Trying To Decipher The '07 Sox

Winston Churchill once said of the former Soviet Union, "Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma." The same could be said of your 2007 Red Sox. The team that presents itself to us in Fort Myers is filled with promise and peril. You get the sense that they could just as easily run away with the AL East as finish (again) behind the Blue Jays.

The starting rotation will, as always, be the key—remember, we took off on our '04 magic carpet ride aboard amazing starts in August of that year. Schilling, Beckett, D-Mat, Papelbon and Wakefield are the best we've had in a while—but all come with caveats the size of the restrictor plate on John Henry's new ride. Will Schill and Wake perform like 30-year olds rather than 40-year olds? Will Pap adapt to starting? Will D-Mat dominate the Empire like he did the Nippon Ham Fighters? Will Beckett pitch like the '03 Beckett? If the answers are even 60%-40% "yes", we should win in a walk. If we're talking 40%-60%, we may be looking over our shoulders at the O's in September.

Another issue is the middle of the infield. Do we really expect Lugo and Pedroia to match the smooth precision of A-Gon and Loretta? Not bloody likely. Remember that feeling last year— that anything hit on the ground was an out? Can it.

And, of course, the closer-less bullpen. Sure, a better rotation should allow us to avoid the need for Papelbon-esque numbers. But, do you really feel comfortable with the Blown Save By Committee strategy? Maybe Theo will correct this by Opening Day by trading Wily Mo for Cordero. But if not, something tells me we will regret this lack of security at the end of the 'pen.

So, go boldly into the Spring, Nation. But, face it, we have no clue how it will all end.

The NOG Should Do The Right "Seating" Thing

Many of us who have reserved our full support for the New Ownership Group (NOG) have done so for one simple reason: that the fans of this franchise deserve a 21st Century ballpark—not a botox-laden centenarian, groaning under 10 decades of use. We need a truly new Fenway—with all the idiosyncrasies but none of the idiotic lack of legroom.

Recently, the NOG has intimated—through the estimable Janet Marie Smith—that an upcoming goal is, according to the Worcester Telegram, "the replacement of the cramped grandstand seats with wider chairs." If this is true, it argues for a larger mission—replacing all cramped seating (bleacher, grandstand, "loge" box) with ergonomically reasonable seats that match 21st century bodies. Is this really such a stretch? So, they may lose a couple of thousand seats. I think I speak for most fans in stating that we'd all be willing to pay a little more to make up the difference. Hell, we pay the highest prices in baseball as it is anyway!

If the NOG took this step, I predict that virtually all the griping would cease and the calls for a new park would end. Then, they would truly take their rightful spot in team history as the greatest owners ever. I'd even be willing to refer to them as the COG—the Current Ownership Group.