Dozens of news-starved, microphone-wielding media folk devoured every word, and NESN aired an amazing three hours of guys playing catch and spitting sunflower seeds.
It was all about the baseball, and it made me miss the bad old days of players arriving late, out of shape, and disgruntled. It made me long for the days when the Rocket would go AWOL and Pedro would snub the franchise to stay in the Dominican for dad’s birthday.
I told Theo I blame him for weeding out the egos and assembling this obedient cast of professionals.
“This is nice,’’ said the GM of tranquility base. “In those old days we had guys talking [expletive]. But I think if we’ve found a way to win our 95 and play well in October, I think fans will be excited about our team.’’
OK, fine. So how was your winter?
“I was busy being smug,’’ he said. “You always call me smug. It’s overrated. You should see me after hours.’’
Theo no doubt is a wild and crazy Theo when we’re not around, but he has built a ball club in the image of his flat-line public persona. And the winter of 2009-10 will be remembered as the one in which the Sox went for leather over wood. It was the winter of pitching and defense. Bats need not apply.
“I’m a lot happier now than I was at the end of October when we looked at the board and looked at our five-year plan,’’ said Epstein.
He lit a brush fire at the winter meetings when he spoke of a “bridge’’ year. Some of us interpreted this as giving up on 2010, waiting for young players to develop. He felt he was misinterpreted.
“A little bit, but I don’t blame anyone for it,’’ he said. “That’s a phrase that I’ve used internally. Never did I mean that we’re not going to be competitive this year or next year.
