Red Sox Are Divided, but Refuse to Fall

Those who follow the Boston Red Sox probably weren’t shocked Monday when Scott Hatteberg lined into a triple play and hit a grand slam against the Texas Rangers, believed to be the first time in baseball history a player has done both in the same game.

The Red Sox have turned 2001 into the X Games, taking tragedy and triumph to the extreme, and Hatteberg’s rare triple-quadruple, in which he cleared the bases in successive at-bats, seemed more fitting than freakish.

This team has had more injuries than you could shake a split tendon in your wrist at, losing baseball’s best pitcher (Pedro Martinez), one of the game’s best shortstops (Nomar Garciaparra) and catchers (Jason Varitek), and their center fielder (Carl Everett) for long stretches.

The Red Sox are 64-51 and trail American League East leader New York by four games.

There have been so many divisive clubhouse issues that Boston makes the Yankees’ so-called Bronx Zoo look like a petting farm.

General Manager Dan Duquette and Manager Jimy Williams barely speak to each other. Players have griped about Williams’ musical chairs lineups, with one saying Williams “draws straws” to decide who’s playing. And there was an explosive team meeting in May, when profanities were reportedly hurled around like batting-practice balls.

Yet, like Hatteberg after his triple play, the Red Sox remain undeterred--they are two games behind wild-card leader Oakland.

Many teams have succumbed to the kind of turmoil the Sox endured; the 1999 Angels, who collapsed amid a flurry of clubhouse bickering, immediately come to mind. But for some reason, what didn’t kill the Red Sox made them stronger.

“I don’t know why our season didn’t go into the toilet,” said pitcher Bret Saberhagen, whose brief comeback after missing 1 1/2 years because of shoulder surgery ended Tuesday night, “but it’s not over yet. We still have [1 1/2] months left.”

You never know what will happen next. One week an outfielder asks to be traded, the next he’s a key contributor like Dante Bichette, who’s hitting .306 with 10 homers and 41 runs batted in.

One month you’re considered washed up, the next you’re throwing a no-hitter and going 11-5 with a 4.09 earned-run average, as Hideo Nomo did. One year you’re a castoff in New York, considered too old and frail to pitch, the next you’re the backbone of the rotation, going 7-2 with a 4.20 ERA, as David Cone has done.

One series, you get swept by the Angels in three games, the next you sweep four games from the Rangers, as the Red Sox did last week. One at-bat you hit into a triple play, the next you hit a grand slam.

“It’s been a soap opera, but as bad as things have gotten, we’re still right there behind the Yankees,” Hatteberg said. “We have a real deep team; with a $110-million payroll, you should have a lot of insurance plans. But it’s almost unfair that people are amazed at what we’ve done, because the guys overshadowed by superstars are pretty good themselves.”

Such players as Hatteberg, Bichette, Mike Lansing, Trot Nixon, Chris Stynes and Shea Hillenbrand emerged from those shadows to keep the Red Sox at the fore.

When Garciaparra, the two-time AL batting champion, had surgery to repair a split tendon in his right wrist just before the season, Lansing, a second baseman by trade, moved to shortstop and provided steady defense.

When Garciaparra returned July 29, Boston shortstops had made eight errors, among the fewest in the league. Lansing also hit .349 in July.

When Everett went down with a bruised knee on June 8, an injury that sidelined him until mid-July, Nixon (.282, 18 homers, 59 RBIs) moved from right field to center and got hot in July, hitting .312 with 14 RBIs.

When Martinez, the three-time Cy Young Award winner, went down because of an inflamed shoulder on June 26, Rolando Arrojo stepped into the rotation and went 2-1 with a 1.96 ERA in seven starts.

Hillenbrand (.272, nine homers, 38 RBIs) and Stynes (.304, six homers, 24 RBIs) have filled in admirably for third baseman John Valentin, likely out for the season because of a foot injury.

Hatteberg and Doug Mirabelli have been solid behind the plate in place of Varitek, who broke his right elbow on June 7 and hopes to return in September. Bichette has provided pop from the right side.

About the only constant presence has been outfielder Manny Ramirez, who is hitting .310 and ranks second in the league in home runs (35) and RBIs (101).

The team underwent an image transformation, from a bunch of overpaid whiners the first two months of the season, when several players complained about playing time, to a bunch of overachievers.

“Was there dysfunction? Yeah, everyone has that at some point,” Saberhagen said. “There was respect lost on both sides, management and players, stuff was thrown around, and people were not happy with each other. But for the most part, everyone wants to contribute and win.”

The problem, Bichette said, “is we have too much talent and only nine positions. But is that such a bad thing, having guys who want to play? Sure, there was some grumbling, but we’ve put that behind us. All guys care about is winning a World Series.”

That, of course, has not happened in Boston since 1918. But the way this season has gone . . .

“I don’t think any of us could really envision what winning a World Series would be like here,” Cone said. “This town would be in a frenzy. No one could predict what would happen.”

Just like with these Red Sox.