It was the one lingering question throughout Spring Training this year for the defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox: who would roam centerfield? The two players vying to be penciled in to manager Terry Francona's lineup were rookie sensation and World Series star Jacoby Ellsbury and incumbent for much of the 07 season Coco Crisp.

Many people thought the decision was easy: Ellsbury had passed Crisp last season in September with his timely hitting, speed on the basepaths and stellar defense. Crisp, who probably should've won the Gold Glove last season with what seemed like a nightly highlight reel play, couldn't hit a lick last season and Francona made a change in the playoffs, which paid immediate dividends.

In 11 postseason games in 2007, Ellsbury batted .360 (9-for-25) with 8 runs scored and a pair of stolen bases. In the four-game sweep of the Rockies in the World Series, Ellsbury went 7-for-16 (.438) with four doubles and combined with Dustin Pedroia to basically lead the Sox to a game three win, as the duo at the top of the order combined to go 7-for-10, scored three runs and drove home four in a 10-5 win.

During this shining moment for Ellsbury, where was Crisp? Fox cameras would periodically show Crisp in the dugout, usually with a jacket or sweatshirt on, staring out on the field. He did see late-inning action in game 1 (a 13-1 Red Sox win, went in as a defensive replacement for Manny Ramirez and went 0-for-1 at the plate); in game 3 (10-5 Sox win, came in as part of a double switch for JD Drew and went 1-for-1); and came in to pinch run for David Ortiz in game 4 and stayed in as part of a double switch to play CF (with Ellsbury moving to left for Ramirez).

With that, many a Sox fan thought the job was Ellsbury's come 2008 and Crisp would be traded. He had been mentioned in a couple of deals, one to the Cubs, one to Texas for a backup catcher and countless others to teams (like the Twins and Rays) for bullpen help. But Crisp hurt himself (no pun intended) by being hampered with injuries most of the spring, basically taking himself out of the running to take the CF job from Ellsbury or earn himself a trade to another team.

Ellsbury didn't help to make the competition for the CF job a moot point, either, by struggling offensively during Spring Training. Maybe it was the lack of actual competition (with Crisp sidelined), but Ellsbury batted just .224 (11-for-49) with just four extra base hits and going 4-for-5 on stolen base attempts. He led the team in Spring Training at-bats (Jed Lowrie had 46, Pedroia 46) and still couldn't take advantage of the extra playing time.

Now that we are headed into the fourth game of the 2008 season this afternoon in Oakland, and as the Red Sox prepare for a weekend series in Toronto and the home opening series vs. Detroit, the question still looms: who should be the team's centerfielder?

Crisp has recovered from his spring injury and has seen playing time in each of the first three games of the season, including a start last night at Oakland with the continued injury problems of Drew. Crisp is 2-for-7 with a double in the early going.

Ellsbury has been the starter for the Sox in CF or RF so far this season, and has two hits (both singles) in nine at-bats. He did have a key RBI single last night in Oakland to drive home the game-tying run.

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