Hey! Hey! Good Lookin'.

You'd think that with a release date of April 1st, this was some sort of sick joke but, as far as I can tell, somebody actually thought that a book of recipes from baseball players would be a big seller.

Why yes! That is Dustin Pedroia pretending to drink something pink on the cover. Supposedly, Pedey contributed his recipe for pasta primavera. I don't doubt that there's a recipe for pasta primavera attributed to Pedroia but he's said before that he doesn't cook--I forget very little--so whether it's his recipe remains up in the air.

Now if NESN needs a programming idea having the Watster (And yes, I giggled maniacally when they handed her a pink hat yesterday; especially after she made it perfectly clear that she had never been to a professional baseball game before...wait, that's not right...by marveling over the fact that the ice cream was served in a bowl modeled after a baseball cap.) attempt to whip up the recipe with Pedroia might be a highly amusing idea.

The Mind of Lester.

The always personable and charming Jon Lester has joined the ranks of tweeters in the world. Who wouldn't want to know his every thought? The scowling face peering over the top of the boxy-thing is quite perfect, though.

Pitt the Elder!

South Coast Today has a tough little quiz on the Red Sox and Fenway Park to help prepare readers for the start of the season. I only got thirteen out of fifteen right but I did get The Simpsons question.

Unmitigated Enthusiasm.

The Projo has a nice little story about Nate Spears today.

Spears has continued to hang around the major league camp and, as a result, has caught the eye of Terry Francona. Francona has called him "like the best kid ever", putting him right up there with Victor Jose, and bestowed upon him (in classic Francona fashion) the nickname "Spearsy." It probably doesn't hurt that he has a grandmother bearing cake either. He sounds super excited, so that's fun.

Almost Time.

(AP Photo)

Look at all of those lovely suitcases.

(AP Photo)

Saltalamacchia, unfortunately, caught a whiff of the mushroom and green pepper pizza somebody packed in their bag and needed to check that it wasn't him.

Tonight it's on to Houston and then on to Arlington. It's all very exciting.

Welcome to the Jungle.

First the Smithsonian and now NPR? Petey is moving up in world.

Today Pedro Martinez did an interview with All Things Considered on NPR. My Pedro love knows no bounds and I can't help but grin when Petey starts talking; everything about him is lovely.

My Cup of Tea.

Carl Crawford is absolutely charming. He has been selected as the victim...er...um...diarist for ESPN Boston this year. But unlike Daniel Bard and Youk before him, I really do believe that he can keep it up; whether he can write slice-of-life stories worthy of Justin Masterson remains to be seen but he really is very engaging.

The Art of Pitching.

On March 25, Pedro Martinez (or Petey's portrait at least) will be enshrined at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C. The picture was donated by the great Peter Gammons himself.

Says Petey of the honor:

"I'm extremely excited. My family is going to be there. I just hope I don't get choked up."

I haven't been down to D.C. in a couple of years, it might be time to make a return trip.

In other Pedro news, Petey has agreed to be a spokesperson for weak taste free beer; appearing in one of those Coors Light interview ads.

World Series Bound?

According to experts, Boston looks like it could go deep into the playoffs. *Knock wood* But you've got to wonder, how that could be possible when they can't seem to beat the Pirates? I know it's only spring training and nobody really cares. It's not time to hop off the bandwagon. Yet.

So they've got a little mini slide going on. No big deal. Especially because I've figured out their current problem. They've all forgotten how to play baseball well; missing catch-able balls, throwing balls away, face planting on the pitcher's mound, striking out. It all adds up.

Photographic evidence:

(AP Photo)

Mike Cameron, who started the spring off very hot, is having an especially difficult time remembering how to swing a baseball bat.

On an unrelated note, I saw this little kid in a Cameron t-shirt when I was at lunch today and it made me inexplicably happy.

A Bunch of Twits.

A couple of days ago both Jacoby Ellsbury and Jarrod Saltalamacchia joined Daniel Nava (I know that his account isn't new but I hadn't mentioned it) in the Twitter universe. Stay tuned for fascinating updates.

Nava's page also contains a link to his personal facebook page on which he has posted evidence of his penchant for little hats. I love Nava's giant grin and those cheeks!--those cheeks are absolutely adorable--but the goofy little hats are terrible.

Annoyed Grunt.

(Reuters Pictures)

It sounded as if Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched well today. The apparent reason? Curt Young told him to throw strikes. If John Farrell had known that it was that simple, he probably wouldn't have had to flee to Canada.

Happy Birthday, Bobby!

Happy birthday to Bobby Jenks! I haven't done one of these in awhile but it seems like too much of an opportunity to pass up. We can just pretend that he's turning thirty-five instead of thirty.

Glass Houses.

Ooh, misogyny! My favorite. Just what I was hoping for as I sat down to watch a baseball game! Fat women! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha...ha.

I know that there are people who are annoyed when Jerry Remy and Don Orsillo become bored and go off on a tangent but I'm not one of them. I figure that I have about the same attention span as Jerry; he starts to ramble generally around the same time that my mind starts to wander. I usually find the pair of them amusing. Today, however, we learned that Jerry Remy is a misogynist (I suppose that his son had to learn the behavior somewhere) and that Don Orsillo may be as well; it's either that or his moral compass is so shaky that it is easily disregarded, especially if he thinks that by doing so he will get an in with the cool kids. The whole thing was very juvenile. I was not amused.

