01:00 AM EST on Friday, January 20, 2006

There. Feel better now?

No one can be truly surprised that Theo Epstein's back with the Red Sox. Once Larry Lucchino stopped wishing Epstein good luck on "wherever [his new] path may take him" and started talking about leaving candles burning in windows, you knew it was just a matter of time. The abandonment of the search for a new general manager and the appointment of Epstein acolytes Jed Hoyer and Ben Cherington as co-GMs -- as well as the refusal of Lucchino to put a time frame on the new arrangement beyond "going forward for 2006" -- simply reinforced the belief that Theo would be back eventually. "Eventually" came last night.

And not soon enough for the Red Sox. Theo Epstein's return may not reflect as well on the Sox as his leaving reflected badly on them, but no matter. It was a blunder that had to be fixed. It took a while, but they finally fixed it. That, more than a center fielder or a shortstop or a leadoff hitter, is what the Sox truly needed this offseason.

Epstein's departure last Halloween was a stunner, on so many levels. He grew up minutes from Fenway Park, a lifelong Red Sox fan, and, like millions of others across New England, always dreamed of joining the Sox in some capacity or another. He not only achieved that dream but, thanks to the 2004 World Series championship, had gained the celebrity status of a rock star in his hometown.

That he would walk away from all that was unfathomable.

And that the Red Sox -- in the person of Lucchino -- would drive him away was unthinkable. Rightly or wrongly, that's the perception that took hold in the days and weeks that followed, as news of the needlessly contentious contract negotiations bled into the public arena.

Why did the Sox wait so long to open talks on a new deal? Why did they come in so low with their original money offer? Why did they wait until the original contract had almost expired to raise the ante?

Why, in other words, did they play hardball with a guy who should have been a pushover to sign? Why did they alienate the one employee who, more than any player, had become the public face of the franchise?

They were unanswered, and unanswerable, questions.

Theo Epstein is young, smart and attractive, and he was the GM when the Red Sox won the World Series. Men wanted to be him, and women wanted to be with him. When he concluded he couldn't work for these guys anymore -- when the guy who had no reason to leave decided he could no longer stay -- an entire fan base's confidence in ownership was shaken. Especially since the money they were dickering over was chump change in the bloated world of baseball finances. The Red Sox will pay Alex Cora more in 2006 than what Epstein originally asked for.

There was almost nothing the Sox could do to restore that confidence, confidence that was shaken even further when principal owner John Henry seemed teary-eyed at Epstein's farewell press conference and wondered publicly if, in light of Epstein's repudiation of management, he was fit to own the Red Sox. He wouldn't be the only one asking that question as people struggled to make sense of it all.

Try as they might, and try they did, the stain could never be erased. Even when they did something as significant as acquiring a Josh Beckett, the nagging spectre of Theo's absence never truly went away. As some of the heroes from 2004 departed -- Kevin Millar, Bill Mueller, Johnny Damon -- they tied Epstein's leaving into their general theme that things were changing, and for the worse, in Boston.

Give the Sox, or at least Henry, credit. Within days of Epstein's announcement, reports were surfacing that Henry was trying to right the wrong and convince him to come back. Lucchino's attempts to conduct business as usual were thwarted, as Henry refused to give the go-ahead to hire Jim Beattie or Jim Bowden or Dave Wilder or any of the others who were contacted about the job. The placement of Hoyer and Cherington as co-GMs put in place two Epstein friends with whom he was in constant contact. The peace branch was being waved.

Last night, Epstein accepted it.

The other issues -- what happens to Lucchino; what does it say about Epstein that he's returned to an organization he rejected less than four months ago; who's to say he won't walk away again if things don't go the way he likes -- are details. They aren't as important as the perception that the Boston Red Sox are no longer in disarray. That there's an intelligent, enlightened baseball mind running the store again, one who loves the Red Sox as much as the fans love them. That the franchise, in the fans' eyes, is back in good hands.

Now it's up to Theo to find the center fielder and the shortstop and the leadoff hitter. To fill the holes in the lineup that also stood as symbols of a franchise that had gotten off the track.

The biggest one, though, was filled last night.

amartone@projo.com / (401) 277-7345