Wakefield To Be Honored Tonight...John Henry Speaks About His Club

Tonight Tim Wakefield, the Boston Red Sox longtime starter and knuckleball specialist, will be honored in New York City with the 2009 Bart Giamatti award for community service. Yes, Wakes not only does his best for the ball club, and has for a long time, but devotes much of his time helping those in the community who need it most, both in Boston and his hometown of Melbourne, Florida. Timmy, we salute you.

The Boston Herald's Michael Silverman had an interesting piece in today's paper (thanks also to the Herald's John Tomase for the preceding story) that illuminated Red Sox owner John Henry's thinking process about the job Theo Epstein did in revamping the ball club. DEFENSE, DEFENSE, DEFENSE has been the keyword and when it came to shelling out the bucks, John Henry and his wallet were there. Here are a few of his words, edited (but not changed) slightly by yours truly...

“I believe the 2010 club on paper is stronger than 2009,” said Henry. "Theo is much more of a fan of defense than I am - probably because he understands baseball on the field much more than I do,” said Henry, who mentioned that he “wasn’t aware that so much attention was being paid” to the defensive overhaul of the club. "We won 95 games in 2009 - third best in the major leagues,” said Henry. “Going into the offseason we were focused on how we get to 2012 - a year in which we believe there is a good chance we will begin to get some significant help again from our farm system. Those of us who watch every game are painfully aware of every flaw - probably overly aware of our flaws in comparison to other clubs,” said Henry.

I like what I see...a lot. The club will keep unearned runs to a minimum with a vastly improved defense. The infield is one of the top three in all of baseball and the lineup SHOULD produce enough runs to help the mighty starting rotation. The back end of the bullpen is solid as a rock as well. The 2010 Boston Red Sox will be fine, just fine. Let's just hope the injury bug stays away from Fenway and its team...our team.

I hope every one of you has a terrific Tuesday as we inch closer and closer to spring training. It's hard to believe February is just around the corner, a mere five (!!)) days away. My goodness. Mercy! Click on the title for more on the Sox from the Boston Globe and as always, BE WELL. See ya soon.