BOSTON - It is almost 4 p.m. and Curt Schilling's posse, which yesterday included Red Sox pinch hitters, several coaches, catcher Jason Varitek and manager Terry Francona, is finally leaving.
While it is more than three hours before the Red Sox-Royals game here at Fenway Park, there is hustle in the air as nets are moved, balls are rolled to their proper locations and one particular coach arrives with his fungo bat in tow.
It is Luis Alicea time.
To put it bluntly. There are coaches in baseball who collect a modest paycheck (they don't get paid much). Other than a few fungos to the infielders and/or outfielders, not a lot of energy is wasted.
After Schilling & Co. left to report the good news - he looked good throwing 31 pitches during a simulated game - Alicea started with the grounders. First up was Eric Hinske at third. Then Eric Hinske at first.
Alicea was sweating.
"I love this," said Alicea.
Alicea is listed as the Red Sox first base coach, but honestly, that's the least of his duties. He is a manager-in-waiting, biding his time.
"Do I want to be a manager? What do you think?" said Alicea, who turns 42 on July 29. "I love this game. I love being here. I'm not too worried about the future. We have too much work to do here. And I am still learning."
Alicea was identified by Theo Epstein, who was a 21-year-old college student when Alicea played his one season with the Red Sox in 1995, as coaching/managerial timber in 2004.
Two years with the Lowell Spinners short-season A squad (they play from mid-June through August) and another with the Sox full-season Class-A affiliate in Greenville, S.C., and he was ready to be up here with the big boys, which is not to be confused with being ready to guide a major league franchise deep into October.
"Lowell was a great place to learn," said Alicea. "It's a little different than here in the majors. There, the job is to develop and to win. Here it's all about winning. But I learned a lot about managing people in Lowell. It wasn't easy, but I learned to like it."
There is a lot to like about Alicea, too.
Not only is he approachable, with an infectious smile, but he loves talking anything baseball.
One day he's talking to an infielder about making the transfer to from glove-to-hand on turning a doubleplay, the next day he's on the bench with a struggling relief.
While it is more than three hours before the Red Sox-Royals game here at Fenway Park, there is hustle in the air as nets are moved, balls are rolled to their proper locations and one particular coach arrives with his fungo bat in tow.
It is Luis Alicea time.
To put it bluntly. There are coaches in baseball who collect a modest paycheck (they don't get paid much). Other than a few fungos to the infielders and/or outfielders, not a lot of energy is wasted.
After Schilling & Co. left to report the good news - he looked good throwing 31 pitches during a simulated game - Alicea started with the grounders. First up was Eric Hinske at third. Then Eric Hinske at first.
Alicea was sweating.
"I love this," said Alicea.
Alicea is listed as the Red Sox first base coach, but honestly, that's the least of his duties. He is a manager-in-waiting, biding his time.
"Do I want to be a manager? What do you think?" said Alicea, who turns 42 on July 29. "I love this game. I love being here. I'm not too worried about the future. We have too much work to do here. And I am still learning."
Alicea was identified by Theo Epstein, who was a 21-year-old college student when Alicea played his one season with the Red Sox in 1995, as coaching/managerial timber in 2004.
Two years with the Lowell Spinners short-season A squad (they play from mid-June through August) and another with the Sox full-season Class-A affiliate in Greenville, S.C., and he was ready to be up here with the big boys, which is not to be confused with being ready to guide a major league franchise deep into October.
"Lowell was a great place to learn," said Alicea. "It's a little different than here in the majors. There, the job is to develop and to win. Here it's all about winning. But I learned a lot about managing people in Lowell. It wasn't easy, but I learned to like it."
There is a lot to like about Alicea, too.
Not only is he approachable, with an infectious smile, but he loves talking anything baseball.
One day he's talking to an infielder about making the transfer to from glove-to-hand on turning a doubleplay, the next day he's on the bench with a struggling relief.
"He's played the game and the players respect that," said Sox backup infielder Alex Cora. "He not only played, but he played a long time (13 years) in a lot of different cities and atmospheres. He reminds me of my brother Joey. They always have an experience or memory and relate it to today. They are both smart and great people, too."
To say Alicea is on the fast track is no joke, thanks to Ozzie Guillen in Chicago.
While the much-publicized Super Bowl in February, pitting two black coaches (Colts' Tony Dungy against Bears' Lovie Smith), was history-making, 15 months earlier a less-publicized event occurred in baseball when Guillen's White Sox croaked the Houston Astros in the World Series, 4-zip.
Finally, a Latino manager won a World Series. Many people in the game were also in agreement that a Latino (Guillen is a Venzuela native) might be the best manager in baseball.
"Ozzie managed the way he played ... with emotion," said Alicea, who is a native of Puerto Rico. "When he won the World Series he did a lot for (Latinos)."
Alicea says Terry Francona has nothing to worry about in Boston. He is not bucking for anybody's job just yet.
"I still have a lot to learn, which is why I wanted to come to Boston (as a first base coach)," he said. "I have learned so much. There are so many situations you have to be ready for. It's tough, tough job, especially here where expectations are so high."
Alicea says he doesn't really know if he has a style if and/or when he finally gets his chance.
"I have played for a lot of managers and I'm sure I've picked up a lot from all of them," he said. "All I know is that I like players that play and practice hard. That's a given."
Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia says among the people he owes a debt of gratitude for keeping the faith during his April swoon (Pedroia was hitting .172 through May 2) was Alicea.
"He told me, 'Don't change a thing. It's just 60 at bats,' " said Pedroia. "That meant a lot coming from a guy like him. He not only played a long time, but he played here in Boston."
The positive Alicea appreciates the support, but says it's only part of his job.
"Baseball is a negative sport," said Alicea. "It's one of the only sports were you are going to fail more often than you succeed. Sometimes you even have to remind major leaguers that."
Bill Burt is executive sports editor for Eagle-Tribune Publishing. You can e-mail him at bburt@eagletribune.com.
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The Luis Alicea File
Age: He turns 42 on July 29
Native of: Santurce, P.R.
College: Florida State University
Years in majors: 13
No. of teams: 5 (St. Louis, 6; Boston, 1; Anaheim, 1; Texas, 2; Kansas City, 2)
Family: Son, Ryan (14); daughter, Alana (12)
Career earnings: $6.94 million (source, www.baseball-reference.com)
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