What could be better than baseball at 6:00 a.m.? Almost anything, actually, but for fans of the World Champion Boston Red Sox, the early start was made worthwhile by the final result, a 6-5 extra-inning thriller at the Tokyo Dome over the Oakland A's, in a seesaw game that had a little of everything, with not much going as predicted. For example:
1) Conquering hero Daisuke Matsuzaka would shut down the A's for seven innings or so, and the Boston bullpen would finish them off.
Uh, not so fast. Matsuzaka looked nervous and wild early, allowing two first-inning runs and loading the bases in the second, before settling down and looking good in the 3rd, 4th and 5th. His final stats, 5 IP, 5 BB, 6 K, 2 runs allowed, in an outing that could have been much worse. He actually left with the lead and had a chance at a win, before Kyle Snyder came in to pitch the sixth and immediately coughed up the 3-2 Boston lead, allowing a two-run homer to Jack Hannahan.
Then, in the tenth, with the Red Sox leading 6-4 and Jonathan Papelbon looking for save number one of the season, Oakland tattooed him, scoring a run and not tying the game only because of a bonehead baserunning play by Emil Brown, who got caught in a rundown between second and third after driving in the 5th Oakland run. Papelbon eventually nailed down the save, but he looked eminently hittable.
The best performance came from unheralded Bryan Corey, pitching because Mike Timlin is unavailable, and the other Japanese conquering hero, Hideki Okajima. Both men pitched a scoreless inning for the Sox, with Okajima picking up the victory.
2) J.D. Drew would improve on his lackluster performance in 2007 in right field for the Sox.
Drew actually did help the Sox, although not in the way people might have expected. He pulled himself from the starting lineup with back spasms, clearing the way for last season's Pawtucket Red Sox (AAA) MVP, Brandon Moss, to play instead. All Moss did was go 2-5, driving in the lead run in the sixth inning and then homering in the ninth off Oakland closer Huston Street to tie the game and force extra innings. It was Moss's first big-league home run.
The man who has had trouble staying healthy for his entire career is starting out the 2008 season in typical fashion, but at least for today, it all worked out for Boston.
3) Manny Ramirez would have a monster season in this, his contract year.
This expectation, at least after one game, looks like a keeper. Manny hit the ball hard, going 2-5 with a pair of doubles and 4 RBI. In keeping with his goofball persona, Manny stood at home plate admiring his second double, in the tenth, and nearly got thrown out at second base. Some things never change.
4) Jacoby Ellsbury would hit leadoff and run wild on the bases.
After a slow start at the plate this spring, manager Terry Francona elected to take some pressure off the rookie and returning World Series hero by hitting him down in the lineup. Batting eighth, Ellsbury went 1-4 and was a non-factor offensively, but made an outstanding leaping catch in deep center field that Coco Crisp would have been proud of, crashing into the wall and barely hanging on to the baseball.
5) The Tokyo fans would be a loud and raucous bunch.
At times the Tokyo Dome seemed almost eerily silent, especially considering how loud the fans are when their own Japanese League teams are playing. They seemed knowledgeable and respectful, only really getting loud when Matsuzaka or Okajima did something special.
The expression "Hope springs eternal" may not have been coined with sports fans in mind, but it may as well have been. As spring training cranks up in Florida and Arizona, every major league team is undefeated and fans of all of them look at their lineups and try to convince themselves they will still be interested at the beginning of October.
For the defending World Series Champion Boston Red Sox, this means more or less maintaining the status quo. But questions still linger, as they do for every team, from the most successful to the least. Here are the Top Ten Questions for the Sox heading into spring training:
10) How will the Curt Schilling injury affect the rotation? Eight million dollars lies in the balance, as the Red Sox could void Schilling's contract if he opts for surgery, since the team's medical staff insists rest and rehabilition can have the 41 year old starter ready by the All-Star break. Schilling's long-time doctor, Craig Morgan, disagrees with the diagnosis and insists Schilling will never pitch again without surgery.
