At Least Somebody Was Having Fun.

I may need to work on reading facial expressions. When I watched Jonathan Van Every pitch in tonight's game, I thought that he looked embarrassed. Turns out I was wrong:

"It's something you can tell your kids about: I pitched in the major leagues. It was cool. I'm glad I got the opportunity but I wished it was under better circumstances."

I am glad that he has a sense of humor though:

"I didn't show them all my stuff. I left some in my back pocket."

I hope that he gets a print of that photo as proof.

Uncle.

Sometimes when you get one-hit by a guy with a salivary gland problem and your, supposedly, great pitching staff can't seem to figure anything out, you have to turn to the guy on your roster with the most experience in losing. And so we look to Jason Bay for advice and he tells us:

Tea for Four.

Ok fine. I never really believed the weather folk that they've got on NESN who claimed that Bigelow tea was Terry Francona's green tea of choice. It seemed like a giant put-on, worthy of a guffaw or two. Apparently, I was wrong.

Better Late Than Never: Cleveland.

Anthony Reyes gets the start tonight. He arrived in Cleveland last year after a July trade with St. Louis. He can throw a mid-nineties fastball, a slider, and a good change-up. He has command issues, though. He falls behind too many batters and gives up too many walks. He is able to get right-handed batters out pretty well but struggles with lefties.

Fausto Carmona gets the ball on Wednesday. After having a break-out season in 2007, Carmona started off his 2008 season okay. But then he strained his hip (I don't know what they mean by that) and when he got back he wasn't the same pitcher. In his single start against Boston last season (after the injury) he gave up four runs on five hits, with a walk, and a hit batsman, in a single inning. So far this season, Carmona seems to be more akin to the 2008 version than the 2007. His control seems to have gone away, resulting in more walks. And he's getting hit hard, four starts, five home runs. He is back to getting more ground outs, though.

Swinging Bachelor.

The bachelor life may not be agreeing with Jason Varitek. Seemingly desperate to get out of the house, Varitek spent his Sunday morning hanging out with the local little league. He offered a semi-confusing pro-education message that they should "take care of their school" and tossed out the first pitch. (I kid because I love.)

This One Goes to Eleven.

The Pirates hired a new pitching coach in the form of Joe Kerrigan over the winter (who is actually good at his job) and have, consequently, gotten themselves off to a nice little start. This hadn't been the case in Pittsburgh for quite awhile, for proof of which you only have to look as far as Jason Bay. Bay was so excited at the prospect of nine wins in a row that he just couldn't hold it in:

"I was in the shower talking and I said to someone, ‘I don’t know how many 9-0 homestands you’ve been part of, but not me.’”

Let the slash fiction writing commence. It's not my thing, so I don't know who you'd pair him with but to each her own.

Seriously: I can't imagine what he's up to now that they've stretched it to eleven games.

Welcome to Cleveland.

All I've got. Or, at least, all I've got time for right now.

Going Home.

One of the films being shown at the Tribeca Film Festival this year is The Lost Son of Havana a documentary on Luis Tiant's return to Cuba. It got some buzz in the Globe and on NPR. But being a documentary it wasn't like anyone was ever going to see it, which was a shame because it really looked interesting, heartbreaking, and thought-provoking. It's probably not often that one says this but: ESPN has come to the rescue. They have purchased the television rights to the program and plan to air it in August.

Run Like A Duck.*

Sometimes when I watch Jacoby Ellsbury charge down the line I think I could take him. Most of the time I realize that I'm just full of myself and after last night's steal I'm probably less likely to think it. In a mid/long distance event, however,I'm fairly confident that I would come out on top--he's a sprinter and shouldn't be able to maintain that speed over any length of time.

There's a video of his post game presser on NESN.com but since he doesn't say anything particularly interesting, I picked this one instead. In awe of Jacoby's speed, Dustin has sworn off base stealing. Justin Masterson is happy and cool as a cucumber. And Michael Bowden has a cute little accent.



*Blerg. It turns out Jacoby went to Oregon State and not the University of Oregon resulting in the title not making sense. But I like it, so I'm keeping it.

A Most Improbable Win.

I don't know which win was the least likely -- a down by two, two-out, two-run home run off of Mariano Rivera, a recovery from a six run deficit against AJ Burnett, or a steal of home* and the continuation of a ten game winning steak (the odds of winning this game were 1 in 1024, assuming that each team had an equal likelihood of winning the game) -- but it doesn't get much better than that.

