Red Sox

Sox’ return to Fenway, April 8, 2008

Do you think the banner is big enough?

  

Big Papi showing off his bling.

  

Bill Buckner throwing out the first pitch and getting atonement.

And best yet, they WON!  5-0 over the Tigers.

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April 2, 2008
Sox win 5-0 over Athletics

Lester gets Win, Embree gets Loss.

Read all about it here.

 

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 Opening Day - Take 2

April 1, 2008

Red Sox v. Oakland Athletics

Sox win 2-1 with Youks scoring both of Boston’s runs.  He was driven in by Jacoby Ellsbury’s single in the fifth-inning and Jason Varitek’s sixth-inning double. Matsuzaka pitched great, allowing only 2 hits and one run, while striking out 9 over 6 2/3 innings. More impressively (particularly after his last game), he walked none.

Sox lineup:

1. Jacoby Ellsbury-RF
2. Dustin Pedroia-2B
3. David Ortiz-DH
4. Manny Ramirez-LF
5. Mike Lowell-3B
6. Kevin Youkilis-1B
7. Jason Varitek-C
8. Coco Crisp-CF
9. Julio Lugo-SS
–Daisuke Matsuzaka, SP

A’s lineup:  

Travis Buck-RF
Mark Ellis-2B
Daric Barton-1B
Jack Cust-DH
Emil Brown-LF
Bobby Crosby-SS
Jack Hannahan-3B
Kurt Suzuki-C
Ryan Sweeney-CF
Joe Blanton-P

By the way, Sox are only4th in payroll, behind the Yankees, Tigers, and Mets.  I knew the two NY teams had high payrolls, but I did not know that about Detroit.  There are plenty of people who are predicting the Tigers to be in the World Series this year.  The Mets too.  That says something about the value of the dollar in baseball.

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Sox leave Japan 1-1. Considering that they had to start the season early and deal with the time difference and all, I can’t complain. I hope the three days of spring training games back in CA give them some time to readjust before (re)starting the regular season. I know how draining that jet lag can be.

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Countdown to Opening Day

I don’t know how to put a ticker up here, but for those of you who are counting, it’s currently in 4 days, and 16 hours until opening day.  In other words, 6:05 am EST, on March 25.  I do believe that I will be late to work that morning.  In case you hadn’t been paying attention, the Sox’s first two games are being played in Japan, thus the weird start time. 

Don’t expect any great analysis here.  I’m just going to cheer on my team while occasionally ranting and raving. 

It’s still early, but here’s a brief rundown on the starting pitching:

Curt Schilling - on the 60 day disabled list.  I’d be surprised to see him before August, and not shocked if he did not come back at all.

Josh Beckett-Josh seems to be rehabbing nicely from his back spasms.  And I’ll take back spasms over blisters any day.  No one was surprised that he stayed home from the trip to Japan.  I assume he will be ready for the Fenway opener?  And once he is healthy again, he’ll be the ace we expect him to be.

Daisuke Matsuzaka- Congrats on baby #2!  Daisuke may have gotten off to a slow start this spring, but seems to be warming up nicely.  Yesterday he pitched 6 (?) innings in a minor league game, doing really well.  It will be interesting to see how he handles the pressure of pitching back in Japan for the season opener.  On one hand, he should be more relaxed, be back home, but on the other hand, the media will be out of control.

Tim Wakefield- With Timmy healthier and stronger than he’s been in a while, who cares that he’s 41?  It’s not like he throws more than 70 mph.  :)  He’s had a great spring, and the knuckle-ball knuckling nicely.  (say that 10 times fast.)  The only question is how well Cash will be able to handle him.  It is Cash, right?  I feel bad about Mirabelli being let go, but it’s probably not all that surprising. 

Jon Lester- Jon’s start has been rather inconsistent, to say the least.  He’s had some bad outings, but at other times, you see the pitcher that we know he is/can be.  He is young, after all.  Fortunately, he has been improving as spring training has progressed, with a very strong performance on the 15th.

Clay Buchholz - Clay’s a lot like Jon, minus a year of experience.  Fun to watch, but not exactly predictable at this point. 

Bartolo Colon was assigned to the minors today.  I think there is definite potential for him this year.  His health (which was always the major concern) doesn’t seem to be an issue for him this year.  So once he can get his arm strength up and then his command back, he should be able to help out the big club.