Standing in the third base coaches' box, clapping as his own players jogged around the basepaths home run after home run, Chad Epperson had fun in the California League.

From the dugout, watching his pitchers get rocked in the high altitude and small ballparks, the view was a little different.

"Not so much fun," Epperson admitted. "I can't wait to get back to those 2-1 ballgames."

Epperson, the California League's manager of the year the past two seasons in a row, will likely see a lot more of those as the manager of the Salem Red Sox in the Carolina League in 2009.

Red Sox farm director Mike Hazen said Epperson "has been a huge part of our success.

"He's a very good communicator," Hazen said. "A good baseball guy, smart, we have tremendous confidence in him."

Epperson, 36, has managed for six years in the Red Sox farm system, the last three at the high-A level including the 2006 season when the Red Sox were in the Carolina League in Wilmington, Del.

That was when Epperson got to know Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium.

"Salem's a fair ballpark, fair from both sides," Epperson said. "I love that ballpark."

Epperson admitted that managers, just like players, want to move up.

"But we have to keep our eyes on what's important," Epperson said.

What's important, in minor league baseball, is player development.

"There are no minor league championship banners in Fenway Park," Hazen said. "Our marker of success is first and foremost developing the players that have been drafted and ultimately to infuse those players onto the big league club. Short of that, we haven't been successful."

Which is not to say the Red Sox are not interested in winning along the way. Epperson pointed out that every affiliate in the Red Sox system finished over .500 last year and four of the seven teams made the playoffs.

"You don't do that by luck," Epperson said.

Hazen credited talent, pointing to Boston's investment in scouting and signing international free agents. Once the players are signed, Hazen said communication keeps the player development system working.

"Our rovers do such a good job outlining what each individual needs to work on, I try to make it as fun as possible," Epperson said. "I try to change things up a bit but still try to hammer on the same nail. I try to make it fun to come to the ballpark every day."

Hazen said you won't likely see a Red Sox organization manager trying to manufacture a run early in a game.

"Our managers are probably a little more hands off early in the game, there's not a lot of sacrifice bunts trying to move the runner over in the first inning, we want to hit a three-run homer," Hazen said. "We want to win with the talent on the field. We feel like if the talent's good enough, that's where the wins are gonna come.

"The goal is to win the game and to teach our guys how to win -- to get to Boston you need to win -- because they are not coming up to get on the ride."

That is why fans might see a struggling prospect keep running out there night after night, trying to work out his problems rather than earning a ride on the bench.

And it's why Epperson still looks back at the California League, and all those homers, fondly.

"There are two ways to look at it," he explained. "You can say 'You can't pitch here' or you can say 'This is gonna teach you how to keep the ball down; this is gonna teach you how to pitch.' "