*My sister, who doesn't watch a lot of baseball, totally called it in the third inning. Ellsbury was on third and she turned to me and said: "He's really far off the base. Well, it's not like he's going anywhere."

Chilly Willy.

Jonathan Papelbon may not yet realize it (he seems as though he'd be oblivious to everything that doesn't have a direct and forceful impact on his very own self) but Justin Masterson is quietly taking over his role of go-to quote guy. Papelbon has a pretty good working relationship with Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum of Comcast Sports but lately Masterson has even begun encroaching on that territory with the blog that they are hosting for him.

Two things that I love about Happy's post from last night: First, he randomly includes a line about going to the aquarium yesterday and the multitude of penguins therein:

"I went to the Aquarium today. The line was really long but there was a nice lady, Denise, who helped and got us in there a little bit quicker. I guess it’s hard not to notice the big bald guy standing around. It’s a neat little place, especially if you like penguins, because it has tons, not real big, but there are a bunch of them."

You'd think a nice, young, Christian fellow like himself would be against line jumping just because he's famous but whatevs. I'm also not entirely certain if he's talking about small-ish penguins or a small-ish aquarium but it doesn't really matter because he's so damn adorable.

And secondly, he writes:

"We have the Yankees coming in, but not only that we have some warm weather heading our way too. I hope that you enjoy it, because I know that I will."

The impending warmth is more important to Justin Masterson than the arrival of the New York Yankees. I wish to preserve him under glass so that he will never change.

Blech. (Which Seems Like Too Light-Hearted of a Title but Isn't Meant That Way.)

Back in January I ignored this story because it was not about Dustin Pedroia and, therefore, not particularly relevant. It also seemed inappropriate in that I write in this space solely to amuse myself and pedophilia is not amusing--not, of course, that it should be ignored by people who can do something about it. It does seem as though the outcome of his brother's case might effect Dustin, though. Today, Brett Pedroia, plead guilty to one count of oral copulation with a minor.

The Kat Kame Back.

Kason Gabbard, who went to the Texas Rangers as part of the Eric Gagne deal, has been traded back to Boston. Why? I can't figure. Kason has been having a god-awful time at Texas AAA. He was converted to a reliever this year and last time out he gave up six runs in an inning. Perhaps they (the Sox) think that Texas broke him and they can get him back to being decent.

Shows What I Know.

Seemingly mere moments after I decided to declare that the surgery to remove Jed Lowrie's styloid process was the least likely avenue for the club to pursue, they go ahead and remove his styloid process. I suppose that's what I get for offering medical opinions that I am unqualified to give. In an effort to heed the clear warning to keep my trap shut, I will resist saying that six weeks until he is able to swing a bat seems extremely optimistic.

Calling Jeff Bailey.

Rocco Baldelli's left hamstring has been bothering him for the past week but he felt capable of playing right field and getting into the lineup today. In his second at bat, he hit a ball to the warning track and found his way to third base on Nick Markakis' error. But when the fourth inning started, Chris Carter found himself in right field and Rocco, potentially, on the DL.

Meanwhile down on the farm, Jeff Bailey had been playing left field for Pawtucket when he was pulled from the game. Apparently, ready to be sent up to Boston to take Rocco's spot.

There has been no official announcement, Francona says that will have to wait until tomorrow.

Welcome.

When they first zoomed in on Hunter Jones' face as he took the Fenway mound, he looked as if he was going to either a.) step off the mound and vomit, b.) pee his pants, or c.) swallow his tongue. Or some unpleasant combination of the three. Luckily, he did none of those and instead threw a strike to Luke Scott. Two ground outs, a ground out + an error, and a fly out later, Hunter Jones could safely return to the dugout, major-league debut accomplished without an embarrassing sideshow.

In semi-related how-de-do news, Takashi Saito said after yesterday's save:

"I think I carried out my role. I finally feel like I am a Red Sox player."

I think that might just have more to do with cringing through a band concert than anything.

I Accuse Mr. Green, With the Baseball Bat, in Fenway Park.

...of beating the Baltimore Orioles.

I've been sitting on this for a couple of days hoping that Nick Green would do something spectacular with his bat so that I could share. Scoring the winning run of the ballgame will have to do. And getting the team back to .500 is aces.

Polka!

