Beaming down glorious hope and optimism to 30 Major League Baseball teams in Arizona and Florida, where spring training is under way in preparation for the 2024 season.
The pop of a baseball slamming into a well-oiled mitt. A crack of the bat, echoing between foul poles. Chatter and dirty uniforms. Games of long toss between veterans and newcomers alike. All signs of new beginnings, and eyeballs staring towards the future.
For the Boston Red Sox, success in the future is farther off than many wish it to be.
It is a type of rebuild perhaps a generation of Red Sox fans are not used to. Over five years have passed since Boston's last World Series title, with no playoff appearances since 2021. A franchise blessed with four World Series championships in the last 20 years, now faced with realistic expectations that a fifth won't be happening in 2024.
A strange trip in '24?
Sports can deliver funny results, with big spenders prior to the 2023 season failing to even reach the playoffs, while the Texas Rangers finally added their name to the list of champions. Pursuits of titles are a joyous and heartbreaking affair, playing dreamers and dasher of dreams along the way.
To give up in February and March, with a clean slate of 162 games on the agenda, is a tough pill to swallow. When teams spend money (recklessly or not) and the Red Sox choose a route of thriftiness, fans of the teams are not wrong to turn their looks sour.
Ah, wicked thinking.
This facet remains ingrained in the souls of a franchise that went 86 years between World Series titles. Souls toughened through heartbreak and misfortune and bad hops, with horrible seasons wiped from the brain. One wishes to that with three of the last four seasons, where last place finishes have devastated the faithful (in a very competitive AL East, one might add).
Yet, an excited and talented offense is in place, asked to again carry the team. Dreams of a dominant bullpen are carried in the heart, with perhaps a starting rotation takes form sooner rather than later. A little sunshine goes a long way, with a bit of chalk magic mixed in. Impossible? No, not at all. Things might fall into place ahead of schedule, bringing the Red Sox closer to the top of the division rather than occupying its cellar. A little success breeds confidence, and Boston could be the benefit of both in 2024.
Ah, hope.
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