Will fans boo the ace for last year or last Saturday, or support him?
Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Josh Beckett will pitch the home opener Friday against Tampa Bay.Picture yourself in the stands at Fenway Park on Friday.
As the Red Sox roster is introduced, the starting pitcher is warming up in the bullpen. Do you embrace the festive mood of the home opener and cheer for Josh Beckett?
Or do you join the boos that could be heard on Friday, either as a sprinkling or perhaps as a majority viewpoint?
Beckett is the most complicated issue on the Red Sox, more so even than Bobby Valentine, who will also be introduced to the masses. At various times, the right-hander has been portrayed as a team leader and a team problem, a hard worker and a bad influence, a liability and a superstar.
As bumpy as the offseason ride for this team has been, there will be a scarcity of booing on Friday. Opening Day is a time for optimism and good cheer, a day to put aside the past and look to the future.
Jon Lester will be cheered, and Clay Buchholz, too. Bet on it.
John Lackey would be booed, but he would be crazy to be there. That leaves Beckett, whose reputation took the biggest beating of all last fall, if only because Lackey's public image had been pretty crummy in the first place.
Is it fair? Is it worth it? A straw poll of about 38,000 will vote today on how we feel about Josh Beckett.
It's easy to look at Beckett as a ringleader in the collapse, a guy who signed a big contract in spring of 2011 and has since misplaced the competitive fervor that once made him special.
His attempts at saying he's sorry have been sporadic and clumsy. All but forgotten is his 13-7 record and career-low 2.89 ERA last year, when he was a stellar contributor until the end.
I understand why people are down on Beckett. The questions about his conditioning and his focus did not surface out of thin air.
Then came chicken and beer, and for dessert, a horrid start in Detroit last week.
But for all the embarrassment the clubhouse antics caused this team, and how a handful of players (including Beckett) let down their fans, I stop short of saying the former ace is just bad business.
In spring training, Valentine said Beckett approached his job as a total professional.
Lester said Beckett cares about his teammates in a way people don't see. And keep in mind that Beckett is pitching with a damaged thumb, and is determined to do so all year, while insisting it is neither a factor nor an excuse.
What if Beckett really is pitching hurt? He sought a second opinion on his thumb, and then another, before making his last start.
We normally commend a guy who tries to put aside pain and help his team. Lackey was probably pitching hurt last year, but he's burned too many bridges to get much slack.
Beckett is different. He has a history with this team, one that includes pitching it to the 2007 World Series title, when he should have won the Cy Young Award.
Beckett says flat-out that the Detroit start was not injury-related. He called any season's first start "a crapshoot,'' and says he has fine-tuned his mechanics. Thursday's off day gave him an extra day between starts, and that may help in a home-opening start he says he is genuinely excited about.
If Beckett gets rocked again Friday, by a Tampa Bay lineup with much less punch than the Tigers, the Red Sox have a problem.
Is he hurt and not saying so? Or does he just stink all of a sudden, which would be hard to believe?
Maybe he'll pitch great, and all will be forgiven. We won't know that during the opening ceremonies, though.
I am keeping an open mind on Josh Beckett. He made mistakes, that's for sure.
He also has a history as a good teammate and a bulldog competitor - the type the fans should like, not the screwup they think he became.
Would you boo Josh Beckett? If judging him was as simple as chicken and beer, the answer is easy.
I don't think it is, but I sit in the press box and don't shell out my hard-earned money for my seat. It will be very interesting to hear the reaction from the 38,000 who do.