A disenchanted fan base had to like what it saw in the last week.
Clay Buchholz comes off a 0.79 ERA in spring training to get the start for the Red Sox home opener Monday. He is 1-0.
Two types of sports fans exist, in Red Sox Nation and elsewhere.
One just wants results, regardless of personality or behavior. The other wants success but also some likeability in a team they yearn to call their own.
In the last two years, the Red Sox have fallen short on both counts. As they open their home season Monday at Fenway Park, they look measurably better and definitely more digestible.
Playing aggressively and impressively, the Red Sox won road series at New York and Toronto, and come home to face the Baltimore Orioles with a 4-2 record.
A small sample size, for sure, but with the exception of John Lackey's arm injury and Alfredo Aceves' 10.38 ERA, it was hard to find much wrong.
Jon Lester was outstanding. So was Clay Buchholz, who faces the Orioles Monday.
After outplaying the Yankees, the Red Sox took two of three from the Blue Jays. Boston manager John Farrell is a villain in Toronto, where he escaped the final year on his contract, but he figures to receive a huge greeting at Fenway.
Farrell is an old friend, the Red Sox pitching coach from 2007 through 2010. Moreover, he has put this club back on track to play serious, team-oriented baseball, devoid of the nettlesome issues that soured the fan base.
“Well, going home 4-2 would be, I think, a good way to return,'' Farrell said.
"I think the guys are looking forward to the energy that Fenway and our fans give us. We’ve been two months in Florida and another week on the road.
"I think, all things considered, everybody is looking forward to getting back.''
"I'm excited. I'm really excited for my teammates who haven't been on the home side of Fenway and experienced that,'' said Will Middlebrooks, whose electrifying three-homer game keyed Boston's 13-0 thrashing of Toronto Sunday.
"I love this team. I love the energy we're going to bring. I think the fans will love it as well.''
The Red Sox have a debt to pay them. Even Middlebrooks senses it after playing half a season in Boston.
"Absolutely. I want to win, man,'' he said. "I want to win for them, for the city and for my teammates.
"Obviously, last year was my first year. I didn't really leave with the best taste in my mouth, and I don't think (the fans) have the best taste in their mouths either.
"I kind of want to change some things around and have some fun and beat some people.''
A month ago, many analysts were consigning the Red Sox to a second straight last-place finish in the American League East. They were recalibrating their expectations more favorably even before Boston took the series from Toronto, a popular favorite to win the division.
“I’m looking forward to the home opener,'' new closer Joel Hanrahan said. "That’s something I’ve been waiting for since I got traded here – to get home and see what it’s like being at Fenway in front of the home fans.”
“It would be a lot cooler if I was watching these guys pick up a ring or something, but opening-day festivities are amazing wherever you go.''
Red Sox fans will get their first Fenway look at Jackie Bradley Jr., who hit .419 in spring training but .143 on the road trip. He could be sent to Triple A when David Ortiz is activated from a heel injury, which could be less than two weeks away.
Undaunted, Bradley remains excited about Monday.
“Oh, it’s definitely going to be a lot of fun, that’s for sure. I’m ready to get there,” he said.
Winning and fun. No longer taken for granted, they are the plums the Red Sox hope to deliver to fans who will greet a team trying to be successful, and striving to be liked.