ARLINGTON, Texas - No matter what they say, no matter how much the Red Sox try to soften the edges, the message at Ameriquest Field was as blunt as a 95-mph fastball. Keith Foulke is out. Jonathan Papelbon is in. Terry Francona is playing for keeps.
In just the Red Sox’ third game of the 2006 season, in their very first save opportunity, Francona bypassed the shaky Foulke and called on the blossoming Papelbon to close out a 2-1 victory over the Texas Rangers last night. Papelbon threw 11 pitches, eight of them strikes. Ten pitches were fastballs and eight of those were clocked at precisely 95 mph, bringing the kind of emphatic closure to a Red Sox victory that has been absent for a long, long time.
“He was electric,” Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek said of Papelbon, who recorded his first career save. “That ball had some serious giddyup on it. He gave us a 1-2-3 inning and we were able to shut the door.”
The rest of it? Politics, rhetoric and propriety. Francona did and said all the right things before and after the game, refusing to state that any permanent decisions have been made. He spoke with Foulke and informed him of the decision. He said Foulke is “going to pitch and he’s going to be brilliant,” but the manager never said when.
Foulke, to his credit, took the news like a professional, referring to Francona as “a quality manager” and “a good man.”
Actions speaker louder than words, of course, so for now here is what we know for sure: If Foulke is going to close again for the Red Sox, he is going to have to win his job back. Papelbon was a better pitcher last fall and he is a better pitcher now. And the manager of the Red Sox isn’t about to start blowing games in April so that he can rebuild the confidence of a man coming off the worst year of his career.
Good for Francona.
He has a team to run and games to win and a clubhouse to control.
“I don’t care what it looks like,” Francona said when it was suggested that Papelbon is officially his closer. “I just told you the truth and how I feel. We won and that’s what we set out to do. It’s a long year. I don’t think Foulke is the guy we need yet and I think he’s going to get there. That’s part of our responsibility. I can live with myself. Sometimes, you have to do what you think is right.”
Seriously, is there even any doubt here? The Red Sox made an array of changes over the winter, turning over their roster and changing their philosophy. Most of the adjustments were predicated on finding support for Foulke and Curt Schilling, each of whom paid dearly for the 2004 season. The Sox needed to get younger and healthier, and they needed to do it quickly.
So in came Josh Beckett and a cast of veteran set-up man, the latter of which has freed up Papelbon to close. And last night against the Rangers, the Sox began the game with one 25-year-old and ended it with another, each firing one fastball after the next at a Texas lineup that scored 469 runs in 81 home games last season and belted a preposterous 153 home runs.
Foulke? There is a chance he could sulk, that he and his base salary of $7.25 million will go to waste. The early indications suggest otherwise. Foulke said he is content to pitch in whatever role he is asked, in the ninth inning or the seventh, and the latter may soon become his home. But as long as the Red Sox have a $135 million payroll and the highest ticket prices in baseball, their obligation is to win as many games as possible, to make any decision that gives them their best chance to win a game.
For now, that means that young Jonathan Papelbon gets the ball in the ninth.
And no matter what anyone on the Red Sox says publicly, from the front office to the clubhouse, everybody knows it.
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That said it's VERY early in the season and the O's aren't exactly contenders.
