I logged on to MLB.tv last night in the hopes that Manny would crank two homers and then I'd be the winner of some contest that I'd entered in March. That was not to be. Instead, I had the honor of watching my first no-hitter, compliments of Jon Lester!

Jon threw 130 pitches, by far the most he's ever done. He struck out 9, walked two, and commited an error on a high throw to first. In the end, superb velocity, wonderous control, and a little defense (especially Ellsbury's diving catch!) and history was made.
I'm not usually a superstitious sort of guy, but I bought into it all last night! First of all, I'm watching the NESN feed and logged on to TalkSox.com. Neither of which was using the tern "no-hitter" because that is a "no-brainer". So round about the end of the sixth inning, while reading all the comments about how Lester's stuff was filthy and various other raves, I check out Gameday to see what the actual numbers are. I even posted the pitches thrown and a couple of other things, but never mentioned the zero hits. It was total happenstance! After I posted, I was looking again and said, out loud, to the empty kitchen where I was located, "Wait a minute! KC has not hits!" Although I was in the most uncomfortable place to watch this game (kitchen chair, Gateway notebook on the counter) and even though I suddenly and urgently needed a bathroom break, I did not move for the next 45 minutes or so.

I'd missed out on viewing Clay Buchholz's No-No last September. After Lester was done last night, and I was going through "Remedial Baseball Scoring" lessons with my wife, we were trying to figure out where the heck we were last year that I missed Clay's feat. I still can't figure it out. But I know where I was for Lester's. I suppose I'll never forget.

I won't mention the other obvious story elements that make Jon Lester's historic night all that more special. That topic has been beaten to death on "Baseball Tonight", "Sports Center", "Mike & Mike" and every website I have seen thus far. All I can say is what I posted on TalkSox last night after the final strike: God bless Jon Lester and the Red Sox!"

Labels: baseball, Lester, no-hitter, Red Sox, Royals

The Red Sox will take the field tonight in Toronto for the Jays home opener. Counting the Japan trip, then the A's first home game, this will be the Sox third opener. They of course have one more, the most important, opening day at Fenway this coming Tuesday.

Yesterday was an off day which we're hoping will take the last of the team's jet lag away. There nothing like an off day to get creative juices flowing for folks when there isn't actually a game to talk about. I heard on Mike & Mike this morning a clip of some baseball pundit extolling the reasons why Papelbon should be a starter. I cannot remember who this lad was (If anyone knows, please leave a comment!) but he was taking a page out of some Sabermetrics guide and talking about how your best pitcher should not be a reliever and your best reliever should not be a closer. The geek view of this topic is that you should put your "closer" in whenever the game is really on the line. For instance, if you have a 1 run lead in the 6th, and the opponents meat is coming to the plate, that should be the clue to put in your "closer". The only flaw with this theory that I can think of was that the Red Sox tried this once and it was a downright disaster. Meanwhile, the Yankers have two closers; Rivera for the ninth, Chamberlain for the eighth. I vote we keep Paps where he is.

There's been discussion about center field and the Crisp/Ellsbury situation. The truth of this matter is that decisions on who is in the line-up are not being made strictly on numbers and perceived benefit towards a win. Crisp got a start Wednesday and will probably get more, not because he is better than Ellsbury, but because the front office wants to "showcase" him so that a trade can be worked out. He went 2 for 5 that night and scored a run. I suppose that isn't too bad a show, but I can't help but wish that Jacoby was in. (Drew, who went 1 for 5, is not being showcased for anything, as far as I know.)

It appears that Josh Beckett will make his first start on Sunday in the third game of the Toronto series. Here's some logic that I can't help but question. Starting Tuesday (for that Fens opener) the Sox will be facing Detroit who will be, at best, playing .500, assuming they sweep the White Sox. Based on their plate performance while being swept by the Royals, those Tigers may not be able to get three in their first home stand, but anyone who thinks that those bats aren't going to wake up at some point is nuts. Should we be leaving Beckett out until that Tuesday? I mean, he didn't get the Japan start, now he won't get to pitch in Fenway until the 11th or 12th against the Yankees? I say you let him have the Fens opener, which still leaves him ready for game three of the Yankee series (Which is the only one I'll actually get to see since MLB.tv will be blacked out for me and Sunday's game is on ESPN. (Thank you YES network!) Who do we need Beckett more against, the Toronto line-up or those of Detroit and New York?

Finally, folks are expressing their relief to see some players waking up a bit. Papi had hit first hits, his first RBI, and his first jack of the season on Wednesday. Matsuzaka looked much better in his second start, as did the young Jon Lester. Even Tek is performing better at the plate, getting a RBI double (He was robbed of a homer, pure and simple) and a homer this week. We have survived the worst part of this Homeric 2008 Opening Odyssey with a record of 3 and 1, and that is a good thing because April is not getting any easier.

Labels: baseball, Blue Jays, Red Sox, Royals, Tigers, Yankers

Labels: Boxed, Dodgers, Royals

As you can see, my Sox got clobbered last night by the lowly Royals. Wake lasted 6 1/3 innings, giving up 9 hits and 6 runs. We had no homers (the night before, all of our runs were the direct result of three long balls from Pedroia, Manny, and Ortiz.)

In Philly, reversal of fortune. After getting that 10,000th loss to the Cards and then a drubbing by the Dodgers, the Phills came on like a juggernaut last night. Howard had 2 home runs, both two run shots. Burrell and Rowand both had solo blasts. Victorino went 5 for 7 with 2 RBI's. Durbin had a solid outing - 6 innings, one run on 6 hits. This game was on the tube, so I got to watch a little of it, but I got tired and missed most of the good stuff.

The Yankers won an extra-innings thriller on a walk-off hit by Cano to beat the visiting Blue Jays.

Considering this is my first posted set of boxes on PhilSox, isn't it interesting that the first place Sox got drubbed by a crappy team and the struggling Phils wallopped L.A.?

Hey, Alanis! This is ironic.

Labels: Boxed, Dodgers, Royals