Hansen would have been happy with those numbers this spring. His ERA was 15.43 when he was sent down with mixed feelings and mixed messages. "He was rushed," admitted manager Terry Francona in the Boston Globe. "Now we want him in a routine where he can separate himself from other pitchers. By his own admission, he had an uneven spring. We still firmly believe this kid has a bright future and I think he's prepared to go do that."

Hansen wasn’t sure, "If they feel like it, they feel like it, I don't know. I can't look in the past." Francona said Hansen would not be used as a closer at Triple A. When Hansen was asked what his Pawtucket role will be, he replied, "Reliever."

Last year’s man on the hot seat though was Josh Beckett, who must be thrilled to have Dice-K taking the spotlight from him, no joshing. Between Matsuzaka and Senator Schilling, Beckett has dropped off the radar and after thriving in the Florida swamps Beckett may actually prosper with the lack of attention paid to him.

The other focus last season was put on Coco Crisp. He came to Boston with a great name, a great personality and the great expectation that he would make all of Red Sox Nation forget their love affair with his predecessor Johnny Damon. Didn’t happen.

Coco got hurt early on, and later on and in between did nothing to brag about. Last year, he was the face on billboards, he was the go-to guy for interviews, he was the blessed child, he was the lead-off batter.

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This year? Well, you can sense it in his words, "I don't really care what the people think about me," Crisp is quoted in a Boston Globe Dan Shaughnessy column. "As far as me wracking my brain about what anybody thinks, I don't do that. I hope they enjoy watching us play as a team, I do something, they enjoy that part of it. But I don't care if people think I suck or if they think I'm good. I just go out there and have fun."

That, my friends, doesn’t sound like a man having fun. It sounds like a guy batting eighth.

So, Dustin Pedroia, Julio Lugo and even you, Daisuke Matsuzaka, you all have rushed to Boston, but there are plenty of people who have been in that Yankees, er, Red Sox clubhouse who will warn you, “You better be careful because you might fall in.”

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