Photo courtesy of Kelly O'Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com and used with permission.
With Manny Delcarmena being traded to Colorado this season, Hideki Okajima was the last remaining member of the beloved Bullpen Band (Jonathan Papelbon was never a member although he was in the bullpen…he notably would sit at the end of the bench in the bullpen looking like he was being tortured whenever the band started up).  According to Gordon Edes, the Red Sox have no plans to tender Okajima a contract. If true, that doesn’t mean that Oki absolutely wouldn’t be back with the team, but lefties are a hot commodity, especially out of the bullpen, and chances are he’d end up signing elsewhere. The Bullpen Band would officially be dead.
This bums me out probably more than it should. Maybe the 2007 team wasn’t as colorful as the 2004 team (not entirely true) and they didn’t have those 86 years weighing on them, but they were a fun team to watch and I will forever be fond of them all. (Okay, not Eric Gagne, but the rest of them absolutely.) There are still quite a few guys on the team that were there in ’07, but not in the bullpen. If Okajima doesn’t sign with the Red Sox, Jonathan Papelbon will be the only one left. To state the obvious, I’ve always been a fan of the pitchers, but in 2007 I absolutely fell in love with the bullpen.
Mike Timlin, Julian Tavarez, Javier Lopez, Kyle Snyder, Manny Delcarmen, Bryan Corey, Devern Hansack…these guys hold a huge place in my heart. (Yes, there are pitchers missing from this list who played for the Sox in 2007…I know!) I can’t help but feel a little sentimental thinking about not one of the pitchers I’ve listed above is with the team. Adding Okajima to that list will make me sad.
Which isn’t to say that I’m upset about the non-tendering act itself. It’s sad to see someone dismissed but I do understand the thinking behind it if it’s true. Doesn’t mean I won’t spend some time remembering and appreciating what Okajima did for this team. He was a tremendous asset to the Red Sox more than he wasn’t. It was hard watching him struggle in 2010 but his pitching in the 3 years prior, in my mind, makes up for it. He was a great pickup for the Sox and a huge part of how they won it all in ’07.
So saying goodbye, while my rational mind understands it, will stink.
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