I'm not good at surprises. I'll read spoilers. I'll look for Christmas gifts. I'll read the end of a book before the beginning. So when NESN tells me that tomorrow they're going to reveal what instrument John Smoltz played as a child I feel the need to investigate. You've got to figure that it's interesting or different (lots of ballplayers play guitar and that wouldn't be a big deal) and it's a doozy. John Smoltz, at least according to this report, is a virtuoso accordionist!

Ouch.

(Ignore the arrow. At the top of the other bone is a broken styloid process.)

So the word on Jed Lowrie's wrist is that he's fractured the styloid process of his left ulna. It's likely that this is the same bone he broke last season (nondisplaced fractures of the wrist are almost always of the ulnar styloid.)

The styloid process is a little spike of bone attached to the head of the ulna. You can feel it if you feel up your wrist. The bump on your wrist is the head of the ulna, if you start at the top of the ulnar head and move laterally toward the outside of the wrist and dig in a little, there's a little triangle of bone-that's the ulnar styloid process. It's function is to have a place for the ulnar collateral ligament to attach. If it's broken(besides being painful), the wrist becomes unstable.

There are three options for him:

The first would be to get cortisone shots to reduce inflammation, rest it, and hope that the bone reknits itself. If he goes with that plan, they'd be looking at three to six weeks in a splint.

The second option would be a closed reduction of the fracture. In that case, they'd wire or screw the process back onto the ulnar head. Recovery from that would take at least a couple of months. His wrist would look like this:

The last, and least likely option, would be to open his wrist up and take out the bone the completely. The problem, if they were to pursue that option, would be finding a new home for the connective tissuses that relie on that structure. If they did that, he'd be done for the year. In addition, you couldn't be absolutely certain that the wrist would still function in a way that would allow him to play baseball. Of course, it might go the other way and stucturally changing his wrist might improve his ability to play the game ala Rookie of the Year.

Not having seen his x-rays, I'd guess that if they think he can be healed by rest, they bone isn't displaced enough to warrant the surgery.

Jason Bay: Not Totally Used to Winning Yet.

I suppose it's only natural given the fact that he's been the best player playing on losing teams for four and a half-ish years. How could you blame him if he doesn't expect to come away with the win if things start going downhill? In that mentality a win like last night's is unexpected, to say the least. Everybody else assumed that the season would get turned around at some point but Bay must have had a little niggling thought at the back of his brain that he was losing again. Said Bay of last night comeback:

"I think most guys haven't really soaked it up yet. I think that's a potential season-changing win."

You're not in Pittsburgh anymore, darling.

Next Up: the Baltimore Orioles.

Having just taken two out of three from Texas, the Orioles are sitting pretty one game off the lead in the AL East. Looking at the scores (W10-9, W7-5, L6-19) you might think that the games were of the slug fest variety and while the Rangers hit their home runs, the Orioles only had one during the game in which they scored ten runs. What they did do was hit well with runners in scoring position--in that first game they had seven RBI singles. They also got hit up for three errors in the last two games. I tend to think that because Texas does not play baseball well it rubs off on their opponent and every one gets sloppy. I suppose if there was any hangover effect from playing the Rangers, the Orioles would have been re-hydrated by yesterday's off day.

Melvin Mora has hit the DL with a quadriceps injury, and Rich Hill and Alfredo Simon are out with an elbow problems. Mora and Simon were replaced by Matt Albers and Radhames Liz. Ty Wigginton has become the third baseman in Sad Sack's absence. [Nickname explanation: Melvin Mora always looks like he's about to start bawling. I know you play for Baltimore but it can't be that bad. Can it?] The loss of Mora is a blow to the team.

Pitching tonight for Baltimore will be Jeremy Guthrie. Guthrie has gotten off to a good start this year. He's won both of his starts this season--one against New York on April 6 and one against Tampa on April 11. He went six innings each time, allowing three runs to New York and blanking Tampa. He has had issues with walks in the past but after walking three Yankees he didn't walk a Ray. He splits about evenly between lefties and righties, at about a 1-4. David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia have both had pretty good success against Guthrie in the past. Jason Bay, although he's only had three at bats against him, is two for three with a home run.

