Saturday night at the Coliseum

Because I am lazy. Because I did not watch the game. I give you more words of others:

Surviving Grady:
Well, that was interesting. Possibly the most surreal game I've ever watched. The stadium looked unfinished with metal towers jutting up in unlikely spots. The home plate radar guy appeared at times to be sitting on the umpire's shoulders. People milled around foul territory and a peanut vendor made a few sales to bored infielders. That's spring training.

More surreal than the time Jose Canseco pitched? Let's not get crazy here.

Red Sox Monster:
It actually reminds me a great deal of the backyard whiffle ball field I played on as a kid, complete with the ridiculously cheap left field home runs, deep right field (had to hit it over the driveway at my house for a home run) and the tens of thousands of adoring fans (OK, so that was in my own 10-year-old mind).

The field I honed my skills on was very much like the Polo Grounds. Well, more like a bowling alley than the Polo Grounds, really. A bowling alley with trees scattered throughout. It was years before I realized that the reason I hit almost exclusively line drives up the middle in little league (not a bad approach, per se) was because I was trained at a young age to know that hitting it to either left or right would result in the ball being lost in a dense patch of poison ivy laden woods. It was years before I realized that my older brother made me retrieve the balls not because, as he said, I was "good at finding them," but because he enjoyed seeing me suffer with the poisonous ivies. And years more before I realized that the dense patch of poison ivy laden woods does not exist in most baseball diamonds. Except for Wrigley. As for the wiffle ball field of years later. Bryan can speak on that better than I. Jesus, we had ground rules arguments about once an inning. Except for when I was busy walking in runs. Then the ground rules didn't come into play so much.

MLB.com:
Perhaps Dr. Charles Steinberg, chief of marketing for the Dodgers, captured best the lure of "the opportunity to take people back to the time in their lives when they may have fallen in love with baseball."

Honestly, I'm kind happy he's gone. He did some nice things. The whole Ted Williams at the All Star Game thing was great. But on the whole he's one gimmicky sob.

Extra Bases:
Q: Did it feel gimmicky?
Tito: Yeah I mean in between every inning (there was ceremony), but everyone understood why and whoever was responsible did a good job. We knew what was going on and you just talk about before the game, the key to the night was being flexible.
It was OK.

Ah yes, that's the work of Dr. Steinberg. And you know what, it that does sound just like the time I may have fallen in love with baseball. Except for the whole ceremonies between every inning part.

Sh*********:
The Dodgers' Nomar Garciaparra addressed the crowd, then their manager, Joe Torre, took the mike and said, "There's not a better way to do this than against the Boston Red Sox . . . excuse me, the world champion Boston Red Sox. For some reason, it doesn't bother me to say that anymore."

I knew it! I knew he loves us.

Oh, Sox won 7-4. Wake was sharp. Kevin Ca$h hit a three-run dong. Papelbon gave up a home run.

Like fútbol in America

The Dogers and Padres played to a 3-3 tie yesterday in Beijing, China. The Times observes:

Tell this to the Dominicans, Gong Wan Ming:

Gong Wan Ming, a retired chemist who was staring at the stadium from a nearby bus stop, said he considered table tennis much more interesting because it is fast-paced and requires cheaper equipment.

Fortunately an international incident was averted:

Vendors walking through the stands showed their inexperience. One carried one Coke, one Tsingtao beer and one bag of popcorn as she strode silently up the stairs of one section. When the concession stands ran out of hot dogs and beer in the first inning, the American fans were incensed.

Comforting to know the Chinese government are Lefebvre Believers:

The former major league player Jim Lefebvre, head coach of the Chinese Olympic team, said that the public here would learn about baseball and that good players would develop, but that it would happen slowly.

On Jim Lefebvre, did you know the former Mariners, Cubs and Brewers manager had bit parts in Batman, Gilligan's Island, M*A*S*H, and St. Elsewhere? According to IMDb, Lefebvre also appeared in the 1966 MLB All-Star Game as "Himself."

Update: The Padres took today's game 6-3 to claim the China Cup. This is only slightly less prestigious than the Mayor's Cup.

