LM: I think there's a very small chance that Carlos Beltran will go back to Houston, but if he doesn't he'll be a Yankee. I think J.D. Drew would be wise to wait to sign until after Beltran's off the market, because if the Yankees miss out on Carlos they'll come knocking on J.D.'s door. I think there's very little chance that the Yankees are going to play Bernie Williams in center ever again, and Scott Boras' statement that Bernie would be willing to move to first base makes me even more secure in that belief. I think my furniture will be just fine.

Now comes word that apparently Pedro Martinez is about to sign with the Mets. While that's not a done deal, either, it does signify a serious blow to the Red Sox. Obviously, they'll pursue Matt Clement now, but he's not Pedro. Suddenly, the Red Sox rotation doesn't look that much better than the Yankees', and if New York adds Carlos Beltran and the Red Sox lose Jason Varitek, too (though I consider the latter to be unlikely), the Yankees could have a clearly better lineup than Boston as well. At the very least, it looks as though the Yankees are going to be as good as or better than the Red Sox next year, though it will almost certainly be a close race once more.

Dick Williams didn’t mess around. "This club has become a cruise ship overrun with captains and players thinking they are captain. The cruise is over and you don’t need a captain anymore,” he told the players. “You have a new boss now—Me. Eliminating the club captaincy is my way of letting you know that things will be done one way…My way." This was how spring training before the 1967 season began.

Dick Williams stripped Sox captain Carl Yastrzemski of his title and assumed total command. And the Red Sox became a different team.

Although most would later view the rebirth of the Red Sox in 1967 as some kind of miracle, the renaissance of the franchise was more the product of a peculiar set of circumstances that landed the team in the hands of the right man at the right time. The end result was perhaps the most exciting Red Sox season in history, one that started slowly then built before finally exploding like a roman candle that bathed Sox fans in a lasting glow.