Palodios

The last time the Red Sox were playing on my birthday, I watched my favorite pitcher lose in the playoffs. Yikes.

Wait, NESN usually covers most ST games, right?

I'm pretty thrilled about that Celtics game, but it was a gamble-- I had no idea if Ray was going to break the record or not. And I had no idea the weather would have improved this much, I'm pretty thrilled about that too. I think its the second game against the Rays. I wanted tickets to the opening series, but opening the season against the Yankees probably would cost me just as much as a playoff game, and since I've been to a regular season Yankee game, and sat on the monster, I decided to go with quantity.

Every March (and late February) is exciting, because everyone is getting ready, or getting healthy, and the new players are coming in. There are a ton of new storylines, and optimism is on high. I'm also more likely to have tickets during the season than in October. I keep posting stories, because I'm getting pretty excited about this season. October isn't always exciting, sometimes the team is out of it, and you generally already know who the players are, and how they're going to play. And football is always a huuuge distraction from baseball.

I almost ended up going to Miami for some beach, a heat game, and a drive to see some spring training, but that money ended up going to a Celtics/Lakers game, a few expensive dinners, and likely some concert tickets. But damn, I wish I was down there. Atleast I've got Sox tickets in early April still.

He's going to Philadelphia. The stars in the universe are aligned perfectly.

I'm sure that doesn't hurt either haha. Its also been reported that he's been getting a lot of practice in catching Wakefield. I'm surprised how few people are posting this stuff. Its the most exciting time of the year!

Adrian Gonzalez is hitting from a tee, feeling no pain in his shoulder. Way ahead of schedule, looks like he'll be good to start the season. Varitek sounds like he's actually excited to be in a backup role. I think he's realizing what everyone else realized: more rest means better health, more production, and more time to help the team off the field. Last season, it showed how much a better hitter he could be with good rest, although the injury sidetracked that.

I found an article from only a week ago. Apparently she's still recovering, but they found it early, and she's "doing good". http://www.weei.com/sports/boston/this-just-in/2179446/lackeys-wife-good-after-cancer-diagnosis My guess is that Lackey used running to destress, thus the weight loss. He's healthy, and he definitely has the drive. Hopefully there won't be any big distractions for him in 2011.

I think it depends on how the lineup looks. There is a very big difference between hitting behind Saltamacchia, or hitting behind a fellow speedster. Ellsbury/Crawford # in lineup 1-2 - Advantage Crawford 2-1 - Advantage Ellsbury 9-1 - Advantage Crawford 1-3 -Advantage Ellsbury

Would you like him to give you his hot wife too?

His WHIP sucked, his ERA sucked, but he kept them in the game every game. What else can you ask for?

Lackey had a season where he went out and pitched good, strong, consistent innings every single time he was out there. I'd prefer that over some of the elite pitchers out there who will throw a gem, and then follow it by a stinker, especially with an offense like this. Getting 21 QS from the guy who in all reality should be your #4 pitcher is insane.

Lackey pitched 215 innings last year....

Hahaha, well, that was fun BG.

They're asking BG about creativity? What has he done? Its painful how much they're hyping him.

How the hell did BG get a 46 on that? He missed 7 times and did... what exactly?

I think the "animal stuck in the tree" idea could have worked... but I don't think it was executed well.

Blake Griffin did a 360 midair. I don't get why that is impressive.

If a guy pitches only half the game, he's not going to get a win most of the time. But never? There is usually an element of luck on whether the pitcher wins the game. The bullpen took that element out and replaced it with certainty.

Oh s***, I missed Ray Allen's first round. He made 20 points-- So he only missed 5-10 shots?

The order I saw somewhere was Shooting Stars, the Skills Competition, the Three-Point Contest, then slam dunk.

I know, I still can't believe it either. Its an awful shame that she was a space cadet or I'd still be seeing her.

1. Lester 2. Buchholz* 3. Youkilis 4. Gonzalez 5. Pedroia 6. Lackey 7. Crawford 8. Daisuke 9. Beckett 10. Bard ** 11. Drew 12. Ortiz 13. Lowrie 14. Wheeler 15. Cameron *** 16. Scutaro 17. Jenks 18. Papelbon 19. Ellsbury*** 20. Varitek 21. Aceves 22. Doubront 23. Atchison 24. Mcdonald 25. Saltamachia *Now I know this sounds pretty high. But Buch kept this team together last year. He gave up only 6 runs in April last year when the rest of the rotation floundered. When all the injuries hit the 2010 team, we were all surprised at how well the team was surviving-- but the team went downhill the moment Buchholz was replaced by Wakefield. The team has enough pieces to keep its offense alive while missing one, maybe two of its elite bats-- look at last year's team, or last year's Twins for a good example of that. But the difference in quality between Buchholz and Wakefield was unbelievable. If Buchholz can become a 3.0 ERA, ace quality pitcher next year, he's the second most important player on the team. **Its painful to put Bard here, but if he has a bad year, I don't think its as big a hit as if one of the starters has a bad year. *** I have low expectations for both of them in 2011, but Cameron's handedness is important in that outfield.