HAPPY DAYS
SOX HAM IT UP AS SEASON MOMENTUM BUILDS
READ BILL SPEROS
Global warming smothered Greater Boston this week.
Or perhaps it’s just a side effect of baseball’s Hot Stove finally being ignited.
Temperatures in the Hub flirted with 70 degrees under clear blue, sunny skies. In February.
The winter of our malcontent is on spring break.
The Red Sox snuck up on everyone and became relevant again with one stroke of the pen by J.D. Martinez. Dave Dombrowski found his inner Danny Ainge.
Oil your glove. Download those tickets for JBJ Bobblehead Day (June 6). And start dreaming about an ice cold Sam Adams as you contort yourself behind a pole in Section 10.
The Patriots and their fans have entered the fifth stage of grief: “Belichick Screwed Up.” The Olympics have been wonderful — for North Korea and Norway. And it’s simply too early to get emotionally attached to any NBA or NHL season.
Thanks to a move the Red Sox made on Presidents Day, there’s hope baseball may still be relevant in Boston come Memorial Day, July Fourth and Labor Day.
Or even Columbus Day. If we’re still allowed to say Columbus Day.
Depending on where you choose to get your baseball insider news and statistical interpretation, Martinez will either be a Baby Big Papi or the second coming of Adrian Gonzalez.
I’m leaning toward a mix between Hanley and Manny Ramirez in terms of numbers — not temperament.
The Red Sox offer a solid 2018 lineup and the best starting pitching in the AL East to counter the Bronx Nuclear Bombers. The team that won the division and 93 games in 2017 has returned virtually intact. Inject some needed power into the middle of that lineup and a return to the playoffs is almost certain.
It’s not just a free-agent signing. There is a different vibe coming out of Fort Myers this time. The team showed that looseness yesterday kidding around for picture day.
There has been much talk about the absence of leadership — a glaring issue in 2017. The new manager — Alex Cora — is being billed as a magical cure-all for the lack of emotional stability in the clubhouse. And the David Price/Dennis Eckersley flap that defined last season has been addressed and dispatched.
Price says he plans to be more withdrawn this year. No one will care about what he says if he’s able to compile 200-plus innings, win 20 games and keep his ERA below 3.50. Price recruited his pal Martinez to Boston. An encouraging development for even the most cynical among us — even if Price did it in the most passiveaggressive way possible.
“I told J.D. he will love the guys here in this clubhouse, but also told him he’ll get booed,” Price told USA Today. “He’s a quiet, softspoken guy, but he’ll handle it. Besides, everyone gets booed. I heard Big Papi get booed many times in Fenway.”
Big Papi got booed at Fenway?
Not since 2010. There is a push from the front office and State Run Media to make this team likable.
But not everyone is on board. John Henry, He Who Owns The Other Newspaper along with the Red Sox, shocked Red Sox Nation with this Belichickian bombshell:
“We really don’t need to be popular,” Henry said. “We need to win.”
Well said.
It’s almost enough to make you forget about the Super Bowl.