Whittling

Not a great deal of intrigue this year as the Sox close in on setting their Opening Day roster. Still, I feel compelled to write about it. As Kevin Thomas point outs, the Red Sox currently have 39 men in camp. They will take 30 men to Japan. By Opening Day they need to be at 25. I have taken the liberty of paring the roster down to 25 based on how it's most likely to shake out. No surprises.

Pitchers
David Aardsma
Josh Beckett
Craig Breslow
Clay Buchholz/Bartolo Colon
Bryan Corey
Manny Delcarmen
Craig Hansen
Lincoln Holdzkom
Jon Lester
Javy Lopez
Daisuke Matsuzaka
Hideki Okajima
Jonathan Papelbon
Kyle Snyder
Julian Tavarez
Mike Timlin
Tim Wakefield

Catchers
Dusty Brown
Kevin Cash
George Kottaras
Jason Varitek

Infield
Chris Carter
Sean Casey
Alex Cora
Keith Ginter
Mike Lowell
Jed Lowrie
Julio Lugo
David Ortiz
Dustin Pedroia
Joe Thurston
Kevin Youkilis

Outfield
Coco Crisp
J.D. Drew
Jacoby Ellsbury
Bobby Kielty
Brandon Moss
Manny Ramirez

Beckett, Matsuzaka, Wakefield, Lester, Tavarez, Timlin, Delcarmen, Okajima, and Papelbon makes nine pitchers. Then you've got Buchholz or Colon filling the fifth spot in the rotation—Colon probably remains in Florida for a few weeks after the Sox skip town—and Breslow, Corey, Lopez and Snyder battling for one or two spots in the pen.

Snyder has a big edge here because of his ability to eat innings from the pen and start games. If the Sox want to hang on to a lefty specialist it's a battle betwixt Breslow and Lopez. It should be noted that Lopez is that irritating kind of 'lefty specialist' who kinda blows against lefties (.293 average in 2007). If the Sox say, "Eff a lefty specialist," and they still want to carry 12 pitchers, Corey (and his 1.17 spring training ERA) could get some serious consideration. Alas, Tito seems to trust Lopez in tight spots so I imagine the final spot in the pen is his to lose. And look at that! It's same bullpen (minus Gagné) the Sox ended the season with in '07. No complaints there.

Catchers and infielders are a straightforward affair. Same starters as a year ago—by the way, Lugo returned to the lineup today and had two hits in the Sox' 16-run attack against Cincinnati. On the bench Cash replaces Mirabelli (tough to be excited about a guy with a career .488 OPS), Casey replaces Hinske (nice upgrade), and Cora remains (solid).

Outfield is a little dicey. If the Sox go with 12 pitchers it means four outfielders. If Coco doesn't get dealt it's simple, he's the fourth outfielder. If Coco goes (more likely) I want Moss to get the job but I feel like if Kielty is healthy he'll be the fourth outfielder because he offers more flexibility defensively (Moss has yet to play an inning at center field in the majors). Kielty in center isn't a lovely thought but it'll do for brief periods and Drew would be the first option if Ellsbury goes down anyway. Also helping Kielty's cause, he is a switch hitter who is pretty strong against lefties (.296/.379/.882 for his career). Moss, a lefty, is the better hitter and has been strong at the plate this spring. Could go either way. My hunch is Kielty.

So here's your 25-man roster. I am assuming for now that if/when Coco is traded he will be dealt for a prospect. Why I am doing this? Because it's easier to finalize a 25-man roster that what. We shall update accordingly if/when Coco is dealt for a major league player.

Beckett's back overshadowed by Pelican Wars

Well, if we must be pessimistic about Josh Beckett, at least we can be optimistic on Jon Lester. The young lefty went four innings, allowing no runs on two hits and striking out five while walking just one. Told you he'd be fine.

Begrudgingly, I must say Sh********* ain't bad at blogging. This is precisely the kind of stuff we need more of:

In two random, unrelated events, a Japanese newspaper reporter arrived late for the game because his windshield was shattered by what he said was a low-flying pelican. Then a foul ball shattered the computer screen of Joe McDonald of the Providence Journal while he was downstairs interviewing Lester.

