Now that the Yankees have capped off their 27th World Series championship, the work begins all over again for 30 general managers. This is their time of year. Free agents can't start filing as early as today.

Jason Bay and Boston's other eligible free agents aren't eligible to sign with another team until Nov. 19.

What will this Hot Stove season bring? While the lasting image of the 2009 Red Sox is a sweep by the Angels in the Division Series, the fact of the matter is that this team is in pretty good shape going forward.

That being said, you know Theo Epstein will do something significant. The question is, exactly what?

Will there be major changes or subtle tweaks?

On a side note, it was too bad that Pedro just didn't have it last night. I could tell from the first pitch it wasn't going to be his night. He didn't have that look of excitement he normally has when he knows he has his good stuff. He was so deliberate between pitches. There was little to no life on his fastball. And Matsui got him.

The next baseball game we will see will take place under the warm sun of Fort Myers. Bundle up until then!

Now, we have ourselves a full-fledged World Series. This, thanks to Chase Utley and Cliff Lee, who have, in tandem, kept the Phillies in this series.

Pedro Martinez will pitch Game 6 again in enemy territory at Yankee Stadium with a chance to make this Fall Classic truly classic and force a Game 7. The Yankees will counter with Andy Pettitte, and you wonder how he will fare on three days rest at this stage of his career.

Obviously not having a fourth starter is a glaring hole for the Yankees. The next couple of days will tell us if it is a fatal hole.

I'm thinking Game 6 gets the best ratings in the New England market for any non-Red Sox World Series game ever. Still a whole lot of Pedro fans in the Nation.

I remember when I was growing up, the Super Bowl went through a bad rut where it seemed like almost every year, it was a blowout. The two games that stick in my mind during my youth that were great games were the 49ers-Bengals in 1988, and the Giants-Bills in 1990. Other than that, blah.

Is the same thing going on with the World Series? If the Yankees win tonight, that would make it six years in a row the Fall Classic has been five games or less.

It would be nice to see the Phillies push this thing back to New York for Game 6, and, who knows, maybe even a Game 7?

That double steal by Damon last night was one of the most surreal things I've ever seen. It just goes to show you can see something completely new every time you watch a baseball game. I still can't believe nobody on the Phillies made an attempt to cover third.

Let's see what happens tonight. The Phillies should have plenty of fire in their eyes with Cliff Lee taking the mound on full rest.

With the Who's Your Daddy chants roaring from the stands at Yankee Stadium on Thursday night, a familiar game unfolded.

Remember the original Who's Your Daddy Game? It was Game 2 of the 2004 American League Championship Series. The score was New York 3, Boston 1.

The score of Thursday's game? New York 3, Philadelphia 1.

Last time, it was Jon Lieber who was just a little better than Pedro Martinez. This time it was A.J. Burnett.

Pedro's stat line in Game 2 of the 2004 ALCS; 6 innings, 4 hits, 3 ER, 4 BB, 7 K's; 113 pitches, 64 strikes.

Pedro's stat line in Game 2 of the 2009 World Series: 6 innings, 6 hits, 3 ER, 2 BB, 8 K's, 107 pitches, 72 strikes.

Thursday's game was tremendous theater, just as I expected. Isn't it always with Pedro? When he walked off the mound midway through that seventh inning, two on and none out, Pedro looked up at the fans heckling him and managed a smile. Clearly, he is having fun at this advanced stage of his career. The pressure is off of Pedro and it is great to watch. He is a certain Hall of Famer no matter what he does from here.

He has indicated he will retire if the Phillies win this World Series. If not, look for Martinez to be back somewhere next year.

He will be up next in Game 6 of this series, again in New York, when more fascination is sure to unfold.

Remember the "Idiots" as Johnny Damon proclaimed them? How could you forget them. Five years ago today, they won the World Series, snapping an 86-year World Series championship drought.

Weird, huh? It feels like 86 years ago that we even had a championship drought around here.

