Nothing Little About the Red Sox in 2002

If there was ever an illustration that could best define the term "dysfunctional," the Boston Red Sox of 2001 would be it.

The Red Sox went into last season with so much promise, but ended the season in complete turmoil, which they have had plenty of throughout their history.

Without mentioning anything about "The Curse," Bucky Dent or even Bill Buckner, no one could have foreseen the disasters that Boston and their long-suffering fans faced last year.

After coming up short of reaching the postseason in 2000, Boston was able to lure away one of the game's top hitters in Manny Ramirez, who signed with the Red Sox so that he could beat the hated New York Yankees.

He joined two superstars who BoSox fans know simply as Nomar and Pedro, manager Jimy Williams, problem child Carl Everett, and GM Dan Duquette, who was known for such brilliant moves as booting Roger Clemens and Mo Vaughn out of Beantown.

In short, what had the potential to become a dream season went the way of Freddy Kruger in a heartbeat.

Nomar Garciaparra is a tenacious worker who refused to shut it down during the 2000 season, despite nagging injuries. Instead, he had offseason wrist surgery and was unable to return until around the All-Star Break, and eventually had to stop playing in September.

As a result, Boston had no one to help Ramirez in the lineup. All that was left to protect him was Dante Bichette, who never did anything outside of Denver, and Everett, who was more interested in battles with his manager and the media than battling fastballs.

The worst was yet to come however, when their top pitcher, Pedro Martinez, had to have shoulder surgery after throwing in only 17 games.

All of this began to burden Williams, who wasn't exactly popular with the players.

The final straw for Williams came when after an argument between himself and Everett. When Duquette, whose style was already worn thin with the media, sided with Everett, Williams could see the writing on the wall.

He was dismissed and pitching coach Joe Kerrigan took over, all while Boston was in the middle of a pennant race. Kerrigan quickly led the BoSox down the tubes.

The season ended, once again, short of the postseason, with Ramirez wanting to dig a hole back to Cleveland, and Garciaparra and Martinez wanting to just dig themselves out of Boston if things didn't get better.

During the winter, however, things may have finally turned for the better.

It began with the acquisition of Oakland centerfielder Johnny Damon, who was coveted by a lot of teams. Damon gives them the speed at the top of the lineup they so desperately needed.

They were able to keep closer Ugueth Urbina and jettison Everett to Texas.

Add to that a healthy Garciaparra and Martinez, who actually looks more buffed up now, and Boston has the makings of something special on the field.

However, it was in the front office where the biggest turnover occurred.

On Feb. 27, they were sold to John Henry and the Yawkey Group, who plan to build a new stadium (which should be considered the eighth deadly sin) and give the franchise some stability and hope.

The first step was getting rid of the garbage that infested this team for years, and that began with the firing of Duquette the day after buying the team.

Then they dumped Kerrigan during spring training and made third base coach Mike Cubbage the interim manager.

Cubbage wasn't even around long enough to make his own name tag when he was informed that former Cleveland bench coach Grady Little would be manager.

This was quite a surprise considering that the popular choice was former Montreal skipper Felipe Alou, who was a favorite of Garciaparra's, which is always a good thing.

With Little's background, however, there is reason to believe this new regime in Beantown will finally produce winning results.

Little was a coach with the Red Sox from 1997 to 1999, all playoff seasons.

This will be his first stint as a big league manager, but his mannerisms and experience with winning teams is cause for celebration, as evidenced by his warm reception when he was hired on Monday. He knows, however, that the novelty will wear out soon and results will be expected.

"That was touching," Little said at the press conference, "but we'll see what kind of reception I get when I leave in October."

So after all the turmoil, the media attacks, and dysfunctional happenings, the Boston Red Sox of 2002 may be the picture of success.

With a healthy Martinez, and Damon setting the table for Ramirez and Garciaparra, no Everett to battle the umpires, and with Little heading up a harmonious dugout, the Red Sox faithful may be able to have the biggest party in Boston since the one involving tea bags and Boston Harbor.