Admittedly, my very first instinct was to fight back in kind: point out that no one anywhere would ever think to call Jerry slender or have a frank discussion about Don Orsillo's breasts. But that sort of response gets you labeled as a shrew or a harpy and shooed to the side and ignored.

So, reasoned discussion on why misogyny is bad. It just is. I think that I write this post every year. There is nothing inherently superior or inferior in the human genome. Gender comes down to the presence, or lack there of, of a Y chromosome. I was born without a Y chromosome; that fact might make you bigger than me, it might make you faster than me, it does not make you smarter than me, and it especially does not make you more capable of understanding a simple game than I am.

Don't tell me that it's not misogyny. David is fat. He was undoubtedly jiggling right along with his partner. And yet it was only David's partner that caused the pair of them to start snickering like a couple of junior high school bullies. They weren't laughing at her because she's fat, they were laughing because she's a fat woman.

Equally disturbing, the geniuses at NESN didn't tell them to shut up. So either there is no one in charge or the person in charge also thought that it was funny. And was cool with the idea that that caveman nonsense went out nationwide on the MLB network; it doesn't seem unlikely that anyone who happened to tune into the game would believe that NESN hates women. And I don't know that they would be wrong.

Two to Tango.

The estimable Red Sox photographer, Brita Meng Outzen brought her camera to the Dancing event from the other night and has posted the photos to her tumblr account. In case tomorrow doesn't come soon enough for you or NESN forgets to show the video.

Sound and Fury.

The man hasn't played a game for the Red Sox yet but I think that Adrian Gonzalez may have failed already when it comes to being an adopted Bostonian.

Gonzalez caused a minor uproar when he was quoted as saying that he wouldn't play in the All-Star game in Arizona this summer because of their law supporting racial-profiling. It turns out, Gonzalez was mis-quoted and will, in fact, fall in line like a good little soldier and play in the game if invited.

He told someone (Edes maybe?) over the winter that he had had to close his restaurant in Arizona because his patrons were too afraid to frequent it. But it's cool now because, although he still doesn't agree with the law, he's not a rock the boat type person. He's not willing to put himself on the line for a worthy cause or to fight the good fight or something.

I've got to say, I'm kind of disappointed in him.

This is Massachusetts, baby: the land of liberty trees, two if by sea, and tea in the harbor. This is the place where a player protest against MLB for not paying for club employees to go to Japan was generally lauded. The man could have had one awesome year in Boston (necessary to get him an invite to the All-Star game) and then left or stunk it up for however long he remained, and still have become an instant folk hero. Think about it: Sam Adams, Paul Revere, John Hancock, Adrian Gonzalez. Instead he chooses to cower and toe the union line; no standing up for his principles or for what's right for him.

This may not have been a fight that he wanted to fight but it has landed in his lap. By being traded to Boston he was given a platform from which he could shout more loudly and a crowd which would have supported him immensely, as he railed against injustice (caveat: I have not read the law) but he has meekly deferred claiming that he's not "big into politics." Screw that and grow a backbone.

Now my whole rant may be tempered by my general dislike of the All-Star game (It's pointless and stupid and has anyone anywhere ever said "Oh boy! The All-Star game's on tonight! I can't wait!") and disappointment at the fact that I had already fantasized about the whole lot of them refusing to attend in support of Gonzalez and the mess that that would have caused. And I suppose that it's unfair to demand that Gonzalez care about something that he doesn't actually care about but he was just so cool.

Safety First.

Perhaps someone should have knocked Josh Beckett on the head earlier as it seems to have improved his sense of humor.

Gag Order.

You remember what I was saying just last night about MLB looking at new and innovative ways to bring in cash? They've also decided to expand by levying heavy fines. For example, they have extracted half a million dollars from John Henry for speaking his mind on the abuse of the revenue-sharing system by small market teams last spring.

Spring Thoughts.

(Reuters Pictures)

First: when I came across that photo I didn't recognize Carl Crawford, at all. And then I figured it out and it made me happy.

Second: I'm not complaining. NESN must have a good reason for not showing more baseball games during spring training; perhaps they don't think that anyone would watch and maybe they're right, people do have to work. It's just unfortunate that the first game that they have decided to air will be pitched on the Yankees side by Bartolo Colon. But what are you going to do? Not watch? Not likely.

Speaking of having to listen to the Minnesota radio guys, I think that I might have the wrong idea of what Minnesota is. In my head it Minneapolis/St. Paul, a couple of suburbs, and then a vast wilderness filled with lakes. If that were true though, why would they have the strange ads for visiting the forest? They seem sort of child predatory and creepy.

Say Cheese.

How could you not love that face?

The photo day blooper reel made it's appearance yesterday. It features Wakey asking about Tweeter.com, Youkilis being upset about having to talk about the lunchbox and fabulously rolling his R's while attempting Spanish (if he took high school Spanish, his teacher would be proud), JD Drew claiming to be illiterate, and a very angry Dustin Pedroia.