David Ortiz was thrilled to bits by holding the World Series Championship trophy standing on the Truman Portico of the White House and the large contingent of Red Sox fans were there to capture the happy moments. The Big Papi and his team members were honored by the U.S President George W Bush for their second victory of the World Series Championship in the last four seasons. The Vice President Dick Cheney was also present at the South Lawn of the White House to celebrate this joyous moment and President Bush said that the Boston club knew the potential of their players and all of them, seniors as well as new players, jelled as a team to bring back the trophy.

The manager Terry Francona, players, staff, coaches, principal owner Henry, front office members as well as Red Sox hierarchy were there to witness this gala event at the White House. They were pleased to hear President Bush talk about each and every player and their achievements for the Red Sox team. He said that he was proud of the team members and their families as well as the club and its members and praised the team for creating waves not only in the Red Sox Nation but also as far as the Caribbean and the Far East.

Josh Beckett is no longer just an ordinary right handed pitcher but is one of the ace pitchers for the Red Sox team and is one who is sure to find himself in the starting line up of any baseball match. He revealed his sublime form on Sunday when he had showed to the outside world his pitching skills that had six curveballs, 24 heaters along with 10 change ups. The word of Beckett’s form reached the ears of pitching coach John Farrell and he also came to witness the pitching prowess.

John Farrell felt that he has a clear intent and purpose on each pitch that he throws and is doing tremendously well in the BP and bullpens sessions. Red Sox manager Terry Francona feels that Jose Beckett is a hard workout man and puts his heart and soul in each of the training sessions. The manager says that he would be surprised if Beckett did not shock anybody with his pitching skills. He is in total command of what he is doing and is mature enough to understand what to do and what not to do. Jose Beckett is a player who will never miss any opportunity that comes his way.

Terry Francona finally got his reward for managing the Red Sox with such enthusiasm in 2007-2008. They have extended his contract for three more years. This new contract will run though to 2011. He also will have the choice to stay for another two years after that.

Francona was the one who coached the Red Sox to their win against the Cardinals in 2004. He has had about eight World Series wins in his career so he knows what it takes to get a team back there. He hopes to lead the Red Sox back to the World Series again.

Francone started out in 1980 at the University of Arizona where he was drafted by the Montreal Expos. He went on to play first base and developed a career as a contact hitter. In 1991, he started out coaching with the Chicago White Sox. He finally hit the major leagues in 1996 when he went to work for the Detroit Tigers as their coach. He came to be the Red Sox’s coach in 2004 and led them to a 98-64 record, the second overall best in the American League. It is hoped that he will lead the Red Sox onto a great 2008-2009 season and back to the World Series.

For the first time, since 2005 Manny Ramirez arrived to the spring camp on time and even initiated a meeting with the media people. He informed the media that he is feeling great and is looking forward to the years 2008-09. Though the session lasted only for five minutes Manny was in an entertaining mood and expressed his wish to remain with the Boston Red Sox till the end of his Career. The Red Sox is holding an option of $20million for Manny for 2009 as well as2010 season. Ramirez is confident about his ability to play and feels that it is upto the team management to decide whether he should play for the Red Sox in the coming years.

Manny did his physical training on the reporting day and left the place before the position players started their drills. Red Sox manager Terry Francona appreciated Manny’s on time arrival and commented that the team is making progress. Theo Epstein, the Red Sox General Manager said it is nice to see Ramirez is ready to start the training with other team members at least this year. Red Sox is having Manny in its side for the eighth season and as Ramirez said he will keep playing till “the wheels fall off”.

This year, the Red Sox will have their opening game in Tokyo playing against the Oakland Athletics. This is a great problem for the players considering jet lag. Plus spring training gets all muddled. The team must start to get ready sooner because the season starts on March 25th in Tokyo. The game itself will follow two other games for the Hanshin Tigers and Yomiuri Giants. Both of these are exhibition games. Their first team workout isn’t until February 22 in Florida. Pitcher and catchers will be coming later. So they don’t have a lot of time to get into shape and practiced. They decided they would go because baseball has started branching out into other nations stronger than ever before.

They wanted to be part of that branching, so they decided to start early even though it would cause some other problems. One very potential problem is Curt Schilling. The pitcher for the team has injured his shoulder and the doctor is saying until he has surgery to fix the torn tendon, he will not be able to pitch in any more games. So they may have to find an interim pitcher until he has the surgery. They will be keeping an eye on him until he does.

The Red Sox reliever Manny Delcarmen is a totally changed man this season according to Red Sox manger Terry Francona. Delcarmen has lot a few pounds and is looking fit and trimmer for the new season ahead and speculations about this new found life of Manny is attributed to his 5 month old son or the gym visits he underwent to get a great physique or to improving his arsenal with a new pitching technique. The changed Delcarmen is making Francona consider him for the big league ahead and feels that the young player is now showing maturity signs.

