Looking at the Dodgers' lineup is like looking into an alternate history version of the Red Sox.
Boston Red Sox (75-54)
- Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
- Shane Victorino, RF
- Dustin Pedroia, 2B
- David Ortiz, 1B
- Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
- Daniel Nava, LF
- Stephen Drew, SS
- Will Middlebrooks, 3B
- John Lackey, P
Los Angeles Dodgers (75-52)
- Carl Crawford, LF
- Yasiel Puig, RF
- Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
- Hanley Ramirez, SS
- Andre Ethier, CF
- Juan Uribe, 3B
- Mark Ellis, 2B
- Tim Federowicz, C
- Ricky Nolasco, P
It's not too hard to imagine, really. The Red Sox choose to go all-in on 2011 in every way possible. Rather than trading for just Erik Bedard, the Red Sox upgrade their offer with whatever they have available to replace Tim Federowicz and get a disgruntled Andre Ethier thrown in, then in a desperate attempt to bail out a sinking ship after the collapse, take on the contracts of Rickey Nolasco and Hanley Ramirez from a Marlins team taking the exact opposite approach.
Or we could go way back and just hold onto Hanley to begin with.
Oh, and I guess you have to throw Yasel Puig in there.
The point is, there's a few familiar faces hanging around these parts. Some of them we parted with amicably, others not so much, and one of them is very keen to talk about that, at length. Chatty or not, there's plenty of "I'll show them" incentive to perform here, for the Dodgers and Red Sox alike, to say nothing of season standings. Hopefully with a series win in their pockets, the Sox have showed up ready to give as much as they get.