So yes, it will be a little strange for Red Sox fans when this World Series starts on Wednesday night in New York and Johnny Damon is in one dugout and Pedro Martinez is in the other.

I think I know which "Idiot" all -- or most of you -- will be rooting for.

Personally, I thought it was a pleasure to cover both of these guys. I got to be around Pedro every day for three years and Johnny every day for four years, and I appreciated them both in terms of their competitiveness and their personalities.

One of these guys will collect a second ring before this World Series is over.

Pedro will start Game 2 on Thursday night at Yankee Stadium.

Here is Damon, who spoke in a euphoric Yankees clubhouse after Sunday night's game, on the matchup, and on Pedro in general.

"Well, it will be fun if I can be successful off of him," Damon said. "If you're not successful, it's not too much fun, especially this time of year. I'm happy for Pedro. Not too many teams bid on him to pick him up during the offseason. He waited and he picked the right team and he's back in the World Series."

Strange though, right?

"It's strange, but I always hope the best for Pedro, except against us obviously," Damon said. "But what a great teammate. I've been fortunate enough to be able to play with him and against him for all these years."

It should be a great matchup. I'm looking forward to this World Series.

For those Red Sox fans -- and there are a lot of you -- bummed that you are not watching your team play in the ALCS, keep this in mind:

Today is the five-year anniversary of Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS. I think that was the second most significant win in Red Sox history, right after Game 4 of that 2004 World Series.

Think about it, the Red Sox were down 3-0, which used to be a death sentence in a postseason series. The Red Sox are still the only team in either baseball or basketball to overcome a 3-0 series in any postseason series.

And how it became possible? They came back against Mariano Rivera in the ninth inning of Game 4. Millar walked, Roberts stole, and Big Papi sent everyone home in the 12th.

That set the stage for an even wilder Game 5. Papi again started the trek back with a Monster Mash against Tom Gordon. Millar again drew a walk. Roberts again pinch-ran. Trot Nixon -- who had made two game-saving plays defensively earlier in the game -- came through with a hit-and-run singe to right, making it corners and nobody out, Sox still down by a run in the 8th. The Yankees went to Mo again. Varitek came through with a sacrifice fly to tie it.

Three white-knuckle innings out of the bullpen by Tim Wakefield -- with Varitek catching him -- and finally Papi sent everyone home again, this time a "little flair" as Jerry Trupiano called it. Then Joe Buck proclaimed, "Damon is running to the plate, he can keep on running to New York ... Game 6 tomorrow night."

And yes, Game 6. The bloody sock. The A-Rod slap. The Bellhorn homer off the chest of a fan that was originally ruled a double. And pure guts by Keith Foulke, who finished his three-day, 100-pitch stand by blowing a fastball by Tony Clark to set up Game 7.

Game 7, the Red Sox sent Derek Lowe to the mound on two days rest. And he was brilliant. So was Johnny Damon, clocking two homers.

By the time it ended, the Red Sox were spraying each other with champagne in the very same clubhouse they were crying in one year earlier after the Grady/Aaron Boone fiasco.

Remember five years ago. It is probably one of your greatest sports memories ever.

Not much news to report since it all ended for the Red Sox last Sunday, but there are a couple of minor medical updates.

Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, as first reported by WEEI.com, will have his back surgery on Wednesday at Massachusetts General Hospital. The surgery will be performed by Dr. Lawrence Borges. Once the procedure is over, the Red Sox can officially decide if Wakefield is back in the fold for the 2010 season.

Unless there are any complications, I fully expect Wakefield to embark on a 16th season with the Sox. I fully don't get people who think they should commit that $4 million to a younger, healthier player. Wakefield fully earned his $4 million in the first half alone, making the All-Star team. If you need prove, then check out what Brad Penny did for $5 million of the Red Sox's money and what John Smoltz did for $5.5 million.