The most optimistic estimates don't have Schilling returning to the rotation until mid-July, and perhaps never, so the question becomes, how big of a hole will this leave in the Sox rotation?
The answer - Probably not much. Schilling was out for over seven weeks last year and his spot was filled with varying levels of effectiveness by Julian Tavarez. This year, Tavarez could get the nod again, or Boston could try rookie Clay Buchholz, he of the September no-hitter last year.
9) Will Tim Wakefield's back hold up for one more year? Wakefield will turn 41 this summer, and although the prevailing theory is that knuckleballers can pitch well into their forties and even beyond, the rest of their moving parts have to cooperate for them to do so. Wake has suffered from off-and-on back problems the last few years and if he misses any significant amout of time this season, the Sox could be forced to deal for pitching help to overcome the loss of forty percent of their rotation.
8) Does Manny Ramirez know it's his contract year? It sounds like a ridiculous question until you realized Manny lives in his own universe, which doesn't necessarily follow the same rules as ours. The Sox own a club option for 2009, but if they choose not to exercise it, Manny could find himself being Manny somewhere else next year. It would obviously be to his benefit to have a big year in 2008.
7) Will there be any lingering effects from the club's trip to the Far East in March? The Sox open the 2008 regular season against the Oakland A's in Japan in March, while all the other teams are still getting the kinks out and preparing for April. They play two games that count in Tokyo, then return to the States for three more exhibition games in Los Angeles against the Dodgers before the season re-starts for good.
Manager Terry Francona is doing his best to put a positive spin on the potentially exhausting trip, but it's obvious he doesn't relish the extensive travel and the distractions the team will face, while the rest of the A.L East will still be sitting around the hotel pool in Florida.
6) Which Julio Lugo will show up this year? Will it be the man Boston signed a year ago to be an offensive upgrade at shortstop over slick-fielding Alex Gonzalez, or the stiff who was a near-automatic out for most of the season in 2007? A comparison of the numbers for Gonzalez from 2006 and Lugo from 2007 shows what a disappointing year the new Sox shortstop had:
While Lugo did drive in a relatively impressive number of runs, especially for a player with such a low batting average, that is mostly a factor of the players in front of him getting on base. A lot. The Sox expect more offensively from Lugo for their $36 million investment over four years.
5) What does Dustin Pedroia do for an encore? The reigning A.L. Rookie of the Year struggled mightily last April, finishing the month hitting well under .200, before bouncing back to hit line drives all over the yard the rest of the year. Was his .317 BA and .380 OBP a fluke or will he be a consistent .300 hitter in his career? For a little guy who swings like he's Ryan Howard, it's hard to picture such consistency, but he did it from May on last season. We'll see.
4) Where will Coco Crisp end up? And more importantly from a Boston perspective, what will he bring in return? It's clear the center field job is Jacoby Ellsbury's to lose, so whether Boston will go into the regular season using Crisp as a fourth outfielder or whether he's gone before the beginning of April, he will not finish the year in Boston.
It doesn't seem likely teams will offer a lot for Coco, as he never really fulfilled his promise offensively during the two years he roamed center field at Fenway. Defensively, though, he's magical, diving and using his outstanding speed to get to just about everything. His arm is a liability for a center fielder.
3) Will Hideki Okajima and Javier Lopez be the lights-out lefties they were in 2007 out of the bullpen? It's hard to imagine Okajima could duplicate his performance from last year, especially in the first half. Although he seemed to tire a bit toward the end of the season, his numbers were still eye-popping for a guy who was considered by many to be a throw-in, someone to keep Daisuke Matsuzaka company as he adjusted to life in the United States.
Okajima's 2007 numbers: 3-2, 5 saves, 2.22 ERA, 63K's in 69 IP, only 50 hits allowed.
