I think they are starting to realize that they can have a special season. They understand how good they possibly can become, but we still have a long ways to go.

It wasn't a good season for me in 2005 and I wanted to try to get off to a good start. And beating a guy of his caliber is what I was looking for.

The crowd was really pumped. I think they are starting to realize what's going on here. If we can make the playoffs, I think we have a chance to be a force.

It's good because, hey, you need both sides to be a winning organization. I think we're starting to understand that and we're developing more position guys earlier in their career.

I think it's important to get together the best package we can possibly have because the season is very condensed. We don't have time to play around. You really need to be fast and be there.

I'm very comfortable with the starting rotation. We have [Curt Schilling], I think he's going to be a lot healthier than he was last year, and myself, and Bronson [Arroyo] and Josh Beckett. And we have a lot of setup guys, so from the sixth to the ninth inning, we're pretty much set.