Wouldn't It Be Nice? The Answer? IT WOULD BE GRAND!

Sports Illustrated wrote it, and you can read it, and then I'll comment. What else is new? I won't tamper with a good formula. It's a dark and eeriely warm rainy day here in north central Connecticut, 50 degrees of warmth yet again, as the first hours of the long Christmas weekend are upon us. Ho ho ho! The green grass has not given way to the piles of snow soon to come, snow sure to be beautifully white and then too quickly an ugly brown, so I'd like to play "what if." And whenever the name Roger Clemens is brought up, the differing viewpoints emerge. Read this, please, and I'll be back after a word from my sponsers (not!)........

"Roger and the Red Sox......There might be a touch of nostalgia involved in Clemens' thoughts about Boston. But there's more than a touch of business sense in Clemens' thinking, and he well knows that Boston provides the best personal marketing opportunity. Boston is where there's the best buzz for him.
GM Theo Epstein wouldn't directly address the Clemens issue. But the team's acquisition of Daisuke Matsuzaka wouldn't necessarily discourage them, either, Epstein indicated. "You can never have enough pitching, and last year we pretty much proved it," said Epstein, referring to his trade of Bronson Arroyo last spring. "We went from seven starters to four in a week ... my fault, more than anything else."
If Clemens did go back to Boston, the story would be great, the theater would be grand. Can you imagine a matchup of Clemens vs. Pettitte in Fenway for the pennant? Even in "retirement mode,'' you can be sure Clemens is thinking about that."

Red Sox's odds: 9-5.

Peter here. Forget the odds....Roger Clemens WILL pitch in 2007, and 2008 if he so wishes. He has proven in his last three years with the Astros that he is still a hitter's worst nightmare. And the scenario painted above? Oh, lets see if this brings you shivers. It did for me............the following are my words, my imagination...may they come to pass.

A Friday night. Game 3 of the ALCS. And it's a beautiful mid September night here in Boston. Games one and two at Yankee Stadium were split. And it's Andy Petitte versus his longtime friend but sudden enemy, at least on this field, Roger Clemens. And this field, this stage, is Fenway Park, the Green Wall looming in the background. Clemens, the winner of 15 games while losing only four, three by shutouts for the opposing team, has been a revelation this year, adding so much to a fivesome of talent that has soared for this Boston club. A victory will give the winning team a huge jump in this possible seven game battle.

Ok ok, Peter here, and it's back to winter '06, December 23rd, in fact. Clemens versus Petitte for all the marbles is the stuff of dreams. Our dreams. I have a feeling that if the unthinkable happens and Roger joins our talented and varied rotation, the Fenway "buzz," always mind-numbingly awesome (hey, we LOVE our team!!), will become even more so. And as Theo said in his quote, we can NEVER have enough pitching. Hello Bronson, can ya hear me?

Wow, it was nice to imagine with words what it might be like a few short months from now. Too many starters, you say? Remember spring '06.....and on the same subject, namely PITCHING, the Sox acquired a no lose type of pitcher. No lose? He is a win-win case of little money spent with a tremendous upside. His Name? Runelvys Hernandez. Here's some stuff about him, from Boston's Saturday Herald......

"In 2006 he was 6-10 with a 6.48 ERA in 21 starts with Kansas City and 5-6 with a 4.59 ERA in 12 games (11 starts) with Triple-A Omaha.
Hernandez made three starts at Omaha to open the season before defeating Minnesota in his 2006 Kansas City debut on April 26. He was 1-4 when optioned to Omaha on May 28 before returning to the Royals for the rest of the season on July 21.
From Aug. 10 to Sept. 1, Hernandez recorded his best stretch of the year, going 3-1 with a 2.88 ERA over five starts. That included a complete-game, 2-0 victory on Aug. 26 at Toronto."

This finishes the first portion of your Red Sox baseball whims and whimsy on this Christmas weekend at Peter's Red Sox Forever (PRSF). I hope you enjoyed my flight of fancy, and as always, I love it that you continually stop by and read what my mind dictates to my fingers. I'll be here for everything. The good, the bad, the ugly, the inspiring. All a part of baseball as we know it. Boston Red Sox style, OUR style. Thanks, happy Christmas time, and I'd love to hear what you think.
And that's a wrap............for now. I couldn't do this without you!