MLB teams
Gordon Edes, ESPN Staff Writer 10y

Red Sox look for brighter days

Boston Red Sox

BOSTON -- Tom McLaughlin, the longtime Boston Red Sox equipment manager, was the one who grabbed a red marker and left a message on the whiteboard hanging on the back of the clubhouse door Sunday afternoon.

February 2015

-- Pitchers, catchers report

-- Position players report

-- 7:30 a.m. Early work Field #6 w/Butterfield

Instead of champagne-soaked carpets and plastic-covered cubicles, the markings of a champion's playpen, there was only an obstacle course of equipment bags and packing boxes, the screech of masking tape replacing the sound of popped corks. Handshakes and quiet hugs were the order of the day. No one roamed the clubhouse in an Army helmet or goggles. No beards were being tugged. Mike Napoli, the last holdout, just shaved his off.

Outside, there was no giddy Ryan Dempster on the mound at 2 in the morning, throwing batting practice to his friends. No Jon Lester, child in his arms, wife and parents by his side, posing for pictures while a joyous mass of humanity pressed against the box-seats railings, cheering and crying and laughing. No David Ortiz, hoisting a shiny trophy aloft. Boston Strong, the baseball version, felt like a distant memory.

Instead, as a glorious afternoon turned to a balmy night stolen from summer, Red Sox front office staff and their families wandered in the outfield, quietly enjoying a company picnic. The stands were empty.

For the third time in four years, the exception being the first World Series celebration at Fenway Park in 95 years last October, it was time to hang a "Closed for the Season" sign in the Fens before it's customary around here to do so.

"Today was the final game," manager John Farrell said after the Sox had lost a 9-5 finale to the New York Yankees. "We knew that for a while. That's not something that sits well because of what our expectations are every year, so it's disappointing that the game of baseball has been put to bed here for the time being."

Worst to first to worst is a thrill ride no one volunteers to take. No one ever had taken it before this season. How did that happen?

"We'll have more time to delve into that tomorrow," said Farrell, who along with general manager Ben Cherington will offer their postmortems at high noon Monday.

"We know where our shortcomings have been this year," Farrell said. "We have, I think, a clear to-do list. How we get to that point remains to be seen, but with all the people involved, we're confident that we'll achieve that. There are a number of good things in place right now, in terms of guys on this roster."

That the Yankees were going home early, too, marking the first time both teams had missed the postseason since 1993, offered little comfort to a fan base that ceded big chunks of Fenway's grandstand Sunday to the thousands of fans who made the pilgrimage -- limos from Connecticut, jeeps from Jersey, convoys from Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island too -- to pay their final respects to Derek Jeter.

Jeter's sendoff was splendid. It included cameo appearances from Yaz and El Tiante, Bobby Orr and Paul Pierce, Troy Brown and Pete Frates, before the Sox players du jour emptied from the dugout to form a conga line of congratulations, with Dustin Pedroia, who brought up the rear, presenting the Yankee captain with a second-base bag adorned in pinstripes and the No. 2.

But not even the magic of Dr. Charles Steinberg and Sarah McKenna could hide the fact that the Sox were dropping the curtain on a season as dismal as that presided over by Bobby Valentine in 2012.

At 71-91, the Sox finished only two games better than the Class of '12. They went 34-47 at Fenway, only the third time since 1933 they'd won so few games at home. They averaged just 3.91 runs per game, finishing 12th in the league after finishing first or second in runs in nine of the previous 11 seasons. Only twice previously since World War II have they averaged fewer runs, 1992 and 1968.

They ranked last in the league in slugging percentage for the first time since 1932. David Ortiz hit 35 home runs. No one else in a Sox uniform hit more than 17, as only five of Yoenis Cespedes' 22 home runs came after he was traded to Boston.

As for the pitching? Lester, John Lackey, Jake Peavy and Andrew Miller all are pitching for playoff teams, none of which have a 4 Yawkey Way address. David Ross caught the final three games of the World Series in 2013. This season he'll be in an ESPN studio booth, serving as an analyst who undoubtedly will be called upon to discuss his old batterymates.

In one corner of the clubhouse, Cherington had a chair pulled up alongside Napoli, talking quietly. Owner John W. Henry was in the manager's office, but on this afternoon there would be no entourage of happy wife, assorted friends and well-wishers.

"We were a different team last year -- we had different players up the middle," Napoli said, noting how the Sox had gone from Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Stephen Drew and Jacoby Ellsbury to A.J. Pierzynski, Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr., a transition that was anything but smooth.

And Napoli struggled through what he called "by far my toughest year in the big leagues," one in which he was beset by a dislocated finger in April and a series of other issues (back, hamstring and toe) that gave him no respite. Shane Victorino, meanwhile, played just 30 games before finally succumbing to back surgery.

But if you looked and listened close enough, there were ripples of optimism to be found. There was Mookie Betts, reflecting upon his 21st year on this planet days before his 22nd birthday.

"I started off in fall league and ended in the big leagues," said Betts, who had two more hits and stole a base Sunday. "You can't ask for much better, but it was also a lot of work. I'm just happy to be where I am."

Xander Bogaerts stopped to embrace Ross in front of his locker.

"I love you," Ross said. "I'm proud of you."

Ross will be 39 next season and uncertain of his return, though he's uniquely suited to continue serving as mentor to Christian Vazquez, the catcher with the shutdown arm and consummate defensive skill set.

"It's been a weird season," Ross said. "I was talking to John, and told him how it almost felt like two seasons.

"After the trade deadline, I was miserable, I was upset, I was fighting just against losing. These young guys came in and started playing. It took me a while but I bought in to trying to help these guys.

"Vasky has made this thing so special for me, to watch him grow as a player, how he handles himself, how he wants to win. Xander, how much better he's gotten -- he finished the season really strong swinging the bat, and I've watched him get better at short and turn into a real professional.

"Brock Holt, kind of a cool thing how he played everywhere. There were a lot of positives at the end. The love I have for this organization, I see the future, the future's right there. They're going to be really good next year."

Add a couple of starting pitchers, which the Sox have pledged to do, to Clay Buchholz and Joe Kelly and a budding brace of potential contributors such as Rubby De La Rosa and Allen Webster, and Ross says he sees this team "right back in the hunt."

The kids believe. Betts said the first thing he plans to do when he gets home is to sleep. In the next breath, though, he talks about the excitement of what the young players will bring next season when they answer Tom McLaughlin's summons.

"I feel like our young players, we're all confident," Betts said. "We all have the ability to succeed here and take a team to the World Series. We're very excited to have youth in here."

Closed for the season. Given the circumstances, probably a relief for everyone involved. But check back five months from now. Butter will be waiting.

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