Sweetness and Light.

Justin Masterson is a freakin' peach. That's all there is to it-he's absolutely adorable. He's a giant who looks like he's twelve, he's very humble and very probably the nicest person anyone would ever meet. Anywhere.

He possesses a beatific smile, which he uses liberally. He, and it, is infectious. He has the power to brighten anyone's day and he isn't afraid to use it, even on umpires. I don't remember which game it was during the playoffs (I am fairly certain it was against the Angels) but there was a spectacular play behind him and Masterson turned to the umpire and said some version of "Did you see that?" and the umpire walks away kind of nodding and laughing.

He's a goof who starts off interviews with "Oh my goodness."

Asked Masterson about the Sea Dogs dinner:

"It's hard to believe I'm the guest of honor. Why would people want to see me?"

Answer: Adorability.

At the end of last season, Masterson did an interview with Baseball Prospectus. This probably sounds saccharine but it's very sweet.

Said Masterson about what he'd learned since spring training:

"Coming here—I think the most fun I've had in baseball is being here in the major leagues, because these guys are great. Everyone wants to win, because that's what it's all about, and no matter what your differences are, you come together, but this is probably the most fun I've ever had in a year. It's been challenging, but it's been a lot of fun."

Awwww.

A Trip to the Dime Store.

Perhaps believing in the more dire second couplet "Find a penny, let it lay, and you will have bad luck all day" of the "Find a penny, pick it up..." poem, the Sox have officially picked up Brad Penny. I don't know. For the same reason I wouldn't have picked up A.J. Burnett or Josh Beckett, I wouldn't have touched him. Of course, I was mostly wrong about Beckett. Hopefully, I'm wrong about Penny too.

In more bargain basement pitcher shopping news, the Sox have also picked up Penny's former and future teammate from the Dodgers, Takashi Saito. Saito was good in 2006 and fabulous in 2007. An elbow ligament injury (some sources say it was sprained, some say it was partially torn) put the kibosh on his 2008 campaign from July 16 to September 13. If he can be healthy, then it's a fabulous pick-up.

Having said that repeatedly over the past week or so is a little nerve-wracking. This practice of filling out the roster with members of the walking wounded is worrisome. Chances are that some of these guys won't pan out. But *fingers crossed* in Theo we trust. Right?

The Jimmy Fund Goes International.

Sort of. Yesterday, Hideki Okajima visited the pediatric unit of St. Luke's International Hospital in Tokyo with the goal of spreading a smile. He had previously arranged a screening of the baseball-themed anime flick Major: Yūjō no Winning Shot for the hospital patients and their families. Here's the thing: This is a first-run movie, it was released last month. It's hard to imagine an American movie distributor allowing a baseball player to hold a private showing of a brand new film even if it was for cancer kids. Oki played catch, signed baseballs, and offered encouragement to the kiddos. Said Oki:

"I'm going to try my best again this year, so I want you all to try hard as well."

Say it with me: Awww.

Ducks in a Row.

It seems that Mark Kotsay is on his way back to Boston. He has agreed, short of a physical and the hashing out of details, to return as the back-up first baseman/extra outfielder. He'll make $1.5 million plus incentives.

I like the idea. Offensively, he's not that hot but he does add nice depth. And given my weakness for centerfielders, I do like having an overabundance of them. I think it was against LA in the ALDS he made a fabulous sliding catch on a foul ball; it was shocking.

Neither Young Nor Restless.

I used to watch The Young and The Restless a lot as a kid. The woman who babysat for my siblings and I would watch Y & R and then switch over to ABC for General Hospital and All My Children. I have no idea why but I liked All My Children best. That said, I haven't watched a soap opera in the longest time.

The same does not hold true for Jim Rice. Jim Ed told the Herald that he was a big Y & R fan:

"But I never miss ‘The Young and the Restless’ and I’m not going to start now. I’ve been watching it for 25 years. When I was playing for the Red Sox we met some of the cast one day in Oakland. They were playing a softball game at the ballpark. Two or three of them were big Red Sox fans. I met the cast later on in Anaheim. I started watching the show and I was hooked."

And his favorite plot line (pictured above)?

"Miss Chancellor’s coming back. She’s this billionaire on the show. She had a lookalike that they buried, and everyone thinks it’s her. But it’s not. It’s all incredible stuff.”

Word.

Announcement.

According to my brother's Wii, I can throw a fastball at ninety-six miles per hour. Since this would almost certainly hold up to real life conditions, I have decided to forgo my career in favor of becoming a pitcher. I feel that I have learned enough from various baseball video games to overcome my lack of actual experience and am expecting an offer any day now.

And here's another thing in a long line of things that Dustin Pedroia likely doesn't shut up about. He has been tapped to be the coverboy for the newest edition of MLB: The Show.

The interview with ESPN talks mostly about different aspects of the video game but Pedroia seems unable to give a boring interview.

Regarding the epic-ness of this endorsement deal:

"I've had some signing deals, but this is the one that's just so fun. I can't wait to walk into a store and see a game with me on the cover."

What, Dustin's Training Facility wasn't fun? And what about the new one? Helping kids learn to save money isn't fun?

On how to get him out:

"I play a lot of Rock Band, but all my friends, they play a lot of the baseball game. And I'll be honest, when I played them last year, they really put a whooping on me. I'm not very good. The slow curve ball followed by a high fast ball just messes me up every time."

Even when he tries to be humble and self-effacing it comes off as hilarious. I seem to remember that at one of the charity auctions they held last year, though, the prize that Dustin offered was the opportunity to play Guitar Hero with him.

He also claims to be good at the drums:

"I'm getting pretty good on the drums..."

But having seen his rhythmic ability in his dancing, I'm going to call hubris on that one.

On being in the minor leagues:

"But I remember some pretty funny moments from back in the minors as I was working my way up. They used to have this character who would run up to the first base coach, eat him, then spit him out."

I can't even begin to fathom what this could possibly mean. Although a second reading of the quote does reveal that the word is 'character' not 'catcher'. So a mascot, maybe? It doesn't actually sound funny, unless you're like seven-years-old. Although a catcher who attempted to cannibalize his first base coach with every base hit and the first base coach's reaction to the encounter would be amusing.

This one cracked me up. On which character he played as growing up:

"I was a Giants fan, so I always wanted to be Barry Bonds. I know it's a little different, me saying that and being a small second baseman, but I always wanted to be Bonds and try to hit long bombs like he did."

Stop laughing. He's not going to like it if you laugh at him.

Things That Make You Go Hmmm.

I know that all teams have idiotic, inarticulate fans. Fans who talk/type just to hear/see themselves talk/type. And I know that the folks who post on the MLB boards are only slightly above the people who bother with the Fox Sports boards. If it seems that the Yankees have more than their fair share of moronic fans, then well that might just be bias on my part. Generally, it's not an idiocy worth noting. Generally. But this (from the comment section of the John Smoltz article):

"Ha! Yanks shop at Macy's. Sawx shop at Wal-Mart."

is beyond perplexing.

Let's just start by ignoring the fact that Smoltz has never been a "Wal-Mart" pitcher. [Aside: I would say he's at least a Filene's pitcher.] Macy's is the highest-end store this person could think of? Really? Macy's? Really? If you stick to just department stores both Lord and Taylor and Nordstrom offer a better product than Macy's. Hell, within Federated you've got the chichi Bloomingdale's. It boggles. It really does.