“This time it counts.”
Well, when it comes to spring training for the Red Sox this season, this time it counts.
Of course, the standings — the wins, the losses, the occasional tie — don’t mean a thing (insert Mayor’s Cup joke here). Everything else, however, will mean a ton to a Boston team that so desperately wants to move on from last season.
Has there ever been a more important Red Sox spring training? It’s tough to argue there has been.
Everyone knows how the 2011 season ended. The Red Sox went 7-20 in September. Jonathan Papelbon blew a lead in Baltimore that would have at least guaranteed a one-game playoff. Minutes later, the Rays were in the playoffs. Then there was chicken and beer. And finally, an overhaul in the front office and the clubhouse.
Spring training offers a chance to answer the questions that will undoubtedly be asked and start to (eventually) put everything behind them. More importantly, it offers the Red Sox the much-needed chance to learn from their mistakes and prepare to be ready to start the 2012 season.
That may be the biggest point of emphasis the Sox can take from last season. Sure, they learned that you need to finish a season strongly, but it’s hard not to realize that the games in April mean just as much as the games in September. If the Red Sox had gone 3-9 to open the 2011 season, they would have been in a one-game playoff with Tampa Bay. If they had gone 4-8, they would have made the playoffs. They didn’t, though. They went 2-10, and you’re kidding yourself if you don’t think that stretch of miserable baseball played less of a factor in the Red Sox’ demise as a 7-20 September did.
So how do you avoid the same fate this season? A stronger emphasis on spring training may be a good place to start.
For a veteran-laden club like the Red Sox, that may not be something you want to have to deal with, but when you bookend a season with months in which you combine to go 18-35, you should probably think about getting things off to a more efficient start the next year.
Enter Bobby Valentine.
For many, Valentine’s penchant for discipline is exactly what the Sox needed, given the way things fell apart down the stretch. That may be so to an extent, but it’s arguably more important for Valentine to instill a new way of doing things at Fort Myers. He’s already said he’s going to do as much.
The veteran skipper has made it clear he’s going to oversee a tightly run camp. Sessions are expected to go longer than they did under previous manager Terry Francona. Valentine indicated that players will be expected to be on the bus when traveling for games. It’s going to be a different camp this year, which is almost certainly a good thing.
And for what it’s worth, Valentine is impressed at least with how many players have reported early and their subsequent work in the early going.
“You know, I think it shows the right idea,” Valentine said on Red Sox Live From Fort Myers on Sunday. “Right now, we’re looking for guys who are in good shape and guys who have the right attitude. Especially at the top, we have Josh Beckett and Jon Lester here early working out. They already have four bullpens. That’s the right attitude filtering down to the other guys.”
Leadership from the veteran members of the club, like Beckett and Lester, will only help. Not only are the Red Sox dealing with getting acclimated to a new manager, there are new faces in the coaching staff as well as up and down the roster. Pitching coach Bob McClure will be one of the busiest men in Fort Myers trying to learn his new staff. Likely backup catcher Kelly Shoppach will have to work closely with Jarrod Saltalamacchia, especially given the likely absence of Jason Varitek.
Of course, most of that starts with leadership from the top — Valentine, Beckett, Lester and the veteran position players once they report — but in addition to leadership, an attention to detail is important as it’s ever been.
It will likely seem mundane and drawn-out at times. That’s just the way it goes. Had the Red Sox not stumbled so mightily out of the gate last season, it might not be that way.
Players and fans alike are more than ready to move on from the dreaded discussion points of 2011 and look ahead to what could be in 2012. They’d rather focus on what a team that had enough talent to go 72-37 from May through August may be able to do this year, not what they couldn’t do last year.
The talent to do big things is there. But if the Sox are going to want to avoid the disappointment and the ensuing embarrassment that came with last season’s collapse, they’re going to need to make people forget about that with what they do on the field. A fast start to the season will go a long way in helping to do so.
The Red Sox officially began workouts on Tuesday. It’s now up to them to make the next month of workouts and “meaningless games” count.