Saturday's pitcher for the Orioles is Adam Eaton. Eaton played for the Phillies last year and walked forty-four batters in nineteen starts (that's a BB/9 of 3.7, compared to Wakey's 3.0) He's made one start this year (against Tampa) in which he gave up four runs on eight hits with two walks and six strike outs. Lefties have traditionally hit him well. JD Drew is two for four with three walks and a strike out. Mike Lowell, on the other hand, has been completely mystified by Mr. Eaton--he's zero for ten, although he does have two RBI.

Koji Uehara is the Orioles' first foray into Japanese baseball players. And he's scheduled to start on Sunday. Uehara is pronounced U-eh-har-uh, that is: You (as in Youkilis), eh (as in Jason B'eh)--with a liaison between those two sounds--and hara (as if you were an actor in a movie set in Boston so you put on an exaggerated accent and were dropping your 'r's all over the place.) Uehara throws a low-nineties fastball, a fork ball, a shuuto, and a cut fastball. He had good control in Japan but is maybe having trouble with the American baseball because he's already walked five in two starts. He is generally around the plate and so does give up home runs. Against the Yankees, he lasted five innings and gave up one run on five hits, with one walk and no strike outs. Against Texas, he again lasted five innings but this time gave up seven runs on seven hits (including two home runs.) He walked four but struck out three.

Mark Hendrickson is likely to get the start on Patriot's Day. Hendrickson is a big lefty who played for Florida last season. He seems like a decent option for the back end of a rotation. But he does fall behind batters and he gets flustered when things don't go his way. He got the win against Tampa on April 10, giving up one run (a home run) on six hits, with two walks and two strike outs. Against Texas on April 15, he did not fair as well. He allowed two earned runs (nine total runs) on seven hits in three and two-thirds of an inning. He walked four, struck out two, and gave up a home run.

Their centerfielder, Adam Jones, may reach Torii Hunter levels of annoyance for me: he's good, if you ignore the strike outs. Nick Markakis, Luke Scott, Brian Roberts, and Aubrey Huff are all off to good starts as well. They've plugged Cesar Izturis into the hole at short stop. They have Felix Pie playing left field, which hasn't worked out all that well. And their bullpen is still somewhat problematic.

Applause.

I wasn't particularly looking forward to turning on the game this afternoon. Wakefield in Oakland after a couple of really terrible games with a highly regarded lefty in opposition didn't sound particularly appetizing. But Wake succeeded in making it really interesting. And even if he couldn't get the no hitter, at least he got the win. And run support--they never score runs for Wakey. Hopefully, it turns into a momentum shift. And so a tip o' the cap for Wake.

Annoyed Toe Tapping.

Here's the deal boyos: I should have gone to bed hours ago. My alarm clock is going to start screaming at me in just about three and a half hours. I really think that if I'm going to stay up until almost one o'clock in the morning (and invariably be tired tomorrow at work--and exhausted by Wednesday) to watch you play baseball, then you should make a sincere effort to win the game. And don't start in on "Well you should have just turned the game off" baring extreme extenuating circumstances, I don't leave early and I don't turn off losses. It's just who I am. Thank you for your consideration.

I will admit to getting a severe case of the giggles when Nomar started in on his tapping-patting, CDO (it's like OCD but with the letters in the right order--not my joke but too amusing to pass up) routine. It's been a long time.

A Different View.

It doesn't take much for me to find humor in a situation but I'm almost certain that I have never laughed or even cracked a smile at anything J.D. Drew has said. Until today. Said J.D. to Bradford's outfit regarding the milling around:

"It's Easter. I guess the guys just wanted to get together."

Hee!

Next Up: Oakland As.

Dallas Braden made one start against Boston last season. He gave up four runs on six hits in three and one-third of an inning. He had one strike out (David Ortiz) and no walks. Mike Lowell and Dustin Pedroia each hit a double and Jed Lowrie had a triple. In a different game (4/29/07--and how I love the new baseball-reference.com), Rocco Baldelli was 1 for 3 with a home run and a strike out. Braden throws a high-eighties fastball, a slider, a change-up, and a screwball. He doesn't give up many walks and he seems like he should collect strike outs.

Dana Eveland started against Boston on August 2 of last year. He allowed nine runs on eight hits (including two home runs, one to Youkilis and one to Jason Bay) in two innings. Jason Varitek and Coco Crisp were the only two players to not get a hit in those two innings--Mike Lowell had two. He struck out two and walked two. He has been described as a David Wells type. He keeps the ball down and gets a lot of ground ball outs. He can also strike you out. He throws a four-seam fastball, a slider, a change-up, and a curveball. He has had issues with his control in the past.

