The Red Sox’ World Series roster has one significant change from the American League Championship Series roster… as you know by now, Tim Wakefield is out due to the slow-to-heal injury in the rear of his right shoulder… surprisingly, he has been replaced on the roster by Kyle Snyder (I’d have bet you a buck it was going to be Julian Tavarez).

Pitchers (11): Josh Beckett, Manny Delcarmen, Eric Gagne, Jon Lester, Javier Lopez, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Hideki Okajima, Jonathan Papelbon, Curt Schilling, Kyle Snyder, Mike Timlin.

Catchers (2): Doug Mirabelli, Jason Varitek.

Infielders (7): Alex Cora, Eric Hinske, Mike Lowell, Julio Lugo, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis.

Outfielders (5): Coco Crisp, J.D. Drew, Jacoby Ellsbury, Bobby Kielty, Manny Ramirez.

This afternoon, manager Terry Francona announced that rookie outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury will start Game 1 in center field in place of struggling Coco Crisp. Francona officially said the reason for the change was Crisp’s knee—which he banged on the bullpen wall making the last out of Game 7 of the ALCS… but anyone who watched the ALCS knows that the change was likely to happen even without the knee “injury”.

The Red Sox have announced that Carl Yastrzemski will throw out the first pitch before Game 1 of the World Series. - Source: Sox1Fan Blog