FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The issue had been the subject the past week of intense speculation -- as all things Red Sox are in New England: Who would replace Joe Kerrigan as manager of the team?

The players were no more informed than anyone else. They knew who had been interviewed, but when interim general manager Mike Port and CEO Larry Lucchino called a team meeting Monday, there was geniune suspense in the air.

	“	I've always been a players' manager. Players play for me, and they play hard. ”
		— Grady Little

Lucchino decided to milk the moment a little. "I learned a little from (fellow owner and television producer) Tom Werner," he said.

He stashed his new hire in an equipment room, and as the players looked toward the front of the clubhouse too see the identity of their new manager, Lucchino had him come in from behind.

When the players turned around, in the middle of the room stood Grady Little.

Instantly, the room erupted in applause. So much for questions about how the new man will be received.

Even though Little had spent the last two seasons on the Cleveland Indians' coaching staff, Lucchino said that his hiring was "almost like promoting from within."

Little was with the Sox from 1997-1999 as Jimy Williams' bench coach, and is well known to the core of the team's best players -- Pedro Martinez, Jason Varitek, Trot Nixon, Nomar Garciaparra, Brian Daubach, Tim Wakefield and Derek Lowe.

"I think he knows pretty much the way we do things," said Martinez, "and how we handle ourselves. He's going to fit right in."

	In The Line of Fire
	How recent Red Sox managers have fared: Joe Kerrigan (2001): 17-26, .395 Jimy Williams (1997-01): 414-352, .540 Kevin Kennedy (1995-96): 171-135, .559 Butch Hobson (1992-94): 207-232, .472 Joe Morgan (1988-91): 301-262, .535 John McNamara (1985-88): 297-273, .521 Ralph Houk (1981-84): 312-282, 525 Don Zimmer (1976-80): 411-304, .575

"I don't think he's going to change the team much," agreed Varitek.

That was a consideration, since the Sox are already more than halfway through spring training and three weeks away from Opening Day. For a team which already has new owners and a new general manager, the last thing the Red Sox needed was a manager trying to negotiate a steep learning curve.

Little knows the personnel, and what he doesn't know, he can quickly find out from bench coach Mike Stanley, whom he respects greatly, and third-base coach Mike Cubbage, against whom he managed in the International League.

Nor will he need to get up to speed in the dugout. He's managed nearly 2,000 games in the minor leagues.

"At the end of the day," Lucchino said, "we chose Grady Little to be our manager because Grady did it the old-fashioned way -- he earned it."

Little has learned from some of the best. He worked under Bobby Cox in the Braves' system and beside Williams in the Red Sox dugout. Cox and Williams, it's worth noting, are Nos. 1 and 2 in career winning percentage among active major-league managers with 400 or more games.

He also coached for one season under San Diego's Bruce Bochy, one of the game's most highly-regarded managers.

"I've worked under some good people," Little said, "and I'm going to bring a little bit (of all of them) with me. But I'm also going to bring a whole lot of Grady Little."

Meaning: a relaxed, folksy approach, heavy on the joke-telling and light on the rules.

"If a person's doing any job," Little said, "I figure they're going to be most productive when they're relaxed in trying to get the job done. I can keep a club relaxed."

But Little is more than a good-natured storyteller hired to appease superstars.

"Grady knows the game," assured Texas Rangers GM John Hart, who hired Little for his Cleveland coaching staff when he was GM there. "He's a very astute baseball man, and the players respect him. He knows how to prepare. He's going to be a perfect fit."

Little inherits a talented team -- one the just-fired Joe Kerrigan said would win between 90-100 games -- with accomplished stars in Martinez, Garciaparra and Manny Ramirez.

He's coached the first two in Boston, and the latter in Cleveland, so again, familiarity won't be an issue. And Little understands the psyche of the modern superstar.

"I've always been a players' manager," he said unapologetically after his interview last Friday. "Players play for me, and they play hard."

He won't have a policy of appeasement when it comes to the big names, but he understands he needn't be a taskmaster either.

"I treat everyone fairly," he said, "but maybe not the same."

Like most managers, he adjusts his style to his players' talents, not the other way around. The Sox will run more than they did last year, but that's not a reflection of his penchant for stolen bases as much as it is the presence of Johnny Damon and a healthy Garciaparra.

He takes over with no delusions about the expectations in Boston, where they're not thirsty for a winner so much as parched for one.

"Losing is not an option for me," he said. "It never has been. (I'd tell fans): 'Buckle up. We're going to have a good ride.' "

Sean McAdam of the Providence Journal covers baseball for ESPN.com.