Opening Day: The Pictures

I can write out a long, wordy post telling you about opening day... or I can just do this:

-My eyes got misty when Tek and Wake walked out from behind the American flag. I had hoped they'd be throwing out the first pitches, but I didn't want to get my hopes up. And who better to catch those pitches than Dewey and Jim Ed?

-It was awesome seeing Grandpa Pesky shouting Play Ball! It scares me how frail he's looking.  I don't want to think about the fact that it took three people to hold him up.

-Beckett was amazing. The Sox kicked ass, and we won 12-2. Talk about the benefits of a home cooked meal.

-The loss of Pretzels is going to hurt. If only he hadn't let his marshmallows soften.

-Here, have a couple pictures!

Youk: The New Revenge Bringer?

Wow. That game was one of those games that you have to really watch.... at least the first few innings. It's a horrible thing to say, for sure, but I love when players charge the mound as long as no one really gets hurt. I guess that's the wrestling fan in me. Youk has always seemed like kind of a hot head. I'm surprised this is only the first time he's been up there. I'm also BEYOND surprised, as I think Don pointed out last night, that Youk made it all the way to the pitcher. The first baseman was essentially like, two feet from where they ended up. Maybe he wanted to see a fight, too? Then again, if that scary mug were charging toward someone near me, looking hell-bent on revenge, I probably wouldn't intervene either. I also have to agree with Jim Ed - that was a weak helmet throw. I understand it's probably hard to throw your helmet menacingly while running, but I expected just a little bit more from him. I do hope that Youk isn't hurt, though. That would be bad... although with our over-abundance of 1st base types these days, we might be able to wing it.

So Junichi Tazawa, welcome to your average, every day start. You'll have guys who couldn't turn a double play if their families lives depended on it (which, luckily they don't, otherwise Munchkin and Captain Planet would be screwed). I'm sure you know already, Junichi, that this isn't going to happen here every day. Just every few days or so. Or once a year, really, and you were just lucky enough that it happened to coincide with your first start in the majors. I'll give the kid credit. He looked shaky in the first, and that wasn't helped at all by the two blown double plays in a row, but he survived and he came away with his first big league win to counteract that terrible first big league loss that he should have never been responsible for.

I didn't see Tito get tossed, as I was baking when it happened, but it must have been comical. Also, Rick Porcello probably shouldn't have thrown at two of our guys and expect to not get tossed. He may have only hit Youk, but he came dangerously close to giving VMart a ball-shaped bruise on his ribs. Eck was unsure at first about Porcello's intentions, but there was no doubt in my mind that he was trying to hit him. I'm glad that by the end of the broadcast, Eck came around and realized what we all were thinking. Come on, Tigers. You really think Tazawa was trying to hit your guys? He had pitched two innings and was probably a little nervous. His control wasn't there. Porcello's control was there, though, until his guy got hit. Weird.

And how about that Mike Lowell, the beautiful man that he is, coming into the game on his night off and hitting two home runs! TWO! He is the reason we won the game. Just think, if Youk didn't charge the mound, we may have lost this game.

Again, Paps tried to make it interesting in the 9th. I'm just glad that he didn't make it TOO interesting. And not for nothing, but Curtis Granderson, stop being the bane of my existence, ok? Enough it enough (and it's time for a change?)!

Commander on the mound tonight. I can't wait, and admit it, neither can you.

Big Papi: Justifying The Love

He did it. The monkey's off his back. Swing and a drive, deep to center field... and it's gone! David Ortiz has gone yard, to the deepest part of the ballpark no less. I couldn't be happier for Papi. He really did look like that 800 lb. elephant was off his back. That damn thing had been weighing him down. It was just great to see him smile. It was even better to see him hit a double high off the wall in his next at bat. Perhaps the confidence is back?

Everyone at Fenway had been really supportive of him, and it makes you proud to be a Red Sox fan when it comes to stuff like this. He got just as much support as we could give him, and then some. I like to believe that it actually made a difference for him. He said it did, but I don't want to give too much credit to the fans at the expense of Papi. Today feels like the beginning of the season all over again.

I also need to give major love to the Captain. As NESN showed last night, Tek does tend to like hitting on May 20th. 9 home runs in the last nine years. I wonder what it is about May 20th that gets him all amped up? But two home runs from Tek is all I need to be a happy girl. Doesn't he have like, seven on the season already? Amazing. Last year, my darling captain had a lot to deal with, and his personal life obviously got in the way of his game. Not to say that he isn't declining, because he is, but it's nice to see him put a good swing on a ball every now and then.

Even more love to Jacoby for tying a record that he really had zero control over. His 12 put-outs in the game tie the major league record and break the Red Sox record of 11 that had been held by the likes of Ted Williams. Jacoby didn't have a say in which balls were hit in his direction, so this isn't (in my mind) that big of a deal. It's just kind of a cool trivia fact to know.