2) Is this the year all those games behind home plate catch up with Jason Varitek? The all-time club leader in games caught, the Captain's numbers have declined the last couple of years. Compare his numbers from 2004 and 2005 with those from 2006 and 2007:
The man brings a lot more than offense to the park with him; his preparation and ability to handle the pitching staff is legendary. But the position of catcher is a physically demanding one and Tek will turn 36 in early April.
Varitek may require more days off in 2008, and backup Doug Mirabelli is on the roster mostly due to his uncanny ability to hold on to Tim Wakefield's knuckler. If the offense struggles, an unlikely possibility to be sure, the lack of punch from this position could become glaring.
1) Are the injuries to David Ortiz fully healed? Knee and hip problems prevented Big Papi from generating the kind of power he was able to produce in 2006. Although Ortiz posted career highs in 2007 in batting average (.332), doubles (52), and hits (182), his home runs dropped from 52 in '06 to 35 last year, and his RBI total dropped as well, from 137 in 2006 to 117 last year.
Assuming the physical problems are a thing of the past, look for a big year powerwise from the Big Man in the Sox lineup.
1) Has anybody ever told Dustin Pedroia he's supposed to be a little guy?
He swings from the heels on every pitch, even with two strikes. He looks like Gary Sheffield, minus the all the bat waggling Sheffield does before the pitch. It's amazing Pedroia makes consistent contact given the violence of his cut, but he hit the ball enough to bat .317 this year, good for tenth in the American League. Pedroia is not your prototypical leadoff hitter, considering his speed is average on a good day, but he has won me over with his ability to get on base and spark things at the top of the lineup.
2) If you're a Red Sox fan, don't make too much of this 13-1 win.
Sure it was accomplished against the Rockies ace, and sure the Sox made it look easy, but whether you win 13-1 or 2-1, it still counts as just one step toward the goal. All the Rockies need to gain home field advantage in the series and regain momentum is to win one of the first two at Fenway. Curt Schilling needs to come up big tonight to ensure that doesn't happen.
3) Is it possible the last significant play Coco Crisp will make in a Boston uniform was catching the final out of the ALCS?
Terry Francona said that when Crisp slammed into the bullpen wall in center field making the outstanding running catch that drove the final nail into the Cleveland Indians' coffin in the ALCS, he injured his leg, making a very difficult decision a little easier. He was talking, of course, about the decision whether to start Crisp or Jacoby Ellsbury in center field in Game One of the World Series. What he didn't say was that Coco would have been the starter if not for the injury. Sometimes what you don't say is just as significant as what you do.
4) Don't buy the line that the nine day layoff did the Rockies in.
Games like the 13-1 drubbing the Sox put on the Rox happen all the time during the regular season, when teams are playing almost every day. Colorado simply ran into a buzz saw in Josh Beckett, who has the ability to put any team into a slump at any time, and the Red Sox used a seven run inning to make a rout out of an otherwise relatively respectable score.
In fact, credit Garrett Atkins' slick play on a short-hop ground ball at third base, followed by a great pick on the throw at first by Todd Helton, for keeping the score 3-0 Boston in the first inning. Had Atkins not made that play, it would have been 5-0 with the Red Sox still batting in the first. Neither player showed any signs of rustiness on that play.
The exception, though, may have been Rockies starter Jeff Francis, who looked out of sorts the entire night, or at least the four innings he was on the mound. His pitches, especially in the first inning, were getting way too much of the plate to be effective against a team that can hit like Boston, especially at Fenway Park. Francis looked like a guy with too much time off between starts.
Hey everyone, I know it must seem like I've dropped off the face of the earth, but it's nothing like that.
I've been busy writing - two full-length novels so far, plus over a dozen short stories - and working hard to try to get an agent. If you are curious and have a few minutes, check out my website, www.allanleve rone.com.
If you're a literary agent or if you know one, by all means contact me! In the meantime, I'll be here when I can - love this forum - and as always, thank you for checking out my blog, especially considering how many great ones you could be reading instead....