One minor quibble, How is he so sure the events were random and unrelated? It seems very likely to me that a) the pelican was a kamikaze who knew precisely what he was doing and b) it was not a foul ball that broke Joe McDonald's computer screen, but rather a ball dropped by a pelican bombardier. The Pelican Wars are upon us, friends. These are only the opening salvos. The Dodgers are right to abandon Dodgertown and make their retreat to Arizona.

Also, Jacoby Ellsbury has been collecting a lot of hits while Coco sits. I rhyme for fun but the centerfield competition, 'tis done.

Quick, How's the backup catcher grassroots coup campaign progressing? Well, Mssrs. Kottaras and Brown are each batting a cool .625 for spring. Hell, let's dump Tek, too, while we're at it. JOKING! OMG, I was totally joking! Not about the Pelican Wars, that part is real.

This is all very strange

Okay, so we knew that the Red Sox were opening against the A's on March 25th and 26th in Japan. That's the regular season kickoff, airing live at 6:05 a.m. both days. Mmmm, mmm, that sounds fun. Anyway, after that the Sox are off to L.A. The regular season having started, you figure we're having a few games against the Dodgers just to knock some of those inter-league bitches off our schedule.

Well, that's what I figured, anyway. But I was wrong.

Turns out we're playing the NL Central this year anyway. But seriously, starting the regular season, then pausing it, then starting again? Is this Russia?

(Speaking of Russia, Obama girl has nothing on this "I want a man like Putin" song, put out by a couple of Russian pop vixens. We should remix it for "I want a man like Papi." It would be FAN-tastic.)

Ben: Kooky logistics? Sure. But here's the great news: "All ticket proceeds for the game will benefit ThinkCure, the official charity of the Los Angeles Dodgers. ThinkCure is dedicated to raising funds for critical cancer research and ultimately finding a cure for cancer. " 115,000+ will be in attendance at the Coliseum. A few dump trucks of dough for cancer and a new MLB attendance record? So worth it.

Bryan: Right, but here's my point:

a) Playing the games in Japan is not "regular."
b) The games are "regular-season" games.
c) Playing the Dodgers in the Coliseum for charity is also "not regular."
d) These are "exhibition games."

So why aren't both sets either "regular season" or "exhibition" games? Given that there are "kooky logistics" involved no matter what, I'd like a little order to my kookyness. Even if that's an inherent contradiction, BENJAMIN.

Ben: It's quite simple, the Dodgers games were added after the trip to Japan was already scheduled. Obviously MLB wants to open the season in Japan with "regular season" games to add to the spectacle. Plus, to travel that distance only to play games that don't count would make it all the more ridiculous, no? So then once you return if the choice is between not playing at all for five days before Opening Day or hanging out in L.A. to play three exhibition games while you recover from jet lag, I'll take the latter. (It would seem that making both series "regular season" is off the board because, as you say, the Sox play the NL Central this year.)

Bryan: You're a towel.

Twins live to fight another day

When his Hall of Fame career comes to a close many years from now, today's outing will be a footnote to a footnote in the legend of Clay Buchholz. But for the second consecutive day a young Sox starter struggled in his first outing of spring. It began promisingly enough for Clay: A heater fouled back, followed by a crisp curve called for a strike to get ahead 0-2 on the first man he faced. But then Twins non-roster invitee, Jon Knott, took a curve for a ball and proceeded to send Buchholz's 1-2 fastball out on a rope over the left field wall. Buchholz would go on to give up four more hits (a couple of bloops) and walk a batter while allowing four runs in his first inning of work. Somewhat surprisingly, Francona sent him back out for a second inning, in which Buchholz seemed to hit his stride, retiring the side in order.

Corey, Okajima, Lopez, and Delcarmen each pitched an inning of shutout relief. And then it was Craig Hansen's turn in the ninth. Three walks, two hits, and four earned runs for the onetime closer-in-waiting. Tough day with the lumber for the Sox, their lone extra base hits coming on Lowell's solo home run and Ortiz's double. 8-2 final score.

