SalemNews.com, Salem, MA

"The difference between a good and bad pitching coach is not a big deal," said Beckett while waiting for the start of Monday Night Football last night. "But having a great pitching coach, that is a big deal."

Beckett should know of what he speaks, having already been mentored by six pitching coaches in his six-year big league career. But, by most accounts, the 44-year-old Farrell might just present a bit of a different package from anything most of the Red Sox pitchers have seen.

"Nobody out there has his resume," said Boston's director of player development Mike Hazen, who worked directly under Farrell with the Indians for three seasons. "Maybe one or two, but you would be hard-pressed to find somebody as well-rounded as he is.

"This guy has shown the ability to adapt and relate to all kinds of people. He's humble and he's a tireless worker. He has the ability to impact all sorts of people, and that's the main thing for me. Sure, pitching coach offers a different dynamic, but I do know what this guy brings to the table and it's a lot."

When it was announced yesterday that Farrell, who had served as the Cleveland Indians' director of player development for the past five seasons, will succeed Dave Wallace as Boston's pitching coach, the move was applauded by most who had any sort of familiarity with the eight-year major league veteran.

Kevin O'Brien, a scout with the Toronto Blue Jays, instantly got on the phone with Farrell, who was his roommate while the two played for Hyannis in the Cape Cod League back in the early 1980's.

"He was pretty excited," O'Brien said. "I told him to remember that he should remember when we lived in Osterville, one of the most affluent towns on the Cape, and had to sleep in a shed in back of some guy's house. There was barely any running water. Now he has all this fame and fortune. But he's a great guy. Just a really normal guy."

Farrell's path from riding a broken down pickup truck around the streets of the Cape to serving as the Red Sox's chief pitching mentor also included the meeting of another influential acquaintance, current Boston manager Terry Francona. The Sox's skipper first met the former pitcher when both played for the Indians in '88 and have remained close since.

In the time in between Francona's initial time with Farrell and yesterday's reunion, the Oklahoma State University alum spent four years as the Cowboys' pitching coach, guiding current major league reliever Scott Williamson. After the collegiate sting he moved onto the Indians, but only after missing out on what he considered a great opportunity as the head baseball coach at the Naval Academy.

"I think we were looking for characteristics and trains in a pitching coach that are consistent with how we feel about the game and feel about people," said Francona in a conference call involving Farrell and Boston general manager Theo Epstein. "I wanted somebody desperately that I was comfortable with, that Theo would be comfortable with, that ownership would be comfortable with, and that players would be comfortable.

"So this isn't something where you start rounding up friends and friendships. What I wanted to do was have somebody that I thought could be an outstanding pitching coach for the Boston Red Sox. That's why this ended up being an easy decision."

Another aspect of the job Farrell figures to excel in is building upon the relationship between what the pitchers in the minor leagues and their higher-ups in the majors.

According to a 2003 story in the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, Farrell was instrumental in developing, and executing, the particulars in a thick, three-ring binder called the Indians' "Player Developmental Manual." It includes the three main criteria in deciphering a player's development, which is identified as an athlete's fundamental, physical, and mental skills.

Under Farrell, each player who entered the Indians' system is evaluated in each area and then debriefed by their manager to analyze the results. Three times a year, each player is re-evaluated.

"If you look at player development, it feels like a big school," said Indians team psychologist Charlie Maher told the Plain-Dealer. "John Farrell is the principal. And each individual has his own play, and it's a plan for learning."

Not comes Farrell's next challenge - to incorporate his experiences in the developmental process of young pitchers, with the delicacies of dealing with veterans such as Curt Schilling and Tim Wakefield. With a Red Sox pitching staff coming off a season in which it was fifth-worst in the majors in ERA, and uncertainties residing in both the rotation and bullpen, Farrell appears to have his work cut out for him.

"He's a baseball guy, that's who he is and that's what he does," Hazen said. "I couldn't have a higher opinion of a person."