FORT MYERS, Fla. — Everything is new here at the spring training home of the Red Sox. The team has assembled a new 106-acre complex – one of the best facilities in the game – there is a new GM, a new manager, and new faces in behind-the-scenes positions around the clubhouse.

That’s what happens when a team suffers one of the worst collapses in baseball history.

JetBlue Park at Fenway South wasn’t built because of Boston’s 7-20 September. The Sox were moving here anyway. It’s the number of new people working here this spring that are a direct result of that implosion.

Terry Francona left before he could get fired. Theo Epstein jumped to Chicago before his contract could come to an end. There was a house cleaning in the medical staff. The strength and conditioning coaches have been overhauled.

But none of that matters if the players in uniform don’t perform better this season.

Josh Beckett and Jon Lester are the undisputed leaders of a pitching staff that ran out of steam after Labor Day last season. They are back determined to prove 2011 was an aberration. They are saying all the right things, but both men know that actions will ultimately speak louder than words when it comes to winning over Red Sox Nation.

“They’re the best fans in baseball,” said Beckett. “I definitely think we need to earn that trust back.”

Some fans, and even more members of the media, want more of a mea culpa from Beckett. The righty never said the words “I’m sorry,” and still seems as upset over the lack of clubhouse confidentiality as he is over what happened behind those closed doors.

Beckett admitted to “lapses in judgment.” He says he knows he didn’t pitch well enough in his final two starts – either one could have gotten the Sox into a playoff game. While he is the lightning rod for the collapse, let’s not forget he went 13-7 with a 2.89 ERA.

Lester made his first public comments about the past season long ago, when he went on a media blitz to discuss what went wrong. He has been more up front and contrite than Beckett. That’s to be expected; they are two different men with different approaches to the game and to life.

“We don’t need to sit down and have a heart to heart about anything,” said Lester. “I think we both need to do a better job on the field and be around these guys more.”

When Lester says “these guys,” he’s talking about his teammates. One of the criticisms of last year’s team was that the pitching staff had isolated itself from teammates, spending more time together in the clubhouse and not enough time on the bench. Expect that to change.

Lester expects the fans’ image of the team to change, too. Eventually.

“You learn from your mistakes,” said Lester, “and I’m looking forward to starting new this year and trying to be a leader. A lot of fans don’t think we care and that we’re a bunch of babies, but we do care. We want to win and we want to get back into the playoffs.”

Getting back to the playoffs will go a long way toward getting back the support of Sox fans. So will accountability – something the team’s pitching staff is showing early in camp.

Tom Caron is the studio host for Red Sox broadcasts on the New England Sports Network. His column appears in the Press Herald on Tuesdays.

 

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