In spoiling the Sox' home opener the Twins have crawled back into Mayor's Cup 2008. They now trail the series 2-1, with the teams set to square off in Friday's split squad game four. In case you're curious (and why wouldn't you be?) the Twins have won ten Mayor's Cups to the Sox' five. Orsillo told me so. It would appear that Fort Myers is Twins Nation.

Lester gets the hook

It's Game 2 of the Mayor's Cup and Jon Lester's impressive start to close out the 2007 season is but a distant memory. Four walks in an inning plus. Loaded the bases with nobody out in both the first and the second. He was fortunate to get a double play in the first and only surrender one run. But in the second he walked in a run with nobody out, drawing Francona from the dugout to make the switch to Michael Tejera. 3-3 is the score.

4.5 walks per 9 innings for Lester last season. This has to change. Yes, it's obvious we don't want to take too much (if anything) away from the first start of spring training, but the continued control issues are a concern. The past couple of seasons Lester has been remarkable at working his way out of jams but a career 1.56 WHIP for your projected #3 starter in the AL East is dicey. The score is now 5-3, Tejera has walked two more Minnesotans.

Lester's final line: 1+IP, 44 pitches, 4 BB, 2 H, 4 ER (1 unearned run on a throwing error by The Mayor). On this day Lester was out-dueled by the Twins' Randy Keisler, who went 1 1/3 innings, giving up 2 hits, 3 walks, and 3 earned runs.

4:03 update: Dusty Brown knots the score at six with a solo home run in the top of eighth. Add another name to the Mirabelli grassroots coup campaign!

4:35 update: It's over. The Sox win 7-6 and have taken a commanding 2-0 lead in Mayor's Cup 2008. David Pauley pitched a scoreless 7th and 8th to pick up the win. Former Devil Ray, Jon Switzer, set down the Twins in order in the 9th. Spring training stalwart, Joe Thurston, goes 2-for-3 with 2 walks, a run scored and an RBI. New Mirabelli challenger, Dusty Brown, goes 2-for-2 with a solo homer.

February Recap

Well we had a spirited and informative inaugural month here at Me and Pedro Down by the Ballpark. Let's review:

• We said hello
• We shared concern with you all about the slow-arriving equipment truck
• We learned a bit about Kevin Youkils and Clay Buchholz
• We live blogged the live blogs of the Clemens hearings
• We showed our sentimental side
  
• We watched the Oscars
• We previewed our Mayor's Cup foe, the Minnesota Twins
• We got inside the mind of a catching prospect, Zak Farkes
• We offered you the kind of historical insight you can only find here at Me and Pedro
• Inexplicably, we live blogged Game 1 of Mayor's Cup 2008
  

And in addition to all of that good stuff we got into the nitty gritty with a series of scintillating position-by-position previews of the 2008 Boston Red Sox:

• Catchers
• First Basemen
• Second Basemen
• First Basemen Recount
• Third Basemen
• Shortstops

Bryan and I hope you have enjoyed our first month of Red Sox blogging. This is going to be a grueling process. I don't know if it has been said quite like this before, but blogging about a baseball season is more like blogging about a marathon than blogging about a sprint. In other words, it's longer. And we promise it can only get better when, you know, real games start.

Let the games begin!

Well, it all starts tomorrow, folks. This is why they've been training hard all off season. The title defense begins now. Yes, friends, I speak of the coveted Mayor's Cup and game 1 of the 5 game series with crosstown rival, the Minnesota Twins. It's hard to imagine but the Mayor's Cup was not always the hottest ticket in town. Nope, in fact it was only quite recently that the series 'officially' began.

That said, the Mayor's Cup does have deep historical roots. In the spring of 1910 the Boston Pilgrims and the St. Paul Doublets faced off in a bitter turf war for Hot Springs, Arkansas, supremacy. It seems there was not enough Hot Spring to go around. One afternoon little-used Boston infielder Doc Moskiman got into a shouting match beside the Springs with Doublets center fielder Percy Staunton shortly after Staunton had absconded with the Pilgrim's bath robe. Moskiman was left with nary a garment to cover his loins and several Doublets in the vicinity made sport of his plight. Tempers flared, a wager was made, games were played, and in the end the Doublets took the series in 17 games. The Pilgrims were banished to Redondo Beach, California, for Spring Training 1911. So concludes the first chapter in the legend of the Mayor's Cup.

