success right now is not a surprise to many of our scouts in the draft room that year.‖

When Cabrera walked away, the Red Sox signed Edgar Renteria to a lucrative free-agent contract — the first in a

series of missteps at shortstop that included bust Julio Lugo.

Lowrie is probably not going to finish with an OPS north of 1.000 for an entire season. But he‘s clearly the best

hitting shortstop the Red Sox have had since Cabrera — and that, in a way, completes the circle.

Red Sox starting pitching riding best nine-game run in 65 years

Tim Britton

Remember the last time the Red Sox had a day off? Let‘s travel back those dozen days to April 14, when Boston

was 2-9 and its starting pitchers had combined for three quality starts — two of them losses.

The rotation was a mess, with a rainout that preceded the off-day forcing manager Terry Francona to skip John

Lackey — a move that, the right-hander later said, angered him.

But since falling to 2-10 a day later against the Blue Jays, the Red Sox‘ rotation has collectively morphed into Bob

Gibson, circa the summer of 1968. Over Boston‘s last nine games, the starters are 7-1 with an 0.88 ERA. They‘re

allowing 0.85 walks plus hits per inning pitched, and they‘re striking out almost three batters for every walk they

issue. The worst start made during that stretch is either Clay Buchholz tossing 5 1/3 one-run innings against the A‘s,

or Josh Beckett deigning to allow two earned runs versus the Angels.

Francona‘s postgame remarks about his starting pitchers have become unoriginal. The manager will soon require a

thesaurus, so as to find adjectives other than ―tremendous‖ and ―outstanding‖ to describe his pitchers‘ efforts.

Suggestions include astounding, marvelous and stupendous.

How about historically noteworthy? Boston hasn‘t seen its starters go five or more innings allowing two or fewer

runs in nine straight games since 1946. That, you might recall from the anticipation of spring training, is the last year

the Sox won 100 games.

Even that stretch from August 30 to Sept. 6, 1946, isn‘t quite as good as this one. Starters Tex Hughson, Jim Bagby,

Bill Zuber, Joe Dobson, Dave Ferriss and Mickey Harris combined for a 1.43 ERA during those nine games, of

which the Sox also won eight. (The stretch was, however, followed by a six-game losing streak.)

Boston‘s starting pitching streak may not seem as impressive when you learn that another major-league team did the

same thing for 13 consecutive games as recently as last September. But it‘s encouraging to know that it was that

kind of pitching that led the San Francisco Giants to the World Series title. (For the record, Jonathan Sanchez,

Madison Bumgarner, Tim Lincecum, Barry Zito and Matt Cain had a 1.29 ERA during that 77-inning span.)

Francona doesn‘t traffic in those kinds of historical comparisons. His focus is on the here and now.

―I didn‘t know those numbers,‖ he said after Sunday‘s win in Anaheim. ―I go back to, when we pitch like that, it‘s a

good way to play the game.

―We dug ourselves a hole. Now we‘re trying to dig out of it.‖

The amazing thing is that the Red Sox created that hole with, well, horrendous starting pitching. If the 2-10 opening

record doesn‘t tell the story, how about the 6.72 ERA from starters? The 1.59 WHIP? The 14 home runs in 63

innings?

How‘s this for a neat little contrast: Red Sox starters have allowed as many hits (34) in their last nine games (61 1/3

innings) as they did extra-base hits in the first 12 games (63 innings).

Lackey served up 13 extra-base hits in his first two starts. The whole rotation has given up 10 over the last nine

games, only one coming against Lackey.

The starters‘ good performances have proven just as contagious as the bad ones.

―The rotation has gotten in a little bit of a rhythm and we can just build off of each other‘s starts,‖ Lester said after

his six shutout innings on Friday. ―I know it‘s been said in the past as far as competition, but guys just build off each

other. Just like hitters, you build off each other in an inning. A guy gets a hit, you build off that.‖

Said Lackey, ―There‘s definitely a sense of not wanting to be the guy to stop the streak.‖

Of course, there are important caveats to point out. The turnaround in pitching performance has come against three

teams with, to this point, below-average offenses. The Blue Jays, Athletics and Angels employed cleanup hitters

such as Adam Lind, Josh Willingham and Alberto Callaspo. Boston‘s ERA was bloated early in the year against the

likes of the Rangers, Indians and Yankees — all of which average more than five runs per game thus far this season.

The schedule, though, continues favorably, at least from a pitching standpoint, for the next two weeks. The next

three opponents — the Orioles, Mariners and Twins — score fewer than four runs per contest. The Red Sox don‘t

face an above-average American League offense again until May 13, when they travel to the Bronx.

The Red Sox won‘t pitch this well all season, obviously, but it may be that the first 12 games were more aberrational

than these last nine. For now, the Sox will ride this wave as far as it will carry them.

―I hope they‘re feeding off of each other a little bit. It‘s a good way to play, to give yourself a chance to win,‖ said

Francona. ―Going through the rotation a time or two and getting some stability and some consistency really helps.‖

* The Springfield Republican

Surging Boston Red Sox prove a little patience can pay dividends

Ron Chimelis

Terry Francona has two favorite expressions, each of which applies to the red-hot Boston Red Sox.

One is that things are never as bad as they seem or as good as they seem.

The other, which the Sox manager invokes even more frequently, is that if you manage like a fan, you'll wind up

being a fan - in other words, fired.

Just as the Red Sox were not as bad as their 2-10 start suggested, they may not be quite as good as their subsequent

8-1 surge indicates. But the second version of this team seems much closer to the truth.

The Sox head to Baltimore for a three-game series that opens Tuesday night. West Coast trips have been a killer for

this team in the past, but Boston not only cleaned up with a 5-1 showing, it dominated the Oakland Athletics and

Los Angeles Angels in remarkable fashion.

The Red Sox settled for a split in Oakland, then swept four straight from the Angels. In the last nine games, starting

with three straight home wins over Toronto, Boston starting pitchers have a 0.88 ERA.

In those nine, the Red Sox have outscored their opponents 46-16. They outscored the Angels 20-5, winning the last

two games by shutout.

Red Sox starters have gone at least five innings and allowed fewer than three runs in all nine games. That matches a

franchise record set in 1946, when Boston won 104 games.

When the Red Sox were skidding to the worst record in baseball, Francona tinkered with the lineup but avoided

radical changes.

That prudence is paying dividends now. Daisuke Matsuzaka and John Lackey have rediscovered their form and

complete an intimidating rotation.

Matsuzaka has allowed no runs and two hits in 15 innings over his last two starts - one-hit, quality starts back to

back. No pitcher in baseball has been better.

The outcry to trade or release Dice-K has fallen silent. Actually, the Red Sox would have a better chance to trade

him now that he's shown he can pitch so well.

But what team wants to give up a pitcher who has been practically unhittable?

That's what Francona had in mind when he said instant reactions to a slump can cause more harm than good. He

took a similar approach to Jonathan Papelbon, ignoring cries to install a new closer when his incumbent struggled in

spring training.

