Best reason to follow the Red Sox

When Jimy Williams rolled into town two years ago to manage the Red Sox after the team fired name-dropping gasbag Kevin Kennedy, the local sports scribes were not impressed. The Sox, rejected by every high-profile manager on the market, had been forced to settle for an obscure bumpkin from the coaching staff of the Atlanta Braves. At his introductory press conference, he was basically asked to his face if he was a seat warmer till the Sox could hire a real skipper.

After two seasons, it is officially time for the press-box menu at Fenway Park to start listing crow sandwiches. Quietly, without much horn-blowing, Williams has revolutionized one of the most change-resistant franchises in baseball, turning a lackadaisical, hard-slugging team into a fleet, balanced, defense-minded unit. Marginal hitters have blossomed; marginal pitchers have succeeded. If one event defines his term so far, it's the transformation of Tom Gordon from one of the most erratic starting pitchers in the league to one of the most consistent closers.

But competence only gets you so far. What makes Williams a true prize -- besides his cheerful cornpone aphorisms -- is his creative streak. For a foursquare field general, he manages to throw some deeply weird moves into the mix. There was, when Mo Vaughn was gimpy, the Four-Shortstop Infield. There was pitcher Steve Avery, struggling on the mound, sprinting home as a pinch runner. Williams is unafraid to try a suicide squeeze, or lose the DH, or send out 10 different lineups in 10 days. And more often than not, even as he sparks the next day's sports-radio debates, he comes up a winner.

Boston Red Sox, Fenway Park, 4 Yawkey Way, Boston. (617) 482-4SOX.