Red Sox Spring Training Homes 1901-Present
1901 Charlottesville, Virginia
1902 Augusta, Georgia
1903-1906 Macon, Georgia
1907-1908 Little Rock, Arkansas
1909-1910 Hot Springs, Arkansas
1911 Redondo Beach, California
1912-1918 Hot Springs, Arkansas
1919 Tampa, Florida
1920-1923 Hot Springs, Arkansas
1924 San Antonio, Texas
1925-1927 New Orleans, Louisiana
1928-1929 Bradenton, Florida
1930-1931 Pensacola, Florida
1932 Savannah, Georgia
1933-1942 Sarasota, Florida
1943 Medford, Massachusetts
1944 Baltimore, Maryland
1945 Pleasantville, New Jersey
1946-1958 Sarasota, Florida
1959-1965 Scottsdale, Arizona
1966-1992 Winter Haven, Florida
1993-Present Fort Myers, Florida

A few notes of interest:
Four World Series titles in seven seasons of training in Hot Springs and they decide to pack up and leave the Valley of the Vapors for Tampa? There's your curse! I kid. Maybe. Why turn your back on the natural healing powers of the Hot Springs? There must be more to this story. Please also note those World War II years when the Sox trained in Medford, Baltimore, and Pleasantville. A third note of interest, the Sox traitorously joined the Cactus League for seven years from '59-'65.

Pitchers, Catchers and Memories

That's right: today was the day. Six weeks until REAL [EXPLETIVE] BASEBALL. I, for one, am ready to go now. But I'll have to wait.

The players are probably getting together tonight, curfew-free, at that Florida delicacy: the mini-golf course. I'm just kidding. They're probably drinking. But my memories of Florida, and Spring Training, are pretty much limited to a handful of stadiums and mini golf courses with names like Blackbeard's Cove and Pirate Adventure, littered along four-lane roads. We went to Spring Training when I was 10 — my mother, two younger brothers and I. And we loved mini golf. We played it as often as we wanted to, which was pretty damn near all the time between the games, it being the best time-filler this side of Disney World. Which we loved. The Spring Training trip, however, was about the baseball. Despite living just outside of D.C., we were Red Sox fans by dint of my having been born in Boston and indoctrinating the others. It wasn't hard, as the Orioles were going through a historically bad stretch at the time. We were there to see the Sox, and some other teams, but it quickly became a race to see as many games and play as much mini golf as possible.

I loved it. I was fascinated by the different pirate-themed courses; if my mom suggested with go to Captain Kidd's, I would suggest that we really try Treasure Island. There was always the chance that it was a lot better, and it was a chance I was willing to take. I thought there were probably thousands of people who knew exactly which course was better than the next, and I, a kid from up north, was wide-eyed at this world. I just wanted to fit in (it's a very silly thought in retrospect). Every intersection was thrilling, a new world with new places with the added advantage that I had a chance to beat my brothers on the course, or get really upset while failing to do so.

There were a lot of fights over mini golf. I probably won most of the games, given that my three-year age advantage over my next oldest brother was almost certainly at its most relevant, and my youngest brother was a peanut. Mom probably won a few as well. But when I lost, I probably set off chain reactions, predictable among three young boys and a single mom criss-crossing Central Florida in a minivan through strip malls and rickety baseball stadiums. Inevitably, a spark at one end of the car would lead to a blowup in the other. And just writing it now makes me realize what an absolute and unbelievable saint my mother was for doing all that. I don't think I can adequately describe to you what jerks we could be, and those trips were entirely for us. Spring Training? I'm fairly sure she hasn't been to a baseball game since. But I have. I've been to literally hundreds in stadiums everywhere, and the city to which we lived the nearest didn't even have a team at the time. I wonder what effect the Spring Training trip had on that. She was taking us on the trip, I think, so that we could feel "normal," but the long-term effects have been much stronger than that.