Papelbon has responded by going 5-for-5 in save opportunities. His ERA is 2.16, and he has 11 strikeouts in 8 1/3

innings.

Lackey allowed one run and 10 hits in his last 14 innings. Having pitched well in a loss to the A's, and shut out the

Angels, he faces another AL West opponent in his next start.

Seattle comes ot Fenway Park this weekend. First comes the series at Baltimore, where the starters will be Clay

Buchholz, Josh Beckett and Jon Lester.

Boston's biggest challenge could be Tuesday night when the Sox face left-hander Zach Britton (3-1), one of

baseball's most promising rookies.

One significant adjustment in the season's first three weeks has been the emergence of Jason Varitek as co-starting

catcher. The Red Sox are 6-2 in his starts.

Beckett and Matsuzaka have flourished under his guidance. Initially, Francona did not want to match specific

pitchers with catchers, and long-term for the season, there is still Varitek's age (39) and current batting average

(.074) to consider.

But the results have been so good that the team captain figures to share time with Jarrod Saltalamacchia, especially

seeing time when Beckett and Dice-K are on the mount.

The Red Sox are relying more on pitching and hitting. Their .239 team average ranks 11th in the American League;

Baltimore is 12th at .230.

With a wondrous April, Jed Lowrie has taken over at shortstop. It was not a move Francona foresaw in spring

training, but Lowrie's .431 average has made it impossible not to play him.

Carl Crawford is showing signs of life as well. Locked in a horrible slump for nearly three weeks, Crawford hit his

first home run Sunday.

His .171 average is up from a low of .127.

Just as Boston entered the season hyped as baseball's best team, Baltimore was considered one of its most improved.

Armed with good young pitching, the Orioles got off to a 6-1 start, but have lost 11 of their last 13.

The AL East standings read like this: New York, Tampa Bay, Boston, Toronto and Baltimore, in order. Life has

returned to normal, just as Francona figured it would while others were calling for an overhaul.

* The Quincy Patriot Ledger

Boston Red Sox starters on a roll

Mike Fine

Real stretches like these don‘t come along often – periods when the Boston Red Sox starters are so overwhelmingly

overpowering that they can‘t be beaten.

About seven years ago, though, when the Sox were still a team looking for an elusive championship, they got on a

roll.

From April 19-29 they played 10 games, winning nine, in which the starters really showed something. Pedro

Martinez and Derek Lowe won two games each during that streak. Curt Schilling went 1-1. Tim Wakefield and

Byung-Hyun Kim each won a game, and Bronson Arroyo had two hard-luck no-decisions in wins.

The Sox started that stretch at 6-5 and a game behind in the AL East. When it was over they were 15-6 and 21/2

games ahead. Yes, they went on to win their first World Series in 86 years. It was a year in which the Sox starting

rotation stayed virtually intact throughout because they were good and they were healthy.

So jump ahead seven seasons and the Sox are doing it again, only this time the circumstances are much more

dramatic, and much more impressive. When the Red Sox began their current streak of eight victories in nine outings,

they were five games behind, and although they‘ve only closed to within three, the performance of their starting

pitchers has been eye opening and thoroughly impressive.

In the last nine games, Sox starters have picked up seven wins. From 2-7, 6.71 prior to the streak, the starters have

gone 7-1, 0.88 and have improved their standing amongst the AL‘s starting rotations. They‘ve allowed only 54 runs,

third best in the league and their 3.84 combined ERA is sixth. No surprise given two straight shutouts thrown by

Daisuke Matsuzaka and John Lackey.

That‘s the really shocking piece of what appears to be a solved puzzle. After his inexplicable two-inning, eight-hit,

seven-run appearance against Tampa Bay on April 11, Matsuzaka was sitting at 0-2, 12.86 and looking like he was

preparing for a demotion to the bullpen. In his last two starts he‘s 2-0 in 15 innings pitched, having allowed only two

hits and no runs. He struck out nine Angels Saturday.

Lackey, likewise, was nowhere near the $84 million pitcher the Sox signed two winters ago. In his first two starts he

lasted all of 82/3 innings, giving up 17 hits and 15 earned runs. He actually beat the Yankees with the second

appearance, which was ironic since he gave up only four hits and a run in a loss at Oakland.

It was a sign, though, that he might be coming around. The appearance against his old team, the Angels, might have

been a wake-up call. Sunday, he allowed six hits but no runs in eight innings, his longest appearance since last Aug.

23.

Perhaps the best indication that the Sox starters might be back on track, though, is Josh Beckett, who started the

opener in Anaheim, gave up only three hits in eight innings, but didn‘t get the win because of Torii Hunter‘s game-

tying two-run home run. Beckett went eight innings in that game and 23 over the past three, giving up only eight hits

and three runs. In his wins over New York and Toronto he struck out 19 and walked three. His ERA is 1.93.

Even in losing, Sox starters have excelled. Clay Buchholz, who‘s a surprising 0-3, 5.31, gave up only one run in his

last outing in Oakland, but a high pitch count did him in. Jon Lester went seven innings in his second start, a loss at

Cleveland, but he struck out nine, walked three and didn‘t allow a run.

Slow starts are a way of life for many pitchers, including Lester, who is 4-7, 4.23 in April (and March) during his

career. Buchholz is 4-6, 3.79 during his brief April career. Lackey, Beckett and Matsuzaka have been much more

successful, combining to go 47-30 in April. Beckett is 13-6, 4.54 in the first month of the season during his Red Sox

career.

The upshot is that the Sox rotation is not only saving the bullpen, but keeping the team in ballgames as the hitting

starts to come around.

On the night the Sox began their current five-game winning streak at Oakland, the A‘s Gio Gonzalez was 2-0, 0.47

in three starts and the Sox got to him for eight hits and four runs while Lackey was earning his first win. The Angels,

12-7 and leading the AL West when the Sox visited last week, were counting on Dan Haren during the second game

of that series. Haren, 4-0, 1.16 before that, gave up five hits and four runs (two earned) in a Lester win.

The Sox swept the Angels. Yes, it‘s been a real stretch.

* The New Hampshire Union Leader

Success starts with starters

Dave D‘Onofrio

Seeing as these sort of statistics were all the rage just a few weeks back, here's another: The last team to win the

World Series after starting the season at 10-11 was the Florida Marlins of 2003.

And those fish weren't exactly swimming in uncharted waters. In the past 10 years, five teams have started the

season by winning no more than 11 of their first 21 games before later going on to become world champs. The 2002

Angels were 7-14 at that point, while the 2009 Yankees were one of three eventual victors to be 11-10 – and wound

up winning 103 games en route to their ring.

So maybe, just maybe, there's hope for these Red Sox after all.

It hasn't even been two weeks since history framed the climb facing the club as one so steep that none had ever

scaled it, and yet after an historic stretch of their own the Sox haven't merely played their way back to more

manageable terrain, they've also reclaimed their place on baseball's short list of contenders. And the reason is as

simple as it comes.

Starting pitching.

