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.
Do you remember seeing the movie "City Slickers," with Billy Crystal? I'm talking about the first one, the one that was entertaining. Like any modern movie worth it's salt, if it's halfway successful, it spawns a sequel, sometimes many sequels, of varying quality.
Anyway, in the first "City Slickers" movie, there's a moment, about two-thirds of the way through the film, where Billy Crystal has a revelation that makes his life worth living again. He's been slogging through life, tired of his job, disconnected from his family, completely unhappy. Then Jack Palance's character, the tough, scary cowboy who seemingly hates Crystal, lets him in on the secret of life, which happens to be this: Palance holds up one finger. Billy Crystal, mystified, says something like, "Your index finger is the secret of life? What does that mean?" To which Palance replies, "That's what you have to figure out. It's the one true thing, and it's different for everyone. You have to determine that one thing which makes your life worth living."
It's too bad Jack Palance isn't still around, because the Boston Red Sox front office could have used a little dose of his index finger, or maybe even his middle finger. Anyone who's even a little bit familiar with baseball knows what the one true thing in the sport is: pitching. You can never have enough of it, everyone wants more of it, and the team with the most of it usually finds itself in a position to go deep into the postseason. If you don't believe that, just look at the reigning World Series champs, the Chicago White Sox, and their impressive pitching during their four-game sweep of the Astros last fall.
This year during spring training, the Bosox felt they had the rarest of problems - too much pitching, or at least enough that they could afford to trade away a starter who had become a solid, reliable part of the rotation, Bronson Arroyo, for a fourth or maybe even fifth outfielder, Wily Mo Pena. Arroyo had proven himself over the last two seasons, in that time going 24-19 for the Sox, and logging a total of 384 innings in the process.
At the time of the trade, there was a logjam of pitchers in the starting rotation, including Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett, Tim Wakefield, David Wells, Matt Clement, Arroyo, Lenny DiNardo, and Jon Lester. It seemed like a good idea to the front office to use Arroyo as bait to land a guy who in time might be able to take the place of Trot Nixon in right field or even Manny Ramirez in left. In theory, not such a bad idea, although Jack Palance might have disagreed.
The problem, which has become obvious to everyone, is that pitchers don't always stay healthy in the major leagues, and practically as soon as the trade was finalized, guys started dropping. Wells was coming off knee surgery, struggled to get healthy, then, naturally, took a line drive off his knee and went down again. DiNardo is suffering from some sort of arm problem and is on the 60-day Disabled List. Clement, a mystery even when healthy, has had arm problems and is still a long way from being ready. Finally, for the coup de grace, the until-now always reliable Wakefield is having back problems and may have to go on the DL.
Suddenly, what seemed like an embarrassment of riches on the mound for the Red Sox during the spring consists of Schilling, soon to be forty and still the best pitcher on the club, Beckett, immensely talented but also immensely inconsistent, Lester, impressive but an untested rookie, and a bunch of guys named Kyle Snyder. Suddenly Arroyo and his 9-6 record and 137 innings pitched looks pretty desirable. GM Theo Epstein admits they will be looking both within and outside the club for pitching help, maybe the most obvious quote of the year.
The problem, of course, is that everyone in contention is looking for pitching help, and there's not much out there of any real quality. I refer you back to baseball's One True Thing: You can never have enough pitching, and everyone wants more of it. Maybe Epstein will shock everyone by pulling a rabbit out of his hat - it's not like he hasn't done it before. But adding a fourth and maybe even fifth starter in the heat of a pennant race is a little more difficult than adding Dave Roberts or Doug Mientkiewicz, two of his big moves in 2004.
Meanwhile, the summer heats up, the games pile up, and the Yankees and Blue Jays creep ever closer. Bronson Arroyo sings and pitches his heart out in Cincinnati, and pitchers in Boston keep dropping. Jack Palance could have predicted it.
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....