I love you, mom. And I love just thinking about that trip. But more than that, I love that hundreds of families just like ours are about to do what we did 20 years ago, some for the same reason we did: to feel normal. I'm ready for the games now, but I'm sure Blackbeard, and his legion of pint-sized, club-toting, sunburned followers, is not. It's time to make some memories.

Update from mom: It was the best trip ever. Seven games in seven days. You left out the water park. I think we ended up picking up Grandma at Great Grandma's and going back to Disney World on that trip. It was the one where we stayed at the Polynesian and Steven got the never ending Caribbean amphibian t-shirt, so big he wore it for about 10 years. Glad the investment paid off, not just on the shirt, but on the three of you and baseball. Note: I have been to a game since, chaperoned G's class one year at Fenway and JaJa took us girls once a year to Comiskey for a night game, so I had to carry on the tradition in some way.

Whither the Truck?

I’ve been scouring the Internets this evening in an ill-fated attempt to answer what should be a very simple question. Has anyone heard from the truck upon its safe arrival in Ft. Myers? The truck departed Fenway yesterday around 10 a.m., this much we know. But what then? It should be there by now, nearly 36 hours later. I’d suggest that perhaps the driver is a lollyagagger, but such a designation simply does not fit his profile. I'm beginning to worry. I think we take safe passage for granted, forgetting that not so long ago the annual Massachusetts to Florida expedition was rife with peril. Survive the Yankee road agents, ford the mighty Potomac, tempt fate with a pass through the capital of the confederacy, avoid debilitating intoxication at popular juke joints. A gauntlet full of would-be plunderers and don't even get me started on the terrors of northern Florida.

Bryan: Wow, this has the makings of a scandal. Okay not really. But imaging a rivalry so intense that teams are f*cking with each other's trucks, like slashing the tires or putting in little tree fresheners that smell like Posada's jock. Or his hands.

Ben: You act like you don't remember why Butch Hobson was fired. Have you forgotten Truck Wars 1992-94? When the Red Sox and Yankees, finding their on-field products less than satisfactory, engaged in various other battles to keep the rivalry on life support. Surely you remember when aging slugger Jack Clark was hired to be Dan Dority to Hobson's Al Swearengen. In spring of '93 the Red Sox truck was looted by the Matt Nokes Seven and they were forced to play without bats, balls and cups for the first week of spring training while a second truck full of supplies made the treacherous journey south. And that's why Hobson was fired. Well, that and finishing no better than fourth place during his three year stint. And certainly the cocaine package didn't help his cause any. But it was mostly Truck Wars. Then the strike came, and with it an end to Truck Wars.

Bryan: The Matt Nokes seven. Me and... six other guys. I just remember the time we thought we saw Butch Hobson at the MVY airport. That's the gift that keeps on giving.

Ben: We saw Butch Hobson? Now you're just making stuff up.

Hello, Red Sox Fans

This is more or less our mission statement:

First, we are united under Clay Buchholz.

Second, we realize that we only get so many Red Sox seasons, and we're happy to be starting another one.

We love the Red Sox. And then there are the times when we curse the games and curse ourselves. The losses seem to hurt us more than we enjoy the wins, but they're precisely equal parts of the game.

For years, we were losers. Pathetic, dramatic, terminal losers. Losers you could count on: losers you could trust. By the time 2003 ended, we had lost so many times, in such grand fashion, that you could call it artistic.

The 2004 supernova has been photographed one thousand times from one thousand different angles, and is very much a closed case. We won't talk much about it here. Nor will we draw any authority from the 2007 Red Sox. Our blog is about the fucking brilliance that is the 2008 Boston Red Sox, win, lose or draw. There is no storyline going in. We intend to make one.

Who are we? We were once called "hilarious kids" (by us, we think) and we hope to live up to that. Where we are doesn't really matter, but we bracket the country. As the new version of Red Sox fans has followed us from one side of the States to the other, we've resisted inclusion in any "Nation" that resembles the one bearing our team's name. That's not us. We're going to root for the Sox in our own way, in the only way we know how. We don't love them because they win or because they lose. We love them because we do.

- Bryan