"Somebody asked me what's the best way to get it going," manager Terry Francona told the media this weekend in

Los Angeles. "I said, 'A time or two through the rotation where they give us a chance every night.'

"That's exactly what has happened."

By seizing those chances, the Sox have won five straight, and eight of nine, as they open a three-game series tonight

in Baltimore, where Clay Buchholz will complete the second full turn of the rotation with hopes of extending the

absolutely remarkable run that's already been furthered by his four staff mates.

Most recently moved forward by the back-to-back shutouts started by Daisuke Matsuzaka and John Lackey, Boston

has now played nine straight games in which its starter has allowed two earned runs or fewer while tossing at least

five innings. Rendering a combined ERA of 0.88, it matches a feat that hasn't been achieved by a Red Sox team in

almost 65 years, since the 1946 edition posted those results in an American League that didn't have the designated

hitter and featured about 7 percent less scoring than the AL of this season.

That squad went to the World Series, and was the last Red Sox team to win at least 100 games — and while it's still

premature to project a 10-11 team will ultimately meet those sky-high standards, this recent stretch at least restores

the reasoning behind the predictions of such grandeur that followed the team into this season.

As ballyhooed as were the acquisitions of Adrian Gonzalez, and Carl Crawford, and a reshaped bullpen, Boston's

success was always going to come down to its starting rotation. It was the one area where the Sox appeared to have a

clear advantage over the rival Yankees, but that was incumbent upon each piece pitching to his potential.

The talent was there, so were the track records, but what's particularly encouraging about this span is the way it

proves these guys can put everything together even with the introduction of new variables. When it was in the midst

of the worst start in team history, disgruntled fans were griping about the new pitching coach, Curt Young, and the

new catcher, Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

Suddenly, though, the critics' cries are silent. Young arrived with a stellar reputation and renowned for his

preparedness, and these results are evidence that perhaps he isn't a significant downgrade from John Farrell.

Saltalamacchia, meanwhile, took heat for his ability to handle the hurlers and call the game, however he's now been

behind the plate four times in this nine-game stretch of dominance.

So instead of searching for excuses, fans are finally celebrating the successes. Jon Lester, a notoriously slow starter,

is on pace for what would easily be his best April. Josh Beckett has a 1.93 ERA and is the AL's toughest man to hit.

Lackey has allowed one run or fewer in consecutive starts for the first time since before he came to Boston. And

Matsuzaka is baseball's sixth pitcher in the past 60 years to surrender one hit or fewer in back-to-back starts of

seven-plus innings.

The only one who hasn't sizzled is Buchholz, but the righty gets the ball tonight in Baltimore, where he'll be trying

to extend the staff's streak of excellence. Trying to pitch his club back to .500 much sooner than most were

expecting. And trying to keep history trending in the right direction for his Red Sox.

* The Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Red Sox have turned things around dramatically due to 'run prevention'

Bill Ballou

It seems to be turning out that Theo Epstein‘s approach to the 2010 Red Sox season is working much better in 2011.

The winter after Boston‘s 2009 playoff misadventure brought the term ―run prevention‖ to the fore as Epstein and

his front-office compatriots restructured a team that had gotten a bit bogged down in the two seasons after its 2007

World Series victory.

The new, improved Red Sox were not going to score as many runs as the old David Ortiz-Manny Ramírez group,

but pitching and defense would carry the day.

It didn‘t, though. It didn‘t work, not because the theory wasn‘t very good, but because the execution wasn‘t. The

2010 Sox didn‘t pitch very well and their defense was unexceptional. Some of it was due to injuries, but overall, the

―run prevention‖ concept did not work as advertised — or hoped.

Boston took yesterday off, resting up after a very successful two-city trip to the West Coast. The Red Sox finish this

nine-game road trip in Baltimore against the struggling Orioles, with a three-game series that begins tonight.

After a hideous start that had 2010 looking like the good ol‘ days, Boston has turned things around dramatically, and

that turnaround has come mostly due to run prevention.

The Sox are 8-1 in their last nine games and have won five in a row. Boston hasn‘t pounded its way to victory

during the hot spell. In the last nine games, it is hitting just .260 as a team — OK, but not overwhelming. The Red

Sox have, however, outscored the opposition during this stretch by 46-16, which is where the pitching and defense

come in.

The pitching numbers are obvious, made so by hits allowed, strikeouts and earned-run averages, among other things.

Defense is a different story, and not so definable via the box score. Manager Terry Francona‘s definition of good

defense is a pretty simple one.

―The ball winds up where it‘s supposed to,‖ is how he puts it.

So far in 2011, the Red Sox have been charged with only nine errors. More importantly, they‘ve surrendered only

two unearned runs. In 2010, the ―run prevention‖ season, after the same 21-game span to open the year, Boston had

committed 15 errors and given up nine unearned runs.

Boston shut out the Angels in the last two games out there, so heads into tonight‘s game with a chance to record

three straight shutouts for the first time in seven years, and just the second time in 21 years. The Sox last did it in

April 2004 against the Yankees and Rays, and also in August 1990 in Toronto. If omens mean anything, they won

the World Series in 2004 and the AL East title in 1990.

The starters in ‘04 were Curt Schilling, Pedro Martinez and — believe it or not — B.K. Kim. In 1990, they were

Dana Kiecker, Roger Clemens and Greg Harris.

Clay Buchholz will be the starter tonight as Boston goes for a third straight shutout, a sixth straight victory, and —

finally — a .500 record. Buchholz could also make it five straight wins for the rotation, something that would seem

not that unusual, but is.

The Sox‘s current five-game winning streak includes one by the bullpen — Bobby Jenks, to be specific. In each of

the four previous seasons, Boston has had five straight wins by the starters just once a year. Last year it was from

May 22-26, the year before from April 18-22, in 2008 from May 2-6, and, in the World Series season of 2007, from

July 20-24.

The Red Sox won every season series at Camden Yards from 1999 through 2009, then went 4-5 there last season,

which was a pretty good barometer of how things went in 2010. Which was not well, but pitching and defense —

run prevention is one way of putting it — have a way of changing things around.

* RedSox.com

Lowrie's resurgence helping propel Boston

Ian Browne

Jed Lowrie's hit parade started at Fenway Park, moved out to the West Coast for line-drive barrages in Oakland and

Anaheim, and makes its way to Camden Yards, where the Red Sox will open a three-game series on Tuesday night.

Lowrie's sizzling stretch of hitting has been one of the early-season surprises, but maybe it shouldn't be.

When you have a switch-hitter with patience -- particularly one who has a fluid swing capable of contact and power

-- why shouldn't the hits land on vacant patches of grass and in cheap seats?

Remember, the Red Sox thought highly enough of Lowrie to take him 45th overall in the 2005 First-Year Player

Draft.

Well, the biggest reason Lowrie's torrid start has caught people off guard is because he wasn't supposed to be

playing every day.

Shortstop was supposed to be Marco Scutaro's territory. However, Lowrie was Boston's shortstop for the entire

second half of 2008, and he looked primed to take that position from Julio Lugo for good in '09.

