FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Red Sox manager Terry Francona thinks of it as "Animal House." Sox clubhouse chief Tommy McLaughlin calls it "Phi Sign-a Playa."
It is the sprawling, eight-bedroom Cape Coral house where Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein and his minions have been living while they hatch a plan to win the 2004 World Series. It's where Moneyball meets Delta House, and it'll be empty in the next few days when the Sox break camp and fly north to start this season of great expectation.
By any definition, it's "The Real World Fort Myers." No one in baseball can remember anything like it -- a 30-year-old bachelor/general manager sharing spring training living space with six assistants, the best and the brightest of Gammons Youth. All of them went to college. Most of them are in their late 20s. Only two are married.
"It's actually pretty boring," says Epstein, the rush chairman of Phi Sign-a Playa. "We barely see each other. We go to work, come home, and go to sleep. The neighbors told us that we're the most boring tenants ever."
Nice try, Theo, but that's not the way your manager tells it. Theo's Men may worship at the altar of OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging), but in between statistical assessments there has been time for pool, poker, and beer.
"It's actually pretty awesome," says Francona, a fossil of 44. "It's pretty cool. They're just a bunch of good guys. They've got a lot of energy, they've got a lot to offer. Everything's going at once. They're yelling at each other. Fighting. It's fun to be around. I enjoyed it."
Francona is much too old for membership in the Stat Pack Frat, but he has made several visits during the six weeks of spring training, sometimes coming with coaches Dale Sveum and Brad Mills. Francona even brought his 18-year-old son, Nick, a lefthanded pitcher who plans to play at the University of Pennsylvania next year.
"I put the blinders on him," says the manager. "The house is huge. There's two parts of it and it's well-stocked with potato chips and beer. There's a pool table in the middle. When you lose at cards, you go play pool and wait your turn, except I didn't lose. I'm not as young as them, though. When cards is over, I'm tired."
