If, say, the Red Sox are figuring on another $130 payroll, for example, and then the New York Yankees go out and do some crazy Christmas shopping, well, Boston always must maintain wiggle room while residing in the same division as George Steinbrenner's club.
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The Yankees are believed intent on zeroing in on free-agent center fielder Carlos Beltran. They also are said to want two starting pitchers, such as Carl Pavano and Eric Milton (both eligible for free agency).
Over the past two seasons, the Red Sox and Yankees have become as unpredictable in their jockeying for position as Tim Wakefield's knuckleballs.
Fitting, then, that Varitek (in Boston since 1997) holding onto another damned knuckleball from Wakefield (since '95) to strike out the Yankees' Ruben Sierra in the 12th inning of Game 5 in the ALCS ranked as Epstein's most memorable moment of the postseason. That is, until Foulke gloved Edgar Renteria's one-hopper and made the slow, careful throw that seemed to take 86 years to reach first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz to clinch the World Series.
"The go-ahead run was at third base, there had been three passed balls," Epstein said. "It seems so fitting, because Varitek and Wakefield have been here for such a long time, and they're two guys who I really want to see win. I thought they willed each other through that inning.
"It was so fitting. He threw a knuckleball and Varitek kept it in his glove and then they ran off the field to the dugout together."
Just as fitting, in retrospect, as Foulke snatching Renteria's one-hopper and turning toward Mientkiewicz.
Foulke was signed for just this kind of October moment. Mientkiewicz, part of a flurry of acquisitions at the July trade deadline along with Cabrera and outfielder Dave Roberts, helped to significantly upgrade Boston's one glaring weakness in the first half of the season -- defense.
"You start thinking about where you've come from," Mientkiewicz said, growing wistful in the middle of the celebration on the St. Louis infield Wednesday night. "You try to concentrate on the game, but you start thinking about all the sacrifices your family has made for you, and how disappointing the year was personally ... it makes it all seem right."
Epstein views the July 31 moves as part of the key to the season, but not the only key.
"I don't think so," Epstein said. "I think July 24 was big, not because of the fight (with the Yankees, featuring Varitek squaring off against Alex Rodriguez), but because of the way we played with intensity. We came back on (New York closer) Mariano Rivera, setting things in motion for later in the year.
"July 31 can also be remembered for losing a one-run game in Minnesota. We didn't hit our stride until the middle of August."
One running joke between Epstein and Francona all season long was the manager's need to gulp Metamucil about an hour before each game.
"He has a nervous stomach, and I teased him about it all year," Epstein said. "So before Game 4 with the Yankees, I decided what the hell and I had a glass of it, too."
What the hell. And you know the rest of the story. The Red Sox won that day to avoid elimination ... and then they ran the table, becoming the first team ever to win eight consecutive games in one postseason.
And before Game 4 with the Cardinals, that's exactly where Epstein was headed. To Francona's office, for their nightly Metamucil toast.
"I'll do it tonight, and then the best part of the season will be over," Epstein cracked. "There will be a return to normalcy where it counts."