It's just that the left wrist woes that Lowrie played through in '08 halted his progression in '09. So did the

mononucleosis that sapped Lowrie's strength so badly last spring that he didn't play his first Major League game in

2010 until July 21.

"As an organization, I think we think a lot of this kid," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. "I think we'd be crazy

not to. But to just say he's going to be the shortstop coming into camp with all he's been through, I don't know if that

would have made a whole lot of sense. He had the wrist injury, the mono, and we had to remember what Scoot did

[last year]. I just think Jed felt all along this spring he had a lot to prove. I think he feels like he's good enough to

play. He's sure as [heck] doing it."

While Lowrie's health deteriorated and his place in the organization became less settled, his confidence never

wavered.

"I think I'm a fairly self-motivated person," Lowrie said. "External things don't affect me greatly. Obviously they

play a role in it, but that's not something that's going to motivate me more than I motivate myself. I know what I'm

capable of, so just going out and proving it to myself."

Lowrie continually said that he felt he was an everyday player and that was his mindset, even if he was being used

as an all-purpose backup all over the infield.

And when there was a chance for some at-bats early in the season, Lowrie banged out one hit after another. The

production was too dramatic for Francona to ignore. On April 16, Lowrie became an everyday player again, starting

an eight-day stretch in which Lowrie went 14-for-34.

Entering the three-game series against the Orioles, he is hitting .431 with four homers, 12 RBIs and a 1.141 OPS.

So the man who was rehabbing in the isolation of Fort Myers, Fla., last year at this time is now having quite a bit of

fun.

"Of course," said Lowrie. "That's what the game is all about. You have fun when you're winning and second, when

you're getting hits and having good at-bats."

After a 2-10 start, the Red Sox have reeled off eight wins in their last nine games to pull within a game of .500.

While the starting pitching has been the primary ingredient of the hot streak, Lowrie's offense has been an important

factor.

"Jed's always been able to hit," said Red Sox hitting coach Dave Magadan. "Now he's getting the opportunity, and

he feels strong and he feels like he's got the issues with his mono and all that stuff behind him. Now he's looking

forward. He just feels strong at the plate. It's amazing when mentally you're in a good frame of mind as far as feeling

good and being healthy. It's a good place to be. Now he can let his talent come through."

So if Lowrie seems to be settling in as Boston's shortstop of the present, Jose Iglesias has been anointed time and

again in public circles as the team's shortstop of the future.

But what about Lowrie? He is all of 27 years old.

"Whatever," Lowrie said when asked about the perception that Iglesias is Boston's shortstop of the future. "Who

cares? Talk all you want. That gives people something to talk about."

In other words, Lowrie will continue to let his bat do all his talking for him and let the chips fall where they may.

Does Lowrie even think about the future or is he too wrapped up in what he's doing right now?

"I think it's a balance," Lowrie said. "I'm not a guy who is focused on the moment so much that I forget about the

future. And I'm not focused on the future so much that I forget about today. It's got to be a balance of both. I have to

prepare myself for the future, but to get myself to where I want to be in the future, I have to prepare myself every

day. It's a balance."

Lowrie provided a hint that he could produce like this in 2010, when he finished the season hitting .287, with nine

homers, 24 RBIs and a .907 OPS in 55 games and 171 at-bats after coming back from mono.

But even then, he didn't look quite as locked in as he does these days.

"I think that's fair to say. I hit pretty well last year at the end of the year, but I feel good now," Lowrie said. "I think

when I've been healthy and when I've had the opportunity, I feel like I've gone out and done that."

Lowrie is front and center after his decline in health had made him a forgotten man.

In 2009, the weakness in Lowrie's left wrist had made him a shell of the hitter he once was. He played in just 32

games and had 68 at-bats that season, hitting .147 with two homers and 11 RBIs.

"I had hand and wrist injuries when I played, and to me, those were the hardest injuries to come back from as a

hitter," said Magadan. "There's nothing like being able to swing the bat ... when you're rehabbing and you're doing

hand strength and you're doing all the exercises and you get back from that, it's just not the same as swinging a

baseball bat. It takes time."

And this, by all accounts, seems to be Lowrie's time. Not that the burst of success has made him complacent.

"I think you have to continue to grow as a player, whether you're a future Hall of Famer or a rookie," Lowrie said.

"The game is always changing. It's always evolving. If you aren't getting better, you're getting worse, because

somebody else is out there putting in the work to get better."

* ESPN.com

Jason Varitek focused on team's needs

Gordon Edes

Besides mocking the high anxiety that gripped Boston Red Sox followers unhinged by the early returns, here's

something else the reshuffled Sox pitching rotation has accomplished. Under the original alignment, Josh Beckett

and Daisuke Matsuzaka followed each other in the rotation. Now Jon Lester is slotted between the two right-

handers.

What does that do? It gives Red Sox manager Terry Francona the option of using Jason Varitek to catch both

Beckett and Matsuzaka and have a day off in between, not a bad idea given that Varitek turned 39 earlier this month.

Francona said all spring that he doesn't want to assign pitchers a "personal" catcher, but he decided to keep Varitek

together with Beckett and was rewarded with a third straight terrific start. Now, after back-to-back starts in which

Matsuzaka has allowed just one hit in each and pitched a total of 15 scoreless innings, all with Varitek catching, it

would seem a given to keep that pairing for at least another turn.

Clay Buchholz pitches the opener of the three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles that begins Tuesday night

in Oriole Park in Camden Yards. Jarrod Saltalamacchia caught Buchholz's first three starts, with Varitek drawing

him last Wednesday in Oakland, which was a day game after a night game. Varitek then came back the next night in

Anaheim and caught Beckett, who allowed just two runs in eight innings and has a 1.17 ERA (3 ER in 23 IP) in his

past three starts.

Two nights later, Varitek caught Matsuzaka, who featured a phenomenal changeup in a dominating performance

over the Los Angeles Angels, perhaps even more impressive than his one-hit, seven-inning outing against the

Toronto Blue Jays on Patriots Day. Matsuzaka, in his previous start with Saltalamacchia behind the plate, lasted just

two innings while giving up seven runs, and was savagely booed in Fenway Park.

Varitek acknowledged that results might dictate a change in approach.

"We're a team,'' he said this past weekend. "We're going to go out and do whatever we need to do. If it means

catching Beckett, fine. If it means catching Dice sometimes, fine. We're a team. It may be catching [Buchholz]. It

may be catching [John] Lackey. We have to mix and match and do the things that help this team give ourselves the

best chance to win.''

Saltalamacchia has caught 13 of the team's first 21 games. Varitek has caught eight, which would put the backup on

pace to catch 61 games, or 38 percent of the time. That's more than your typical backup, but Francona had come into

spring training predicting that he'd be calling on Varitek more than the usual reserve catcher.

"I like to play,'' Varitek said, "so I can't argue with it.''

The one thing Varitek would like to avoid is creating a fuss over the issue.

