Sox Rising, Yankees Slipping

Doesn't everything look a little brighter today? The Sox held a terrific Opening Day, exorcising one last demon - bringing out Bill Buckner to throw out the first pitch to the ever-loved Dwight Evans (Deeewwwyy). After all the pomp and circumstance, they got down to an excellent ball game.

Dice-K Matsuzaka was masterful. His command was perfect, and he kept Detroit batters off balance all day. Dice-K has now pitched in 3 straight opening day games. That's got to be a record. The Sox have won all three of those games. We all hoped that Dice-K's second season with the Sox would work out a lot like Josh Beckett's second season with them. So far so good. Could we have two Cy Young candidates in the rotation this year? The bullpen did just as well with Manny Delcarmen shaking off the memory of the grand slam he gave up to Frank Thomas and pitching 1 1/3 scoreless innings to hand it over to Hideki Okajima who wrapped up the win for his fellow countryman. Okajima seems to be picking up where he left off last year, and promises to be an anchor in the bullpen for the Sox.

The offense looked better, with JD Drew staying hot, while Youlikis, Varitek, Pedroia, and (yes) Julio Lugo all had multi-hit games. Manny attracted the most attention with his (ill-advised) decision to stretch a double into a triple. It worked out fine, but let's hope he doesn't try that too often. It was a 1-0 game at the time and he was leading off. The throw actually beat him to third base, but luckily it was off-line and sailed past the third baseman. Glad to see Manny Ramirez being aggressive, but the smarter move would have been to hold up and have a runner at 2nd base with no outs and your 5, 6, and 7 batters coming up.

Big Papi is still struggling a bit, but did come close to launching a grand slam. Hopefully he gets into a groove soon. Word is his knee is still bothering him after off-season surgery. Having him out of the lineup drastically changes things for the offense, so let's hope the knee holds up.

Good news in Pawtucket. We have been less than pleased with the Sox middle relief so far this season. On Monday, Mike Timlin threw 18 pitches in an inning of relief for the PawSox and felt great topping out at 93 mph. He is expected to join the Sox on Friday when the Yankees come to town.

Speaking of the Yankees, things are not looking to upbeat for them right now. The season is still young, so no reason for New Yorkers to start crying into their pinstriped handkerchiefs just yet. But, while the Sox were taming the Tigers at Fenway yesterday, the Yankees were getting schooled in Kansas City. The mighty A-Rod struck out four times in the game! Meanwhile, Derek Jeter will miss a few games with a groin injury and Jorge Posada is on the verge of a possible DL stint for a "dead arm". Meanwhile, rookie sensation Phil Hughes did not fare so well lasting only 3 innings in the game.



So, what does all that mean? Everything is rosy in Red Sox Nation today.

Tonight the Tigers' Jeremy Bonderman will make his first ever start in Fenway Park, matching up against Jon Lester. Lester was brilliant in his last start, and should get an emotional boost from the home crowd. Bonderman is a good pitcher, but the Sox should fare well against him. The only thing I worry about is that the Tiger is due to wake up soon. This team is predicted by many to be the best team in the AL this year. Right now they are winless at 0-7. Can Lester hold them back for one more game? Can Big Papi break out for the home town crowd? Will JD Drew stay hot and carry the team through April? Will Julio Lugo begin a march to challenge Youkilis' error-free streak? He's already one game into it.

Opening Day - At Last

Everything is right in the world again. Baseball is back in Boston.

There really is nothing like opening day. There is a tangible buzz in the streets around Fenway, excitement in the air drifting all around the smell of popcorn and sizzling sausages. Fenway Park puts on her best outfit, all bedecked in red white and blue bunting, and the streets echo with pleas for a ticket - any ticket to get in for the game.

I took my family to opening day in 2005, and it was a day none of us will forget. I had put my name into the online ticket lottery on RedSox.com, and I was selected for the opportunity to purchase tickets to a Yankees game. Fortunately, the Yankees were our opening day opponent, so I quickly went on line and managed to get 4 bleacher seats, rather close to the "Red Seat". If you haven't stood by the red seat - it is truly amazing how far that Ted Williams home run landed from home plate.

The day was electric. The ceremony was thrilling, the flyover rocked, and pride flowed through Red Sox Nation. The funniest moment was when Mariano Rivera was introduced and the crowd erupted in cheers - thanking Rivera for his role in helping the Sox advance to the World Series. What made it so memorable was Mariano seeing the humor in it and laughing as he waved to the crowd.

The Red Sox got their rings, beat the Yankees, and raised the spirits of millions as fans, both old and new.

Amazingly, only a scant few years later, we are raising another banner. Spring is here, the Sox are in town, and there is once again joy in Mudville.

