Front And Back Ends..A New Beginning...A Return To 2004? If So, The Sky's The Limit.

From the Weymouth (MA.) News..."The two biggest question marks stand at the front of the rotation and the back end of the bullpen. In 2004, Curt Schilling and Keith Foulke showed us first hand how important it is to have an ace and a dominant closer for a postseason run. In 2005, Schilling and Foulke showed us what happens when you have neither. Last season, Schilling suffered from a bum ankle and Foulke was hampered by both of his knees, not to mention his mental mindset. If both pitchers are able to rebound and pitch like they did in 2004, these Sox will be tough to beat."
The last sentence in that blurb is so true. Let's play what if. What if this year Schill, who is determined to become one of the select few pitchers 39 years of age or older to win 20 plus games, does so, or comes close. For the record, I think he'll come close if he doesn't do it in the first place. And what if Foulkie, who reportedly, and I know its early and he's only had one or two outings on the mound, regains that zip on the fastball and his pinpoint control. He never lost his change-up. In fact, everything he threw last year was a change-up. So what if. The answer is 40 plus saves and a bullpen so far removed from last year's that the only thing recognizable will be the uniforms. The answer to these what-ifs is FIRST PLACE!