soxfan17881

Full stack for Papi! Time to snap the O-fer!

He blocked the plate, but he missed the tag.

Yooouuukkk!!!!!

Let's go, Jacoby!

Yooouuukkk!

Why yes. I think I'll ahve a littel "O", please.

I know it's very early, but I'm not diggin' the 6 k's in 8 ABs for Tek. I mean, all the talk was about how lousy Cash is at the plate, but...

Thank you, Jesus! (and you too, Emil!)

Come on, Paps!!!

I'm at work, but how can I actually work when the RED SOX are on and Paps is on the mound? GO SOX!!!!

I'm assuming that the decisions about the option/s will depend on: A. How bright Manny shines (or not) this year, and B. Who might be out there that the Sox could drop dough on to fill the clean-up spot. ...so, who's due to be a free agent after '08? Quite a few, actually. Let's start strictly with outfielders. (Taken from Cot's) Player's with asterisks have contracts that include a 2009 option. Bobby Abreu NYY Moises Alou NYM Garret Anderson * LAA Rocco Baldelli * TB Willie Bloomquist SEA Emil Brown OAK Pat Burrell PHI Endy Chavez NYM Carl Crawford * TB Adam Dunn CIN Jim Edmonds SD Juan Encarnacion STL Cliff Floyd TB Brian Giles * SD Ken Griffey Jr. * CIN Vladimir Guerrero * LAA Raul Ibanez SEA Jacque Jones DET Mark Kotsay ATL Rob Mackowiak WAS Kevin Mench TEX Jason Michaels * CLE Craig Monroe MIN Jay Payton BAL Scott Podsednik COL Juan Rivera LAA Rondell White MIN Of course, the intangible feature of Manny is the fans who love to watchin him, no matter how goofy he is and no matter whether he's hitting 20 jacks or 50.

I'm watching the exhibition against the Hanshin Tigers. All the play-byplay is in Japanese, with no screen graphics of subtitles. It's pretty wild. P Papi just hit a homer. The announcers sound wild!

Up until today, I was on the fence about the Sox starting in Japan. There are all the reasons that you hear about all over the media (jet lag, early start, real games sandwiched between exhibition games, the lousy April records of previous Japan visitors). Now today, I'm watching the video on MLB.com (Workout Day at the Dome) and I hear them mention, very much off the cuff, that the Japanese baseball is smaller than the MLB version and that the Sox and A's will be using that smaller ball in their real games. Is is just me or is this not a good thing. Aside from affecting the outcome of those two games, might it have any affect on things for days to come (i.e. hitters timing, pitcher's release points. etc.) Why would they be using the smaller ball for the actual season games? I can see if they want to use them for the exhibition games, but not the real one. Am I concerned about nothing? What does all this mean for an April where we are already starting a bit behind? (i.e. Schilling, Beckett's back, Timlin's hand)

From what I can get from MLB.com and Redsox.com, the exhibition games are only on MLB.tv. The A's games are on ESPN 2.

This thread may not be appropriate for TalkSox, so if a mod needs to boot it I understand. I just needed to vent a little and the forum on the actual Red Sox mlb site makes you wait 48 hours after you first check in. There is a contest to win tickets to opening day at Fenway. LINK I recommend you sign up because what could be better than day one at the Fens the season after they won the whole thing last year?!? Oh, I should mention one thing, though. Unless you live in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, or New York, don't bother! If you live elsewhere (in my case, PA), you're automatically ineligible. Aside from being disappointed at not even having a small chance at this great prize, I'm also a little disappointed by the idea that with all the RSN stuff that we talk and hear about all the time, that I apparently live outside the boundaries. Evidently the 8 hour drive that I would be more than willing to make for such a cool experience puts me too far away. New freakin' York! Home of the enemy, but not PA. I mean, I suppose I can see some logic, as in if someone too far away won and then didn't make it... But PA! I'd walk if I had to!

Classy though it was, it does kind of rub a guy the wrong way to root for someone's $40,000 bonus for taking a trip to Japan. That kind of dough would almost double my salary and I don't get to see Japan for my trouble. The real point didn't seem to be purely $$$, at least as I took it from Lowell's comments. It was that the league office was reneging on one of the thing it promised at the onset.

I'm going to my first game his summer, too! I got tickets for the Sox in Baltimore... I believe the date is 8/20. I can't wait. If anyone knows about Oriole Park (i.e. how early to get there for BP, tips on autographs, etc.) I would be grateful. I'm also planning on trying to see some PawSox games, either at SWB Yankees or the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Phillies). I tried to get tickets for the Sox - Phillies, but the freakin' Phillies are only offering them as part of a six-pack.

I hope that the A's follow suit. United front, you know.

From MLB.com: The story mentions that, due the the strange schedule because of the Japan trip, the Sox are allowed to have some extras for the trip. Schilling will be traveling with the team, as well.

I sat through that game today (Yankers 8, Sox 4). It was painful.

Never mind all that! I just read that Buchholz is dating Erica Ellyson! Do yourself a favor. Search Google images for this lass. She was the Penthouse Pet of the year.