Brett Anderson will be making his second major league start. He spent most of last season in A+ making 13 starts. He also started 6 games in AA. He throws a low-nineties fastball, a hard slider, a big curveball, and an eighty mph change-up, all with good movement. He induces a lot of ground balls. Throughout his career he's been particularly hard on lefties.

O. Cab, Jack Cust, Ryan Sweeney, and Jason Giambi have all gotten off to good starts this season. Matt Holliday has gotten off to a slow start; he's four for seventeen with a double. Nomar has gotten time at third and first for the As, finding his way into five of their six games so far. Jack Cust has the only home run the As have hit so far.

Easter Eggs.

I don't really get the connection between eggs and Easter. Eggs are supposed to symbolize new life but what new life has to do with resurrection is beyond me. Besides which, I don't really like eggs. It's very difficult to cook an egg well; there's very little worse than burnt, rubbery eggs. Rocco Baldelli seems to have mastered the art, though. He claims that the only thing he can make is an egg sandwich. He also doesn't believe that he could leap over Pedroia.

Next Up: LAAAAAAAAAAAA.

These games are not going to be fun--especially tomorrow's game. Who knows how the Angels will react to their grief. Not to be crass but they might be in complete "win one for the Gipper" mode or they might not feel like playing baseball at all. It may seem horribly inappropriate to just continue on but the games will be played.

With Lackey (and his stupid underbite), Santana, and Escobar on the DL, the Angels' starting rotation didn't look too much like last year's to begin with (technically because of his shoulder surgery Escobar shouldn't be included in that statement.) They were sort of a parade of: who?Now? Who knows.

Jered Weaver was originally scheduled to start tonight against Oakland but because the game was postponed it would make sense that his start would be pushed back until tomorrow. Weaver throws a both a four-seam and a two-seam fastball, a change up, a slider, and a curve. He has decent command. He's not a terrible pitcher but he does have a tendency to be a little too big for his abilities. Last season he faced Boston twice, a loss in April and a win in July. In his April start he gave up five runs on ten hits in five innings, including two home runs. He struck out four in that start and didn't walk any one. In July he allowed three runs on six hits in five and two-thirds of an inning. He struck out four Sox in that game as well, but he also walked three. They hit him to the tune of a .340 batting average last year. Left handers have shown more power against him and he walks more of them but righties have a little more success.

Piecing together their rotation, Shane Loux is likely to get the start on Saturday. Loux is a AAAA sinkerballer. He did find his way into seven games for the Angels last season as a relief pitcher. He has been known to have control issues in the past. The only member of the Sox to ever face him is David Ortiz and he's 0 for 5 with two strike outs.

On Sunday we should see Joe Saunders take the mound for the Angels. Saunders is a fastball, change up pitcher with good control. He doesn't strike out many but he generally doesn't walk too many either. Last season he had three starts against the Sox, all of which the Angels ended up winning. In April he allowed three runs on seven hits in six innings. On July 19 he allowed two runs on six hits in six and two-thirds of an inning. And on July 30 he allowed two runs on five hits in six innings. Kevin Youkilis has struck out five times in sixteen at bats against him. Youk's also walked three times with two doubles and a home run.

Kendry Morales has taken over first base for the Angels. He's also off to a pretty hot start for the year, he's four for eleven with a walk. Catcher Jeff Mathis is also off to a pretty good start, he's two for six with a walk. The season is only three games old but Howie Kendrick has their only home run.

Chesire Cat.

One of the guys I work with has, for some reason, decided that I am madly in love with Josh Beckett. It's very, very strange because anyone who knew me would know that that's not the case but he's fixated on this idea and has been running with it for a couple of years. In the vein of having to prove that my fandom extends beyond trying to land myself a ballplayer, I mostly try to ignore him.

But this little video is enough to soften even my steely heart. Josh Beckett's foundation donated a recovery room for the oncology unit to Boston Children's Hospital. He seems genuinely pleased with being able to help. And a joke or two from Josh Beckett! That, in and of itself, is pretty exciting.

Faith.

When Rocco Baldelli didn't want to talk about which team he was a fan of as a child, I assumed that it meant he was a Yankee fan. I've got it on reasonable authority that there are quite a few of them in Rhode Island. Turns out that I was wrong about that. Baldelli was a Braves fan. That's pretty cool; I had an uncle who stuck with the Braves through Milwaukee and Atlanta--only Braves fan I ever knew.