Francano says that he was thrilled with the way Delcarmen showed up and he sees a lot of determination in the eyes of this 26 year old player. Delcarmen has said that it is the influence of his wife’s brother that has made him the man he is now and said that he worked on his fastball and curveball during the off season. The Red Sox think tank has also informed Delcarmen of a possible opportunity to go to the playing arena with Okajima. The pitching coach, John Farrell, is of the opinion that the extra pounds flushed from the body of Delcarmen will help him in handling an increased load.

Curt Schilling’s considerable absence in the next season puts Clay Buchholz as the people’s favorite and top choice for fifth starter.  However, pitching coach John Farrell told the people to remember last year’s fifth starter Julian Tavarez.  Farrell said that they still recognize what Tavarez contributed to the Red Sox the previous year.  Tavarez took a key role for the Red Sox’s starting rotation during the first two-thirds of the season.  He also pitched 125 to 135 innings.

Tavarez lost his rhythm when Jon Lester replaced him in the rotation.  In this light, Farrell said it would be the team’s challenge to prepare Tavarez with a drive to deliver above average performance whether as the fifth starter or not.  As for Buchholz, Farrell said that it would be reasonable to expect him to be in line in the range of 180 to 190 innings.  Farrell describes him as someone who is ready for a full season and has the skills and talent. 

The pitching coach refers to Schilling’s absence as a loss, referring not only to Schilling’s capability and level of experience but also to the leadership that he gives the team.  But Farrell stresses that the Red Sox must move forward and have a good plan to get Schilling back by mid-season.

Craig Hansen, the young reliever in the Red Sox team, is all the more happy to be part of the Spring Training sessions and says that he is totally refreshed and energized to be back in the reckoning for this season. According to Craig Hansen, he was suffering from a very peculiar problem of waking up at an average of about 56 times an hour while sleeping and also had to hear regular complaints from his room mates and family members for his loud snoring problems. Hansen was advised to visit a sleep-study clinic which resulted in him discovering that he was suffering from sleep apnea.

Hansen did not tell his bosses about his sleeping apnea problems and had to reveal the same when he was caught napping during the Red Sox Rookie Development Program in 2007. Hansen finally had to budge before his Red Sox bosses and underwent a corrective procedure for his apnea problems from Dr. Mack Cheney at the Ear and Eye Infirmary in Massachusetts during the month of November 2007. Hansen feels great after the surgery and says that he is now fully recovered from the sleep apnea problems. Now the fans, team management and the players are hoping that Craig Hansen lives up to the high expectations that they have in him.

Curt Schilling, one of the priced players of the Red Sox team is ailing from injury of his right shoulder. The team Red Sox as well as Schilling is not disclosing the exact details of the injury. There are reports that the Red Sox and the pitcher are having a difference of opinion about the treatment to be taken. Schilling says he doesn’t want to take any steps without the consent of the club and has agreed to take the cortisone shot as advised by the medical team of Red Sox. An operation will prove disastrous to the 41 year old player as this will cause an end to his season or to his career.

Red Sox will be in trouble, as they have signed the $8 million pact with Schilling for the year 2008 without insuring it. Schilling has consulted the “players union” about his rights and the lawyer has said that it is not possible for Red Sox to take any action against Curt as there is no basis for the charges confined on him. Schilling has passed all the physical examinations conducted by the Red Sox medical team at the time of his new contract. As Schilling will be out of the game for more than 2 weeks, Red Sox will have to put more burdens on other players to bring success in this season.

Red Sox fans remember Bobby Kielty best for his home run in Game 4 of the 2007 World Series. Now he’s back to play for the Boston Sox, according to announcements made last Wednesday. Kielty has signed up for a one-year non-guaranteed contract with the Red Sox, through which he can earn $800,000 base salary plus $300,000 worth of incentives.

Having Kielty in the team would mean that they would have a backup outfielder in case they successfully traded Coco Crisp. Manny Ramirez, Jacoby Ellsbury, and J.D. Drew will be the Sox’s starting outfield. In Ellsbury’s absence, Drew would become center field and Kielty would go to right.

Kielty is known to hit left-handed pitching, although he mentioned earlier in the season that he would think about exclusively batting right-handed, but he has not confirmed this yet. Kielty boasts of 53 homers and 253 RBIs.

In August 2007, he was taken in by the Red Sox, during which he hit .231 with a home run and 9 RBIs. During his only at-bat in the World Series, he hit a shot that went over the wall and gave Red Sox a 4-1 lead. His hit brought the Red Sox victory over the Rockies with 4-3.