Right-hander Josh Beckett, pals with David Wells and Kevin Millar, seems in perfect harmony with the Cowboy Up/Idiots image.

01:00 AM EST on Sunday, November 27, 2005

BY ART MARTONE
Journal Sports Editor

He was a Red Sox fan growing up -- in Texas, no less -- because of his affection for Roger Clemens. He countssKevin MillarsandsDavid Wellssamong his closest friends in baseball. He relishes the notion of playing in baseball's fast lane.

If ever a team and a player seem made for each other, it's Josh Beckett and the Boston Red Sox.

"I got a call from a great friend of mine who was . . . with [Pawtucket] all year," Beckett said yesterday on a conference call with New England reporters. "He was in [spring-training] camp for quite some time with [the Red Sox] and he was like, 'Hey, you're finally on a big-league team.' "

That's not exactly the letter of the truth -- the Marlins, after all, won the World Series in 2003, thanks in no small part to Beckett -- but it's the spirit. Beckett, traded to the Sox Thursday night with third baseman Mike Lowell and reliever Guillermo Mota for minor-leaguers Hanley Ramirez, Anibal Sanchez, Jesus Delgado and Harvey Garcia, is switching from an area that's baseball-apathetic to one that's utterly baseball-mad.

"It's probably one end of the [fan-intensity] spectrum to the other," he said. "Seems like that's what everybody's telling me, anyway."

And Beckett relishes the change.

"[Wells] said I'm going to have so much fun," Beckett said of a phone conversation he had with the veteran left-hander. "He's just talking about how great the fans were and, if everything pans out this year, how good our team is going to be."

Wells, of course, might not be part of it, since he's asked for a trade back to the West Coast. ("[He] was fixin' to take his kid surfing so I didn't keep him [on the phone] very long . . . We didn't even talk about [whether he'd like to return to the Sox].") But Wells' agent has said his client would "happily" return if no trade could be worked out, and Beckett would be delighted if that were the case.

"Boomer and I are kind of cut from the same cloth," he said. "We like a lot of the same stuff."

He'd be similarly delighted if the Sox retained Millar, though that seems far less likely.

"I know Kevin real well," Beckett said. "I actually hang out with him some during the offseason . . . [He] said how excited he'd be to come back."

If you're thinking the Cowboy Up/Idiots persona that has defined the Sox in recent years -- a persona that seemed to be jeopardized by the possible departures of players like Millar and Wells -- is in good hands with

Beckett, you're probably right.

"I'm kind of sure of myself," he admitted. "If you have a failing mentality, you're going to fail probably more often than you would if you were pretty confident in yourself."

He's confident enough that in Boston he'd like to wear the same number he wore in Florida: 21, in honor of his idol Clemens. The Red Sox haven't issued No. 21 since Clemens departed after the 1996 season.

"I'm going to wear what they give me," Beckett said, but added, "I know nobody's worn [21] since Rocket, [but] yeah, it would definitely mean something to me."

Beckett was 4 years old when Clemens made his Red Sox debut in 1984, and he quickly developed a childhood affinity for his fellow Texan . . . and his fellow Texan's team.

"My father . . . worked with Rocket's brother when I was in middle school and high school," Beckett said. "I actually have an autographed ball from Rocket [that I got] when I was younger, and I had a Boston Red Sox hat for that sheer fact."

One of Beckett's new teammates, Curt Schilling, credits Clemens for putting his career on track when he was in his 20s. Beckett hopes Schilling will do the same for him.

"I'm looking forward to learning from [Schilling] and just kind of picking his brain," said Beckett. "I think we're much of the same type of pitcher. I don't think that I have the knowledge yet that he has. It takes us all a little bit of time to learn our own craft and he definitely learned his and made his mark."

Beckett broke through to the 15-win mark with the Marlins in 2005, which indicates he's begun to learn his craft. Now he's ready to take his final career steps on one of sport's biggest stages.

"I'm pumped, I really am," he said. "I'm excited. I'm looking forward to it."