Title Defense Begins
Waking up at 4am this morning was a trying ordeal despite my excitement for opening day. But it was all worth it when I tuned into ESPN2 (DIS) and found my boys from Beantown duking it out against the Oakland Athletics in a seesaw battle. In the end, the Red Sox won a tight 6-5 match and started the defense of their championship title positively.
Manny Ramirez, usually a slow starter, drove in four ribbies. Ramirez is jockeying for a contract extension so I expect him to get off to an uncustomary strong start. I would prefer the Red Sox arrange rich and incentive laden, perpetually renewable one-year extensions similar to the arrangement they have with knuckleballer Tim Wakefield.
The youth movement continued to impress. Dustin Pedroia had a couple of hits and scored a run. Kevin Youkilis walked as usual and also scored a run. Rookie Brandon Moss blasted a homer off Oakland closer Huston Street. The emerging marketing phenomenon Jacoby Ellsbury made a fantastic leaping catch in centerfield. Young closer Jonathan Papelbon also struggled in a save situation but ultimately prevailed.
Surprisingly young Daisuke Matsuzaka will never be the huge star he’s projected to be if he cannot locate his pitches. He got off to an ugly start with wild pitches and surrendering a homer. Give the guy some credit, he persevered and regained his composure. He ultimately left the game with a chance to be the winning pitcher of record.
I’m going to be waking up at 4am again to catch the second game of the series. Another cog in the youth movement machine, rookie Jon Lester, will be pitching for the Red Sox tomorrow. Life is good, baseball is back.
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