Love abounds today, and now it's JayBay's turn. Talk about trying to show up the rest of the guys on the team, Jason hit it clean out of the park. Unassuming Canadian. Hmph! Yeah right. The man is devious. I love it.

And now, of course, Michael Averett Lowell. The double play had me screaming out vulgarities, but the home run made up for it. Admit it. You completely forgot he had hit into a double play after the home run. Just for the record, he's up to 12 now. The record for double plays in a single season, as NESN also informed me last night, is held by none other than our HOF inductee Jim Ed Rice. He had 36. Let's hope Mikey doesn't get around to breaking that one...

Credit must also be given to Penny. Yeah, it may look ugly while he's doing it, but as long as the results are good, I'm cool with it. I guess. He's gotten a lot of flak from me for being frightening, but c'mon... he's no worse than some of our OTHER starters have been.

We get Binky today and Dice on Friday. So Beckett is now, what, the number three starter? Or is he still the number one, and Timmy is our number two... ok, I'm just gonna stop this here because I'm going to get confused. If Johnny doesn't want to be considered the worst starter on this team, he better plan on having a clean outing tomorrow. I know it will be hard, because the Blue Jays like to punish him, but we're gonna keep hoping. Ok? Ok. Awesome.

And just for the record, I'm thoroughly enjoying Eck's love of cheese. High cheese, educated cheese, cheese of a higher temperature? It's all good.

Congratulations Jim Rice!

As a baseball player, I knew nothing about you. As an announcer, you sort of confuse me sometimes. As a wearer of ties, no one even comes close to comparing.

Regardless of all that, you were finally elected into the baseball Hall of Fame, to be enshrined in Cooperstown with the greatest of the greats.

Many say you didn't deserve this. Many more saying that it's far past due. None of that matters now. You're in.

Congratulations, Jim.

Rice, Saito, McDaniels: All Integral Parts of this Post

First thing's first... Takashi Saito has agreed to a 1-year deal worth upwards of $1.5 million. We've now brought on just about every free agent who was really good and had a bad year due to injuries last season. I know Saito was really good for the Dodgers a few years back, and if he's healthy, he has the potential to be really good for us. It's going to make for a very interesting spring training. Between all of OUR guys who were injured last year and our new recruits who were injured last year, it's going to be a medical miracle if we can field a team of major leaguers for the exhibition games.

I kid. It won't be a miracle, but spring training is going to contain a lot of players who we need to keep our eyes on. Man, I can't wait for spring training...

Next... As I'm sure everyone in the free world knows by now (whether or not they care about baseball), today is the day that Jim Rice finds out (sort of) once and for all if he has made the HOF. Because of my loyalties to the Sox, I want him to get in. I didn't see a single second of Jim Rice's career. That was before my time, so I can't say for certain whether or not he deserves to be in there. I can look at the numbers, I can read and research all I want, but it's nothing like actually seeing someone play. If he doesn't get in this time, his fate is left up to the veteran's committee, and they're just not really that keen on voting people in. So, good luck Jim. We'll all be finding out your fate soon enough.

Third... Josh McDaniels, of Patriots fame has accepted a job as the coach of the Denver Broncos. Just as putting the team in the (surprisingly capable) hands of Matt Cassel was scary, losing our defensive coordinator is not something I'm looking forward to. Not that I don't wish him luck, because he deserves a shot at coaching. Many people were hoping that he would replace Bill Belichick when the man finally retires, but that's just seemingly too far in the future. Josh shouldn't have to wait around for a better job here in New England when there are opportunities to be had all over the country. I wish him the best of luck, and I hope that his teams never beat us.

Now for some quick little bits:
-Michael Young has requested that the Rangers trade him. I really, REALLY don't like when a player requests a trade. All that says to me is either "I signed here for the most money, not considering what it would be like to actually play here, so now I want to inconvenience the people that pay me by making them find another team willing to pay me" or "I wanted to win a championship, and since I no longer think it's realistic to do that here, I want to be sent somewhere where I can win." Ok - maybe that's not fair. There could be a million reasons why someone might want to be traded, but I just see it as a bailout.
-Neither Manning brother is going to be playing in the SuperBowl this year. This makes me feel better that the Patriots aren't in it. Besides, they irk the hell out of me. Don't worry, I wouldn't be seen walking around with an "I Hate Peyton Manning" shirt. I barely like them enough to mention them in my blog, nevermind having their names written on my body all day. No thanks. Go Ravens!
-The Braves have reached an agreement with Japanese pitcher Kenshin Kawakame. I know nothing about him, except for the fact that he's Japanese and he wanted to pitch in America.

That's it for me for now. I'll update again after the Hall announcement.