Auditory Hallucination.

This is hard for me to say but I wish that NESN had put Heidi's post-game interview with Brad Mills on their website. Yes, I'm feeling alright--a little tired but generally fine. And no, I haven't had a change of heart regarding Miss Watney. The reason: I'd have to see it again to be sure but while she was interviewing Mills, it sounded as there was a "Let's go Red Sox *clapclap clapclapclap*" chant going on in the background.

I'm not familiar with the bowels of Fenway so maybe it was just an echo that got trapped and was continually reverberating off of the walls in that one spot, but I really enjoy the idea that they cheered for themselves after yesterday's game and that they used our chant to do it.

March of the Tin Soldiers.

So the coming out of the stands thing? That was just goofy. It's few hours later and I've forgotten what exactly it was supposed to symbolize. It was probably pretty cool if you happened to be sitting right there, though.

It seemed to be a mostly unpopular decision. Saito couldn't get down those steps fast enough and he did so with a look on his face of "Oh my God. What have I gotten myself into? Who Are You People? STOP TOUCHING ME!" but David Ortiz seemed to lap up the attention. Jonathan Papelbon had no time for anyone but Happy was, well, happy. (I can't imagine what you'd have to do to Justin Masterson to make him unhappy.) JD Drew also seems to think of himself as a gorilla:

"I felt like a caged animal there for a while. We were stuck in a little bitty corridor or barricade, surrounded by screaming and yelling Red Sox fans. I felt like a gorilla at the zoo. It was neat."

I could see JD as a gnu or maybe a water buffalo but definitely not a gorilla; a gorilla is much too aggressive.

Totally Unnecessary Post.

I love baseball.

Baseball Cake Waits for No Man.

Heh. I finagled myself a crazy schedule this week to accommodate today's game. I procured a baseball cake (read: I went and chopped wood for my mother so that she would make one for me.) I engaged in my somewhat silly (but still very important) opening day ritual. Got home after studiously avoiding any sort of news at all, sat down to bask in the baseball only to find that it was postponed. I'll just have to do it all again tomorrow. I hope that I haven't brought bad karma to the season but like I said: Baseball cake waits for no man. The baseball gods will just have to forgive me.

We All Scream for Ice Cream.

There were always Hoodsie Cups in my Grandmother's freezer. My Grandfather grew up in Windsor Locks, CT (just south of Suffield) and the only brand of ice cream he would eat was Hood. It wasn't good for him, given the state of his heart, but there was a simple pleasure to sitting on the front steps on a summer afternoon, watching the cars drive by, and eating ice cream off of a little wooden paddle. (Fiercely loyal, he also bought Stateline potato chips until the day he died.)

It's not for a Hoodsie cup but I'm pretty sure that there's an authentic offer for a free single serve container of Hood Red Sox ice cream out there. According to the press release, the coupon offer is real. But officially the coupon can only be attained from the Globe and the Portland Press Herald in Sunday's paper and it's been download-able from Boston.com since yesterday. Also according to the press release, the coupon is good until April 11; whereas the random Internet version expires on Sunday. It's definitely worth a try if you get free ice cream. Comeback Caramel, all the way.

Dear NESN:

Perhaps it's just a misconception on my part but it seems like there was a lot less coverage of spring training this year. Maybe you showed the same number of games as you always have and it's WRKO's fault. But implicitly or not, you promised me that we were inching closer to real baseball. And so dutifully I showed up in front of my television screen promptly at 6:00 tonight only to be greeted by a note saying that you were experiencing technical difficulties and that I should stay tuned before you whisked me off to the Remys.

When you did come back, there was sound but no picture. It didn't take too long before things straightened themselves out and the audio and video lined themselves up. Yay! But then the picture froze. And pixelated. And turned green. And disappeared all together. And then there was a rain delay--which, I suppose, wasn't technically your fault--and the whole process started over again.

I understand having the kind of day where nothing seems to go as planned. I do. I sympathize. I've been the victim of those days often enough. And maybe it was just the rain that was messing you up but I sincerely hope that you can fix whatever it is that ails you by Monday.

Much love until then,

Liz

Two Birds.

On opening day of last season a hawk floated over Fenway during the game, a rodent clutched proudly in its beak.

