BOSTON -- Grady Little, in his second year as manager, does not have a contract beyond this season despite leading Boston to consecutive 90-plus-win campaigns.
But yesterday, general manager Theo Epstein gave him a strong vote of confidence.
"Grady has done a fantastic job," said Epstein. "We left spring with a lot of unanswered questions, and he has done a fantastic job of managing the parts. He's a tremendous manager for the long haul."
Did that mean a long-term deal was in the offing?
"I mean over a 162-game season," said Epstein, clarifying his use of the term long haul. "There are some managers who might be considered too hands-on, too hands-off, who micromanage too much, but Grady has a real good touch over 162 games."
Also, in keeping with the local debate, Epstein was asked who he would choose as the Most Valuable Player of the team this year.
"The Boston Red Sox," said Epstein. "We are greater than the sum of our parts. If you could name one MVP on this team we probably wouldn't be where we are. You need 25 players. We don't have a lot of big egos."
Merloni may catch in pinch
Just in case, the Sox asked utilityman Lou Merloni to pick up a few pointers behind the plate.
So yesterday, about an hour before batting practice, Merloni worked with Bill Haselman and bench coach Jerry Narron, a former big-league catcher, on receiving pitches and making throws to second base.
"I feel pretty good. My knees are all right," said Merloni. "I'll catch a lot of bullpens (side sessions) the next three or four days. This is strictly for an emergency type of situation."
The initial reviews were encouraging, though playing in a game is vastly different than just catching in the bullpen.
"As an emergency catcher, he'll do just fine," said Narron.
"He's a natural athlete," said Haselman.
Nomar homers in 3rd spot
Nomar Garciaparra, mired in the most prolonged slump of his All-Star career, was dropped back to his customary third spot in the batting order last night.
Part of the reason was the fact that Baltimore's starting pitcher (Omar Daal) was a left-hander, prompting Little to start Damian Jackson instead of Todd Walker at second base. Walker had swapped spots with Garciaparra, batting third while Garciaparra moved up to second.
But the switch didn't jump-start Garciaparra. He was 3-for-24 (.125) with one RBI in seven games as the No. 2 hitter. Overall, Garciaparra was in a 13-for-79 (.165) skid over his last 20 games.
Last night, Garciaparra emerged from his doldrums, at least temporarily. He crushed a three-run homer into the Monster seats in the second inning.
Garciaparra finished the night 1-for-4, however. His average remained at .302, and now he's three hits shy of 200, a total he has reached only once in his career, with 209 as a rookie in 1997. He has had two previous seasons with 197 hits, one with 195 and another with 190.
Playoff rotation
Red Sox president and CEO Larry Lucchino said yesterday on radio that Boston's rotation for the first round of the playoffs would be Pedro Martinez, followed by Tim Wakefield and Derek Lowe. Before last night's game, with Boston's magic number still at one, Little and Epstein wouldn't confirm or deny such a plan, terming it premature.
Around the bases
Bill Mueller went 3-for-5 with 3 RBI, raising his league-leading average to .327. He got a standing ovation during his final at-bat, in the eighth . . . Johnny Damon legged out his 20th and 21st infield hits of the season, tops on the team . . . Jackson stole his 16th base. After moving to shortstop in the sixth, he was guilty of a double error, first bobbling a grounder and then throwing the ball into the Sox' dugout. Later in the inning, though, he made a nifty spin-a-rama throw to first for an out after fielding a ball up the middle . . . David McCarty took over for Manny Ramirez in the sixth. It was only his third appearance of the month and his first since Sept. 6. His at-bat in the seventh was only his second of the month . . . Adrian Brown notched his first hit with the Sox, a line single to left in the seventh . . . The crowd of 34,526 -- the 65th sellout of the year -- gave the Sox a final home attendance of 2,724,162, a club record. Boston averaged 33,632 for the 81 dates.