Ever since agreeing to annual $4 million extensions every year, starting with the 2006 season, Wakefield has proved to be worth all of that money.

While Wakefield does need surgery, it apears that Jed Lowrie does not need another procedure on his torublesome left wrist.

Lowrie consulted with Dr. Donald Sheridan in Arizona shortly after the Red Sox were knocked out of the playoffs.

"The prognosis is good," Lowrie wrote in an e-mail to WEEI.com. "With rest, strength and conditioning it should be 100 percent."

What is hardly 100 percent certain is who will be the starting shortstop for the Red Sox next season.

The Red Sox might be done, but I'm not. Here I am in New York, ready to be your humble servant -- as the late, great Will McDonough used to say -- for this American League Championship Series.

Today at Yankee Stadium was dreary with a capital D. Just disgusting out there. Players seem fairly confident Friday night's Game 1 will go on as scheduled, but we'll see.

Everyone seems to like the Yankees in this series. The one reason I like them is because their bullpen is better than the Angels. That's the one thing the Red Sox really messed up in their Division Series. By their utter inability to hit, they could never exploit that Angels' weakness -- the bullpen.

This is going to be a great series though. I fully expect it to go seven.

Is it me, or is this the most hollow feeling at the end of a Red Sox season since 2003?

In '05, they had Matt Clement pitching Game 1. Enough said. That, and they had just won their first World Series in 86 years just before that. In '06, they were out of it for the last month, so there was plenty of time toe prepare for the end. Last year, I think everyone was proud of what the Red Sox did, overcoming all those injuries -- not to mention the comeback from 7-0 down in Game 5 of the ALCS -- and coming within one big hit of the World Series.

This year? They had all the pieces in place to make a strong run. They just didn't put anything together in the postseason. I imagine this is how the Braves used to feel after one of their traditionally strong regular seasons would turn into nothing in October.

What changes should they make for 2010? I'd like everyone to chime in with their comments.

Thanks for all the comments and keeping the blog chats lively all year. I will continue to post in the offseason.

Ian.

Big Sunday here at Fenway, with the Red Sox in a win or go home scenario.

Not much else to say at this point. Will the bats wake up? If not, the playoffs will be over before they started.

In other news, Dice-K has been keeping himself ready in relief if needed, particularly with Lester a lock for Game 4.

"Well, what we've done is he's gone out and long tossed early and we told him that we're not going to bring him in in the middle of an inning, bases loaded," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. "That's not in his best interest. I'm sure he has some anxiety about that, but we've re-assured him, 'hey, if we use you, it will be clean innings', things like that.

"The biggest thing and, again, we were pretty open about what we wanted to do in this series. We wanted to use Lester [in Game 4]. But again, we wanted to protect ourselves in case Lester had a ball off his leg or a long outing. And we told Dice that going in. He knew kind of what to expect. What it does, it does a couple of things aside from him pitching. It frees us up to use some other guys because he's sitting there maybe behind somebody with a lot of length."

As for the schedule, which included a 7:43 a.m. ET landing in Boston on Saturday and a noon game Sunday, Francona basically said it is what it is.

"It's part of the postseason. Thankfully, we've kind of become accustomed to it." Francona said. "Life is crazy. If you're fortunate enough to get all the way through the World Series, by the time you're done, there's no time schedule. The one thing I think we did learn, and we're so routine oriented, is you have no routine in the postseason. If you understand that, you move on. I was thinking about that getting on the plane the other night. There were all these people getting on that I didn't know. We're such creatures of habit. You get on, you claim your own territory and spread out, we all have our thing. It was like, who are these people. That's just the way it is. It's not bad, it's just different. If you can accept it, it helps. And we've been through it a lot, so just get used to it."

Lineup today:

Ellsbury CF
Pedroia 2B
Martinez C
Youkilis 1B
Bay LF
Ortiz DH
Lowell 3B
Drew RF
Gonzalez SS

Buchholz SP