"I just don't think we need to dramatize the situation,'' he said. "There are going to be situations where through a

long season we'll need to break things up. I'm not saying it might not always be that way, but don't make it more

dramatic than it is. We're a team.''

Saltalamacchia caught all the Sox starters except Matsuzaka during the first turn of the rotation, a span in which the

highly touted five combined to give up 21 runs over 20 innings, an earned run average of 9.45. That gave rise to

barbed commentary about Saltalamacchia's abilities to call a game, which were not quieted when Matsuzuka was lit

up for seven runs by the Tampa Bay Rays with Saltalamacchia behind the dish.

Never mind that the sample size wasn't big enough to fill a test tube, or that Saltalamacchia wasn't the one throwing

badly located pitches right over the plate. Already targeted as the team's biggest question mark entering the season,

the poor pitching performances only reinforced the suspicion that Saltalamacchia somehow was at fault.

But with Varitek relieving Saltalamacchia of catching Beckett and Matsuzaka, the 25-year-old receiver has been

rewarded with strong performances by Lackey and Lester, who have combined to allow just two earned runs in their

past 26 innings. That's an ERA of 0.69, which should quiet those quick to blame Saltalamacchia early on.

"We were real comfortable today,'' Saltalamacchia said about working with Lackey, who singled out his catcher for

praise after Sunday's eight shutout innings, saying it was the best they'd been together this season.

"It's been fun,'' the catcher said. "It just was taking its time getting there. I think everyone was just kind of wanting

to make the perfect pitch, and it seemed like every mistake we made was being hit.

"But these guys have a game plan, and I'm getting on the same page.''

That's not to say the Sox catching corps is free of issues. Saltalamacchia's scattershot throwing will continue to be

monitored until he demonstrates that he not only has plenty of arm strength -- he does -- but can consistently connect

with his target.

And both catchers are off to slow starts at the plate, dreadfully so for Varitek. Saltalamacchia is batting .186 with

just two extra-base hits, both doubles, and has struck out 15 times in his first 43 at-bats. Varitek is batting just .074,

with 10 whiffs in 27 at-bats, although he delivered his first extra-base hit, a double, and knocked in his first run in

Saturday's 5-0 win over the Angels.

With the team winning eight out of its past nine games, and the Sox starters seemingly outdoing each other in

virtuosity on a nightly basis, the team has the luxury of waiting for the bats to come around. Sox catchers are batting

a combined .143, lowest average in the American League, but Boston is one of five AL teams whose catchers are

hitting below .200 for the season.

Varitek has been in offensive decline for some time, though he showed some power from the right side last season,

hitting seven home runs overall in his first 112 at-bats, before fracturing his right foot on June 30. Saltalamacchia

has yet to hit in the big leagues the way that was expected of him when he was a top prospect with the Atlanta

Braves, but he has had injury issues.

* WEEI.com

Going places? Sox top pitching prospect Anthony Ranaudo is making his case

Alex Speier

A case can be made that Anthony Ranaudo was the most-hyped Red Sox draft pick of all time.

At a time when interest in the amateur selection process has grown to unprecedented levels, the big right-hander

entered 2010 ranked among the top handful of prospects in the game. Though he struggled as a junior while dealing

with health and mechanical setbacks, he used a dominant run in the Cape League to re-establish his credentials.

Each of his outings last summer became newsworthy as the Sox prepared to negotiate with Ranaudo and his

representative, Scott Boras. Whether he would sign or remain at LSU became a source of summer-long intrigue. In

the end, the Sox inked the No. 39 pick in last year‘s draft for $2.55 million, the seventh largest bonus in the draft.

Ranaudo did not pitch last year after signing, with the Sox instead electing to unveil the 6-foot-7 right-hander in

Greenville to start the 2011 campaign. Thus far, the early returns have been spectacular.

He took his first pro loss on Monday, but through little fault of his own on a night when he allowed no earned runs

(three unearned, the result of two errors and two passed balls in one inning) on two hits and one walk while striking

out eight in 4 2/3 innings. Through his first four starts for the Drive, he is 1-1 with a sparkling 0.46 ERA, 23

strikeouts, eight walks and just 10 hits allowed in 19 2/3 innings.

Greenville Drive Media Relations director Eric Jarinko took stock of some of the best starts seen by top pitching

prospects with the Single-A South Atlantic League affiliate. Through four starts, here were the breakdowns:

Clay Buchholz (2006): 2-0, 0.96 ERA, 18 2/3 IP, 22 SO, 4 BB

Casey Kelly (2009): 3-0, 0.90 ERA, 20 IP, 19 SO, 3 BB†¨

Anthony Ranaudo (2011): 1-1, 0.46 ERA, 19 2/3 IP, 23 SO, 8 BB

So what does that mean for Ranaudo‘s future, or more specifically, how soon he might move up the ladder?

After all, that Ranaudo was assigned to Low-A Greenville at all came as something of a surprise. Based on his

pedigree as a pitcher who claimed a victory in the College World Series championship game and who tore ruthlessly

through top amateur competition on the Cape, Hi-A seemed a likely destination for him.

But the Sox wanted Ranaudo to become comfortable with the five-day routine at a lower level, and so they assigned

him to Greenville. To date, Ranaudo has seemed like a man among boys at the level.

Given his tremendous start, it seems fair to wonder how long Ranaudo might stay at the lowest rung of the Red Sox‘

ladder of full-season affiliates. Certainly, the Sox more often err on the side of pushing players aggressively than in

keeping them at a level where the competition cannot challenge their skills.

―We‘ve pushed players aggressively in the past,‖ said farm director Mike Hazen last week. ―Anyone, if they show

that they can dominate a level for a period of time, and they accomplish what we feel like they needed to

accomplish, we‘ll move them.‖

Hazen declined to put a timetable on when that might be the case for Ranaudo. However, he did note that the issue

of a pitcher accomplishing all goals at a level was not limited simply to the in-game results at this stage of the

pitcher‘s career, suggesting that the Sox have different standards for promoting first-year pitchers as compared to

position players.

―If he continues to show us that he‘s not being challenged at the level, we‘re going to move him,‖ said Hazen. ―The

only difference with guys who are starting pitchers is there‘s so much to the five-day routine that, that part is going

to artificially determine some things. If he hasn‘t locked that in, we‘re not going to move him because that‘s a huge

part of what he‘s doing right now.

―He‘s learning the five-day routine, learning what keeps him healthy and successful. He‘s learning what he needs to

do on a side day to be healthy on day five,‖ added Hazen. ―All those things, he‘s not going to learn those things

overnight. It‘s going to take start after start after start to figure that out.

―Other than dominating to the point where it would be kind of stupid, we still need to make sure that he‘s locked in

on that five-day routine. There‘s a little bit of a difference with a pitcher vs. a position player.‖

Ranaudo‘s two dominant predecessors in Greenville suggest divergent possibilities.

