Last weekend I had the chance to take in a Red Sox spring
training game at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Florida. It was the last game of
the preseason and despite impending rain, the crowd was enthusiastic to see the
team’s last warm up before Opening Day. Before the game I stood in a narrow
hallway as the players crossed between the clubhouse and the dugout, many of
them smiling and nodding as they walked past. Further down the passageway
towards the field, fans of all ages hung over the railing hoping to get a
glimpse of a favorite player and perhaps even an autograph.
“Do the Sox ever cut through that way?” I asked my new
friend Jerry, a member of the security team. “Nope, never — but the other team
walks through there and then once one of our minor league guys stood there and
signed for an hour. He was having a ball.” I realized that this was the moment
when expectations were highest — for the fans who would might never get this
close to a player, for the minor league journeyman who would never again get
nearer to the majors and even for the team itself. The team is nearly identical
to the championship squad, there are few worrisome injuries to track (knocking
on wood) and few pending contracts to worry about. Even with these stars
aligned, the team can hardly plan to repeat the magic of 2013 because it was
just that — magic. Managing the expectations of the fans, the players and the
media for the upcoming season must be a daunting task for John Farrell and his
staff.
While my jaunt to Florida kept me outside of Rhode Island’s
borders during the election of Speaker Nicholas Mattiello last week, the magic
of Twitter (and a reasonably patient family) gave me a front row seat to the
action. Like John Farrell, Speaker Mattiello has to manage high expectations as
he assumes his new leadership position in the House of Representatives. So far
he’s been decisive – promptly replacing committee chairs and saying he would
focus on “ jobs and the economy” — four magic words that Rhode Islanders are
desperate to hear. Moderate Democrats did a happy dance watching the
progressive wing of the party pick the losing side in the leadership battle and
even some Republicans were pleased to see one of their own — Representative
Doreen Costa — be awarded a vice chairmanship on the House Judiciary Committee.
In the East Bay, the rise of Representative Raymond Gallison to chair of the
House Finance Committee and Representative Jay Edwards as the new Majority Whip
gives our regional issues a little more voice on Smith Hill.
With week one behind him, the honeymoon may be short-lived
as the General Assembly has a load of work ahead and Speaker Mattiello has some
thorny issues to wrap his arms around with just two months left to go in the
session. He needs to decide whether the House will take up the pension reform
settlement (if it is approved by the unions) and he will need to pass a budget
through a chamber whose members were (at least initially) not unified in their
support of him. And unlike John Farrell, his season is a short one and his
success or failure will likely ride on the how the next few months play out.
One thing is for certain, whether or not Speaker Mattiello can manage the high
expectations that have been set — and the daunting challenges ahead — he won’t be
slipping a shiny new World Series ring on his finger anytime soon, so relishing
day-to-day wins and riding out the losses will have to suffice for now.