At yesterday's final spring training game before the new season starts, an osprey was spotted showing off the dead fish that he had procured for his dinner in the skies above the game in Fort Myers.

It's a sign. I don't know of what but it definitely feels like a sign. Admittedly, it was at Hammond Stadium so it would seem to be more of a sign for the Twins but since there's no such thing as the Metrodome raptor and without the first bird, it's just a bird behaving like a bird, I will claim it as a sign for the Sox. And really, it's not the osprey's fault that the last spring training game was scheduled for the Twins' park. Is it?

Ready for Her Close Up.

Monday afternoon the 2009 baseball season opens at Fenway park but until then ants are busy putting the finishing touches on the off-season repairs. This year the work included water-proofing the lower bowl, adding more seating and standing room along the right field line, and fixing up the club offices. Seriously: just looking at the photo makes me break out in a grin.

Movie Folk.

Movie folks are like people from Maine: they don't tolerate people from away. It was the folks from Maine, after all, who coined the term "Masshole." (Although, I have heard that both Rhode Island and New Hampshire have claimed to be the originator of the slur.) While amongst the beautiful people survival can only be achieved by doing your best to blend in. David Ortiz was clearly made aware of this before attending the Sarasota Film Festival soiree for the film Sugar. And before you think I've gone on a sarcastic rant (and I would never do that, sarcasm is neither pretty nor lady-like) Jessica Alba showed up to the Los Angeles premier of the movie in this eighties inspired get up. David is clearly just more up with people than I am.

Also, the actor who plays the pitcher in the movie looks tiny.

Fine Young Cannibals.

In an interminable week it's important to keep reminding myself that baseball is nearly here. It's almost time to get back into the habit of being sure to get home before 6, finding a comfortable spot on the couch, and flipping on NESN (I was going to write turning on Tom Caron but that's not quite right.) With a notable exception, I find myself generally enjoying the product that they put together.

My favorite companion for Tom has to be Dennis Eckersley. He's very emotive and into the game. He doesn't hold back in his commentary. At times it seems like he was ready to run out there during a particularly hairy game and demand to be give the baseball. Eck does have his gig moonlighting for TBS but when you have the option of Don and Jerry why would you go anywhere else?

When one is forced to watch a game on TBS it gets the ESPN treatment (television muted and Joe C. summarizing a few seconds later), so I'm not too familiar with the commentary regularly provided by Ron Darling. In a conference call to promote Sunday MLB on TBS, though, he sounds like a keeper:

"I think (the Red Sox) have the intangible in (manager) Tito (Terry Francona). He just seems to have his hand on the pulse of that team since he’s been there. He plays that team (oriented) offensive baseball. It doesn’t hurt when you’ve got the reigning MVP (Dustin Pedroia) on your team who is just about as gritty a player as you’re going to get. He’s a guy that refuses to lose. When you have players like that, guys like Pedroia and (Kevin) Youkilis, who will bite your leg and won’t let go. That’s a great combination for a sixth month season.”

So there you have it, Ron Darling's guide to MLB success: a steady diet of gastrocnemius muscle. Also, Eck is going with the home town team to win the division.

Breaking Up is Hard to Do.

I've been thinking about Jeff Bailey a lot since yesterday, almost to the point of obsessing over him. I just don't seem to be able to let it go. It's the same as when they let Craig get away last spring or traded away Brandon Moss. And it's similar to giving away Manny or even Covelli. It's choosing J.D. Drew over Trot. It's not ponying up the money to keep Damon. It's signing Bronson on the cheap only to consign him to Cincinnati or shipping Nomar off to Chicago. It's a symptom of a larger problem I have with the Red Sox organization: there's a lack of respect for the wishes of the fans. They just don't seem to care about their fan base.

They're a marketing machine that exists for the sole purpose of lining John Henry's immense pockets and, to a lesser extent, those of Tom Werner and Larry Lucchino. And what's more, they're good at it. They seem to spend less money every year and interest in the club continues to grow. They don't care about the grand traditions of baseball. And as long as revenue continues to increase, they will continue to not care.

And so I think it may be time to take a little break. It's not that I've fallen out of love with baseball, that certainly isn't the case, it's just that I'm having trouble with the machinations of the Red Sox at the moment. I may do better to invest my time in a minor league club; their more about pure, honest baseball than any major league club could be. Or, you know, April Fools.