Despite having started his pro career right after being drafted in 2005 as a pitcher for the Lowell Spinners, Buchholz

spent almost all of the 2006 season in Greenville, acclimating to life as a pitcher after having been both a pitcher and

position player in college. He made 21 starts in Greenville, going 9-4 with a 2.62 ERA while striking out 117 and

walking 29 in 103 innings before making his final three starts of the year in Hi-A Wilmington.

Kelly, on the other hand, was promoted to Hi-A Salem after nine starts in which he went 6-1 with a 1.12 ERA to

begin his pro pitching career. His performance and rapid promotion comes with something of a caveat, however, as

Kelly was slated to pitch only for the first half of 2009 before spending the second half as a shortstop.

That, in turn, hastened the Sox‘ decision to promote him. Had he not been in line for the half-season as a shortstop,

the Sox might well have waited longer before his promotion.

Of course, neither Buchholz nor Kelly had the kind of pitching pedigree that Ranaudo did upon turning pro. The

LSU product was the only one of the three to pitch for a major Division 1 program. Likewise, he was the only one of

the three to come to the Sox following an amateur career that was dedicated solely to work on the mound.

And so, his results to date in Greenville are not entirely unexpected. He did, after all, make it through nearly 30

innings on the Cape last summer without allowing an earned run.

Thus far, he‘s shown a promising three-pitch mix. The towering right-hander has been able to power his 93-94 mph

fastball (which has touched 95 mph) down in the strike zone for swings and misses. He has also been getting

numerous swings and misses on his curveball, more than the Sox had seen him produce as an amateur in 2010.

Ranaudo has also been working to develop a changeup as a viable third offering.

―We think it has a chance to be a major league average pitch,‖ said Hazen. ―When you first step out there, it‘s

probably the hardest thing to try to get into the mix because by and large, especially when you see these college

pitchers, they don‘t throw the changeup against metal bats because they get deposited in a lot of places. Encouraging

them to be comfortable throwing the changeup, and that throwing it off the barrel of the bat will get results, is

important.

―He‘s been mixing it in more and more with each successive start. Hopefully, as his pitch count climbs, he‘ll get

more comfort in continuing to use it.‖

Perhaps the Sox could use his time in Greenville to encourage Ranaudo to have faith in that pitch. Naturally, it

would be easier for Ranaudo to experiment with a new pitch at a level that he can dominate completely than at one

where he might find the playing field more even.

But, at a certain point, if the enormous right-hander continues to dominate, then as soon as it becomes clear that he

has acclimated to life on a five-day schedule as a professional, he will move. And when he does, then the interest in

the pitcher who is viewed by some as the organization‘s top pitching prospect will only amplify.

* NESN.com

Carl Crawford not alone among struggling left fielders in American League East

Tony Lee

OK, so it hasn't been a very good start to Carl Crawford's Red Sox career. We know it. He knows it. His kid's kids

might know about it one day.

What makes his season-opening slump so notable rests largely in his price tag. If most of the other left fielders in the

American League East were being paid over $20 million, they might be targets as well, for several of them are

struggling just as much, if not more.

For whatever reason, or just by coincidence, left field has emerged as a black hole in the division with most of the

group getting little production from that position. The exception is Tampa Bay, but the emergence of Sam Fuld

came in large part because of one of the stranger retirements we've seen in some time. Crawford may be the best

paid and the one with the highest profile, but he is not alone in his run of futility.

In last week's look at one item tying together each of Boston's divisional opponents, we analyzed the most

significant issue facing each squad. This week, here's a quick glance at those struggling left fielders, and what it

means to them and their respective teams.

BALTIMORE

Scott was the designated hitter for the O's in 2010 and had his best season. He hit .284 with 27 home runs and a .902

OPS in 131 games. But when Baltimore signed DH Vladimir Guerrero this offseason, Scott's role changed.

Thus far, it has been a rough go for the 32-year-old.

Scott had two hits in Sunday's loss to the New York Yankees. It was his first multi-hit game of the year and push his

average up to just .213. He has 13 strikeouts in 45 at-bats as a left fielder this season.

Felix Pie, the young and once-promising Cubs prospect who showed flashes of capability last year with the O's, has

not added much in his limited time in left. Together they have made Baltimore one of just four teams in the majors

without a stolen base from the position, and only Anaheim has fewer RBIs from left fielders than the Orioles' four.

NEW YORK

Brett Gardner emerged as a standout left fielder for the Yankees in 2010. In addition to hitting .277, stealing 47

bases and scoring 97 times, Gardner displayed a phenomenal glove.

He has continued to track them down in left (his catch in the bottom of the eighth inning Sunday may have saved the

game for New York), but Gardner has been a mess at the plate. After an 0-for-5, four-strikeout effort in the win over

Baltimore, he was hitting only .140 and had 19 strikeouts in just 16 games.

Gardner had stolen 86-of-104 bases prior to 2011. He is just 3-for-6 this year and is the primary reason the Yankees

rank tied for last in the majors (with another AL East team, Toronto) in hits produced by left fielders.

TAMPA BAY

There was no shortage of observers who tabbed Manny Ramirez as a prime candidate for Comeback Player of the

Year, and gave the Rays kudos for bringing in the aging slugger on a cheap deal.

When Ramirez abruptly retired in the face of a 100-game suspension, manager Joe Maddon had no choice but to

hand the keys to Sam Fuld, one of the chips in the Matt Garza trade this winter.

Fuld has become a phenomenon. Even after an 0-for-4 on Sunday, he was hitting .346. He flirted with a cycle in

Fenway Park earlier this month, had a 4-for-4 effort one week later, was 3-for-5 with three runs scored on Friday

and leads the league with 10 stolen bases.

Because of Fuld's performance, Tampa Bay entered Sunday with just two fewer RBIs and eight fewer hits from its

left fielders than the rest of the division combined.

TORONTO

A year after one of their quality young bats, Adam Lind, suffered a season-long slump against left-handers, the Blue

Jays are seeing another one go through the same thing early on.

Travis Snider is 1-for-16 with six strikeouts against lefties. The struggles have given Juan Rivera a few starts in left,

but he has been just as bad. Rivera ended Sunday batting .137 overall with zero extra-base hits in 15 games.

Of course, Snider hasn't been much better vs. right-handers. He is a .193 hitter with no home runs in those situations.

It all adds up to a meager line that has Toronto ranked last in all of baseball in terms of hits and runs out of its left

field position.

* The New York Times

Before Manny became Manny

Sara Rimer

Hero. Cheat. Prodigy. Ingrate. Free spirit. Knucklehead. Hall of Famer. Pariah. Enigma. Manny Ramirez, one of

the great right-handed hitters of his generation, who retired from baseball this month after once again testing

positive for performance-enhancing drugs, was many things to many people — fans and family and teammates from

Santo Domingo to Washington Heights to Cleveland to Boston. Sara Rimer, then a reporter for The New York

Times, met Ramirez in 1991 at George Washington High School in Manhattan. Over two decades, she enjoyed a

memorable and mystifying acquaintanceship with Ramirez.

When I heard that Manny Ramirez had retired, the first person I called was his high school coach, Steve Mandl. I

reached him at George Washington High School in Upper Manhattan, where he has coached varsity baseball for 27

years.

