They're scout masters

The shift was on. Jim Edmonds, who hit .500 against the Red Sox with two home runs in 2003, was at the plate to lead off the second inning of Game 1 of the 2004 World Series. The Cardinals trailed, 4-0. Edmonds bunted down the third base line for a base hit.

Somewhere in Fenway Park, Dave Jauss, the Red Sox' major league advance scout, cracked a smile. Sure, he understood Edmonds might bunt; he had seen him do it in the National League Championship Series against the Astros. He had mentioned that possibility in his scouting report to the Red Sox. But here's what he also knew.

"I know if he takes a swing, he might just hit the Wall," Jauss said prior to last night's Game 2 of the World Series. "And I also know this. He also might not just hit the Wall, he might hit it over that Sports Authority sign, like he did against Mendoza last year."

You can look it up. Edmonds did just that against Ramiro Mendoza, belting a three-run homer over everything in the 13th inning in the Cardinals' 8-7 victory June 12.

All in all, Jauss doesn't mind seeing Edmonds bunting. It beats the alternative.

Jauss and his scouts have been busy the last six weeks. Starting in September, the Red Sox assigned a full-time scout to the Cardinals, hoping that whatever data and information trickled in would eventually be of use. By the time it was determined the Red Sox and Cardinals would be participants in the World Series, the scouts had reports ready for Red Sox manager Terry Francona on the eve of Game 1.

"There are no tricks of the trade," Jauss said. "All you do is try to re-familiarize yourself with the team. You know, for instance, that Scotty Rolen is a great defensive third baseman. But is there something he's doing better now that we didn't know about before? Does [Albert] Pujols hit the ball all over the park? [Answer: yes.] We use a lot of people."

Jauss tries to minimize the impact and importance of what he does, but Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein doesn't.

"Advance scouting is huge," Epstein said. "It's fundamental. Dave Jauss and Galen Carr [advance scouting coordinator] don't get enough credit. I thought advance scouting was the key to beating Oakland last year and I thought it was the key in the Anaheim series this year. It also helps against the Yankees [where the Sox had seven scouts at one time], although I think the impact is lessened somewhat because the teams are so familiar with each other."

But, in this instance, scouting takes on a bigger role because the Red Sox and Cardinals normally don't play each other. (They played three interleague games in 2003, all in Boston.) There were three to four Boston scouts on the Cardinals by the time the playoffs began, gathering every possible bit of information.

"It's everything now," Epstein said. "We started scouting these guys in September. We focused on them throughout the postseason. And we spent [Friday and Saturday] taking our reports to the coaching staff and then to the players."

Francona said he got the St. Louis reports Friday afternoon. Everyone got together later that night "for a while," according to Francona.

"This is the hardest meeting for all of us because we have not played this team," Francona said. "Even with our National League background, some of us, when you're away a couple of years, and haven't seen teams over the course of a year, it's a little different. Our meetings before Anaheim and New York were very informative and very good. This one was a little different because of the time span."

Then there's the matter of doing what the reports specify. Cardinals Game 2 starter Matt Morris said he, for one, is grateful to be getting new information about a new team.

"It's a catch-22 with me," Morris said. "We played Houston so many times that I'm out there thinking of a pitch I made in June, you know, or after the All-Star break, to a guy and wondering if it's going to work again. And you can get in trouble doing things like that. It's almost nice to have a fresh team in your mind."

Red Sox Game 2 starter Curt Schilling has extensive working knowledge of the Cardinals from 13 years in the National League. He said St. Louis presents "the best lineup I've seen since the 2001 World Series." He will be given all the data accumulated by Jauss and the scouts, all the video work done by Epstein's underlings, yet, when it comes time to make the first pitch, Schilling was direct on what he would do.

"I will rely solely on my experience with them as far as putting a game plan together," he said. "I'll finalize what I feel like is the game plan I need to go out and execute to beat them."