{Now, let's get out there and tame some Tigers}

One game, One win

Doesn't it feel great to have baseball back? Red Sox win in extra innings. The game started off fairly sluggish, but got exciting as it went along. I think opening in Japan is interesting, but all-in-all, I don't like it. It does absolutely nothing to help either team, throws their spring training into turmoil, and after two games, they go back to playing exhibition games. That just doesn't make sense. Their ONLY point to playing these games in Japan is money and marketing. Someone needs to think these through better.

So, let me run you through some thoughts I collected while watching opening day. Got to get these out before game two starts in a couple hours.

I have to admit, I missed most of the first two innings, and apparently Dice-K did not start off well. However, after the 2nd, he settled down pretty well. It it wasn't for a high pitch count by then, combined with the game being so early on, he looked like he could have cruised another inning or two.

The A's really helped the Sox out quite a bit. In the 6th inning, Dustin Pedroia's double should have been an out. Not the easiest catch in the world, but the right fielder was there, had a bead on it, and should have grabbed it. If you ask him, I bet he agrees. That miss helped set up Manny's double, driving in the first 2 RBI of the year for the Sox. Manny started off slow last year, but so far so good this year. Then, Brandon Moss strokes a nice single to right, and Manny is waved home from second. Manny scores, but the throw is terrible. If they had A real major league arm in right field (like Dewey Evans), Manny would have been held to third, or gunned down. It would have taken a good throw, but the throw they got was terrible.

I know, you want to send Karl Snyder to the minors. If you think that, please go home. He made, and I count, ONE bad pitch. It was a bad one, but there was only one. The first batter hit a single, but it was a poorly hit ball that found its way up the middle. Those things happen. The home run pitch to the next batter was bad. Varitek called for a fastball outside, and Snyder threw it inside, right in the lefty wheelhouse. Tip your hat to Snyder for getting the next three outs in a row in fine fashion. That is the sign of a good professional. He did not fall apart, he sucked it up, knowing he just blew the lead, and did his job. That's what we need in a middle reliever.

Other good pitching - Javier Lopez great job, and Okajima picked up right where he left off. For the competition, old friends Embree, Foulke and DiNardo all looked good.

If you've been reading, you know my one complaint about Ellsbury is his hesitation going up for balls against the wall. While tonight's terrific catch does not quite fit into that category (it was enough in front of the wall to create a different situation for the outfielder), it was a wonderful catch, worthy of Coco Crisp. And let's all tip our hats to Brandon Moss' first career home run to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth. Amazing!

Then, another gift from Oakland when Brown somehow decides he wants to go to third on a double that already drove in a run in the 10th. What he was thinking was that the throw was going home, giving him time to get to third. But, Youk cut the throw off, and Brown was dead.

Papelbon looked good, not great. But, it is early, and it is Asia. Let's give them a chance to settle in. The A's could have easily won that game, but mistakes cost them the game.

Manny is the hero, and goat, of the game. Great hitting, and he looks in tip top shape. His failure to run hard on a hit he thought was a home run in the 10th is terrible. In the end, it made no difference. He would never had made it tho third, and the winning runs scored. But, he's luck he made it to second.

So, good start, lots of heart, lots of damage from the middle of the order, and with Papi's bat cold, Manny stepped up. Nice start.

Game On!

It is here at last - opening day! By the time you read this, the game may very well be over. But heading into the game, let me give you something to chew on.

The batting order that has been communicated at this point is as follows:

Pedroia
Youk
Papi
Manny
Lowell
JD Drew
Varitek
Ellsbury
Lugo

If it does not jump out at you, let me give you a hint. Look at the top of the order. Wouldn't you expect Jacoby Ellsbury to lead off? He did a great job of getting on base last season, and when he gets on base he creates all kinds of trouble for the defense. With his speed he can practically score from first on a sacrifice fly! While that is an exaggeration, he DID score from second base on a wild pitch last year.

So, what gives? Pedroia is a fine batter, but a s...l...o...w runner. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure exactly why the order is the way it is. You may hear that they don't want to put Ellsbury right in the spotlight to start off his "official" rookie season. Well, I would not give that theory much credit. They put Jacoby in the lead off spot as a replacement for the injured Coco Crisp in the World Series! There is no bigger stage than that. If they are willing to bat him lead off in the World Series, then opening day is not a big deal.

Here the real (most likely) reason. Jacoby has not had a great spring offensively. He is not their regular lead off batter (ala Johnny Damon for a few years). So, they are playing him relative to how he is playing right now. I guarantee he will not spend much time batting 8th this season. Terry Francona is simply putting him in a low pressure part of the order while he is looking for his groove at the plate and letting him get his stroke back with less urgency than if he was batting lead off.

Look for Dice-K to have a great game. He is at home, in comfortable surroundings, playing in front of an adoring home crowd. This should be a great game for him. The one thing to watch there is removing a starter during a game is a bigger deal than in the US. I'm sure that won't sway Francona, but I wonder how the Japanese fans will react to it. This time of year, I don't expect starters to go more than 6 innings.

Game On!