He was sad and stunned. I pictured him at the dented metal desk in his cramped office, where a 20-something

Manny Ramirez in his Cleveland Indians uniform looms from the autographed poster that hangs on the wall.

―Steve,‖ I said, ―that was real, wasn‘t it — the Manny in high school, that swing, his work ethic, all that pure

talent?‖

―Oh, yeah,‖ Mandl said, ―that was real.‖

And then the coach had to run.

I stumbled upon the George Washington Trojans of Washington Heights in the spring of 1991. The high school was

bursting with new immigrants, and the 25 varsity baseball players were all Dominican.

Mandl invited me to spend the season following the team. He told me he had a great hitter, an 18-year-old from

Santo Domingo who got the bat around faster than any other high school player he had seen.

I knew next to nothing about baseball, but even someone with the scantest technical knowledge of the game or the

mechanics of hitting could recognize that Ramirez was a star in the making.

I don‘t remember the first time I saw that quicksilver swing. What I remember is what it felt like to be there on that

rock-hard artificial surface atop the hill next to the high school, among his euphoric teammates and fans shouting his

name, merengue blasting from someone‘s boom box in the concrete bleachers behind the third-base line, the major

league scouts lined up behind home plate as Manny came up to bat in his baggy black-and-orange secondhand

uniform and red cleats and slammed one home run after another, day after day.

Up in the stands Manny‘s beautiful 16-year-old girlfriend, Kathy Guzman, would practically be swooning. A vendor

in a Yankees cap would push a grocery cart serving pastelitos and the sweet, blended orange juice and milk

concoction known as a morir soñando: to die dreaming.

Manny, batting .650, walloped 14 home runs in 22 games. Not one of those home runs was on television or saved on

videotape. Mandl could barely keep the team in baseballs and gloves let alone think about videotaping his future

major leaguer.

But maybe it‘s better that way. Those home runs, the memory of them, are part of the Manny that belongs to

Washington Heights. He was the shy, happy-go-lucky boy with the perfect swing who everyone knew was going to

the major leagues. The boy who loved to hit more than anything else. The boy who worked harder than anyone else.

The baby-faced boy who never drank anything stronger than the nonalcoholic Puerto Rican eggnog from the corner

bodega he chugged to bulk up.

That was the Manny who at least seemed knowable, before he disappeared behind the wall of all that surreal major

league fame and money. Who is the real Manny? The 18-year-old prospect with everything ahead of him, or the 38-

year-old major leaguer who walked away from baseball rather than face a 100-game suspension after testing positive

for performance-enhancing drugs for the second time in recent years? Who knows?

‗See the ball. Hit the ball.‘ Far.

But perhaps Manny was never more himself than when he was an adolescent, playing for George Washington and

Washington Heights. Maybe that was Manny at his most essential, when more than at any other time he could live

by what later became his maxim: ―See the ball. Hit the ball.‖

One of the home runs: George Washington was playing Brandeis High School at home. The Brandeis pitcher, Kiki

Valdez, was one of Manny‘s best friends. His first time at bat, Manny clobbered a home run.

The second time he came up, he tapped home plate with his bat, the way you would see him do it later in the majors.

He was ready, as perfectly balanced as a ballerina, as Mandl put it.

Then he called a timeout, taking his right hand off the bat. But the umpire did not give it to him.

Everyone who was there swears Manny did not have time to get his right hand back on the bat, that he swung with

one hand. I can‘t really say that I saw it. Maybe I was too busy taking notes.

The ball went over the left-field fence and all the way to the old handball courts on the street below. It had to be

more than 400 feet. His teammates and the fans were screaming: ―Oh my God! Oh my God!‖

Mandl, coaching third base, tried to maintain his cool. He may have muttered an astonished expletive under his

breath as he waved home Rafael Gonzalez, who had been on first, followed by Manny.

In those days Manny did not indulge in major league theatrics. He simply ducked his head and ran home, into the

arms of his teammates.

In the playoffs, the Trojans were facing their rival, Kennedy, on Kennedy‘s turf in the Bronx. Manny slammed a

shot that came so close to hitting the apartment building beyond the center-field fence that the people who had been

watching the game from the building‘s terrace ran for cover.

Gonzalez had been standing behind home plate when Manny came up to bat that day. Fifteen years later, I sat with

Rafael and his wife, Claribelkis, who had been his high school sweetheart, in their living room across from George

Washington on a wintry February afternoon while Rafael, home from his Army tour of duty in Iraq with a Purple

Heart, recalled the sound of Manny‘s aluminum bat connecting with that ball.

―I‘ll never forget that sound,‖ Rafael said. ―I‘d never seen anything hit, thrown or shot that far.‖

Manny hated being the center of attention. He just wanted to be one of the guys. That was one of the things people

loved about him. He‘d hit, say, two home runs and a triple for the Trojans. Then he‘d go back to his block, and the

men on the corner would ask how he had done.

Manny would just shrug and say, ―I went 0 for 3.‖

But you cannot have a swing like that, a swing that is going to take you to the majors and bring you a $160 million

contract with the Red Sox, a $7 million penthouse at the Ritz-Carlton condominiums in downtown Boston and two

World Series championships, and keep being one of the guys.

I don‘t think I ever got to sit down to talk with him for more than a few minutes at a time. It did not help that I did

not know a word of Spanish, while Manny, who had arrived in Washington Heights at 13, spoke little English. He

did invite me to his family‘s sixth-floor walk-up tenement apartment to meet his father, who drove a livery cab, and

his mother, who stitched blouses in a factory, and two of his three older sisters.

It eventually dawned on me that I did not need to talk to Manny. The way to know him was to watch him hit — and

run up a hill with a tire.

Working on His Speed

At the start of his senior season some of the scouts had put out the word that they thought he needed more speed on

the bases. So he started running up the steep hill beside the high school in the early morning with an automobile tire

roped around his waist. The cafeteria ladies on their way to George Washington, the factory workers heading to the

subway for the morning shift downtown, everyone cheered him on. It was as if he were pulling all of them up the

hill with him.

Those were hard years in Washington Heights, when it seemed like the only people getting out of the barrio were the

dealers selling crack cocaine to customers who poured in from the suburbs over the George Washington Bridge.

That season sports did what it was supposed to do. Manny gave people something to feel hopeful about. Everyone

could dream along with him.

So much could have gone wrong. One day that spring a gun battle erupted a couple blocks from the high school.

Gonzalez and another teammate, walking home after a game, had to jump under a parked car.

Sure, there were some signs Manny was flaky and naïve and easily led by others. But for all his in-the-moment free-

spiritedness, Manny must have already known something about protecting his talent.

Back then the high school, with 4,000 students overflowing a building designed for 2,000, was a place where even

the most committed students struggled to get an education. There may have been teachers who gave Manny a pass

when it came to grades. Maybe that was when he began to realize that for a gifted athlete like him, the rules did not

apply.

Unless hitting was involved, he could be maddeningly unreliable. He didn‘t show up for team pictures or meetings

or even the day Ken Burns dispatched a film crew to George Washington to film the Trojans for his baseball

documentary. He stood up the major league scouts, too. It wasn‘t like they were going to stop coming to see him.

Manny worshiped his mother, Onelcida. She and his sisters doted on him. His father, Aristides, however, seemed

convinced that his son was a bum who would never amount to anything.

Manny turned 19 at the end of that May. He did not graduate from high school. The Cleveland Indians drafted him

in the first round, signing him with a $250,000 bonus.

A Glowing Report

Wary about taking on a kid from Washington Heights, the Indians had dispatched Winston Llenas, a Dominican

former major leaguer, to visit Manny at home and size up his character. Llenas came back with a glowing report:

Manny was a nice kid from a hard-working, immigrant family.

A few weeks into June, Joe DeLucca, the Indians scout who had signed Manny, picked him up at his apartment in

his blue Cadillac Seville. Manny was off to Burlington, N.C., to start his professional career in the rookie leagues.

DeLucca had one rule for Manny: Don‘t let anyone talk to you about changing your swing.

Two years later, in September 1993, the Indians called up Manny to the majors, and within days he was back in New

York, at Yankee Stadium.

By then I had moved to Boston as The Times‘s bureau chief. I flew to New York to write about Manny‘s hometown

debut. The afternoon of the game Manny showed up at his favorite neighborhood restaurant, Las Tres Marias, and

ate fried steak and plantains with several of his high school teammates.

A block away, his father stood on the sidewalk outside their apartment building, bragging to everyone who walked

by. Manny‘s mother and three sisters went to Ana‘s beauty salon to get their hair done.

Carrying homemade banners, a parade of his friends, and past and present Trojans, walked across the Harlem River

Bridge to Yankee Stadium that night.

Manny hit two home runs and a double that night. Then he went home and partied with his block into the early

morning.

Not long afterward, Manny presented Mandl with the oversize, autographed poster that still hangs on his office wall.

Season after season, the varsity baseball players would stare at the poster and ask Mandl the same questions:

Is it true Manny ran up the hill with the tire?

How did he learn to get the bat around that fast?

How does he wait for his pitch the way he does?

How can he go 0 for 3 and not care?

Why doesn‘t he cut his hair?

Coming Back

The Trojans would fantasize about Manny coming back and helping them with their hitting. They would ask Mandl:

Why doesn‘t he come back?

Mandl would shake his head. It was complicated and painful to talk about. He did not understand that part, either.

In 1991, it was all about getting out of the barrio. That was the dream: getting as far away from Washington Heights

as possible, or at least over the George Washington Bridge to New Jersey.

In the beginning, when he was still with the Indians, Manny did come back during the off-season. He took his

former high school teammates shopping for the designer clothes he had taken to wearing. He would walk into the

George Washington cafeteria and the lunch ladies would ply him with pizza. Manny being Manny, he never called

ahead.

As he failed to do so again one winter afternoon when Mandl was in the gym after school talking to the team about

— what else — hitting. Manny strolled into the old gym as casually as if he were just another Trojan.

Mandl tried not to make a deal out of it. ―Oh, speaking of hitting, ‗Hi, Manny,‘ ‖ he said.

The Trojans, huddled on the floor around Mandl, could not believe it.

―Manny, want to say a few words about hitting?‖ Mandl said.

The young Trojans were as focused on Manny as they had ever been on any fastball flying toward them at the plate.

And then the great hitter spoke: ―See the ball. Hit the ball.‖

Mandl had always assumed Manny would help out his old team, though he made a point of not asking him for

anything. The players desperately needed new uniforms, at a cost of about $7,000. One of Mandl‘s former assistant

coaches put in the request to Manny. Manny said, ―Sure.‖

But then he stuck Mandl with the bill. That was around the time he stopped talking to his former high school coach.

It seemed to stem from a misunderstanding that started when sportswriters asked Mandl why his former star

committed so many wacky errors in the field. Mandl gave what he thought was an honest explanation: Maybe

Manny had attention deficit disorder.

Mandl did not mean it as an insult. He would never hurt Manny. He was sure a lot of major league ballplayers had

A.D.D. Mandl even wondered if A.D.D. had been his problem as a kid; maybe that was why he could never focus on

school or anything except baseball.

The comment was tabloid news, and somehow it got translated back to Manny that his high school coach was telling

everyone he was stupid. Manny was sensitive about his intelligence and easily hurt. Mandl became a nonperson.

Mandl wished he could talk to Manny, explain things to him. But you did not call Manny, Manny called you.

A couple of weeks ago a friend gave me a gift: a pair of tickets to Fenway Park. The Red Sox were playing the

Tampa Bay Rays, Manny‘s latest team. They were the best seats of my life, right along the third-base line. My

friend thought I would enjoy being that close to my favorite player.

You could smell the grass. You could see Johnny Damon‘s dimples when he came up to take his practice swings for

the Rays.

But Damon‘s former Red Sox teammate was absent. Manny had retired from baseball that Friday. The game

unfolded without Manny‘s dreadlocks and goofy smile, the anticipation of what he might do with his bat.

October 2003

I thought back to one of the last times I had talked to him. It was October 2003. The Red Sox were playing in the

American League Championship Series against the Yankees.

I had gone up to Washington Heights to check in on Manny‘s former high school teammates. I found eight of them

watching the first game of the series in the basement of a bodega near Manny‘s old apartment. They sat on milk

crates, glued to a 19-inch color television wedged on a shelf between cans of evaporated coconut milk and beans and

bags of rice.

Manny got his first hit, an infield single. In the basement of the bodega, the former Trojans, now in their early 30s,

burst into cheers.

Carlos Puello, who was on a break from his job as a hospital boiler room operator, said, ―It‘s the same swing.‖

When my article about Manny‘s high school teammates ran in The Times a couple of days later, I happened to be in

Vermont.

My cellphone rang.

―Hi,‖ said a familiar-sounding voice on the other end. ―This is Manny Ramirez. Do you remember me? You wrote

about me when I was a little kid.‖

His Dominican former Little League coach from Washington Heights, Carlos Ferreira, known by the nickname

Macaco, had given Manny my number.

―Are you going to the game tonight?‖ Manny asked me.

I laughed. ―Well,‖ I said, ―I‘d love to go, but who can get tickets?‖

Manny said: ―I‘ll leave you tickets for tonight‘s game with Macaco.‖

So I flew to New York, and took a cab to Yankee Stadium. The whole time I was thinking it was a setup, some kind

of Manny-being-Manny joke.

I stood in front of a Yankee Stadium gate and called Macaco on his cellphone.

Macaco was waiting for my call. I sat with him and Carlos Puello in the stands behind the third-base line. Manny

didn‘t get a hit, but it didn‘t matter.

I know it was real; I still have the ticket stub. But it was something like a dream, which is what Manny is now for all

of us who followed him, who were thrilled and saddened and confused by him.

And who miss him, and will.