jung

The Sox should have handled Happ IMO. Chen is pitching a very good game and that damn sun this time of year takes forever to finally cross both Home Plate and the Mound.

I have been pondering posting something since Wieters tossed Vic out. i would have much preferred seeing that attempt if we were up 1-0. Even with the opposing pitcher going good, in this park I would prefer to give my hitters a chance. Against a lesser catcher maybe but Wieters is deadly. I really hope Farrell dials it back just at least one notch.

Buch toying with middle middle

Iggy goes outfield!!.....that is the Iggy version of "Iggy goes yard".:D

Would have liked that curve down more in the zone but it caught Jones so off guard that it did its job. Neat to see Buch have the courage to throw the curve there. Jones had no chance.

Don't fall victim to this O's ******** Buch. Hate seeing jones up here

As things stand now I would probably opt to move Carp somewhere. Nava and Ciriaco have all that versatility going for them. Carp gives you some of that. But I like the positions Ciriaco plays and I like the way Nava as a backup plays the positions he plays. If Nava were a bust at 1st I might rethink that. Oddly enough he has done OK over there. Looks funny over there. He has played OK though. He likely knows more about Fenway's LF than any other current Sox OF.

It is sorta' funny how after all these years, this O's team is much like Weaver's teams....Somebody get on...somebody hit a HR.

Boy if the sun in CF is that tough I would hate to see what it will look like from RF a little later. May be tough now for that matter.

I don't think playing every day is what this is about. JBJ is struggling at the plate. LH pitcher going today for the O's. I think the brain trust wants him to see a game from the bench, reflect a little and not grt caught up in Opening Day pressure when he is not going good. Opening day for a struggling rook can be a trying experience. If he was knocking the cover off the ball, that would be one thing. However he is not and really has not since the start of regular season. Were it not for his patience and the walks he has gotten, it would have been an even more ragged start. This day off plus the off day tomorrow gives him a chance to take more balls in Fenway LF. He has misplayed three balls so far in left, two of them hugging the edges of opposing park LF grandstands. Has not been tagged with an error yet but has misplayed three balls none the less. Our LF grandstand is no picnic for the LFer. I bet he will be out there tomorrow on the off day taking balls in LF. I would not be surprised if the game was lopsided one way or the other to see JBJ later in this game. Obviously if they really need to use him today they will. Otherwise I think he watches from the bench.

I think it is 50-50 that they just allow Iggy to play his way out of the lineup and then start Drew. Saves them a lotta' grief and aggravation. The fact is that Iggy is taking away base hits. So he is not just making the plays he should make and a few more...he is taking hits away. Chances probably not better than 50-50 but I don't think Drew coming back and going right into the lineup every day is a dead nuts cinch.

Another fun game to watch today. Good pitching matchup. O's are going to be tougher than people give them credit for even if they don't enjoy the good fortune of last year. Great match up for the home opener.

Big Jimmy Fund event today. I would not be surprised to see the first pitch thrown out by a prominent Sox guy that is also a prominent Jimmy Fund guy. EEI says JBJ is out of the lineup today. Not that much of a surprise.

I should have known not to take for granted that the EEI morning crew could get anything right. Now that Ordway is gone I expect those dolts to be the next to go at some point. I was listening at both times. They have contradicted themselves at least five times already. I guess all I could say at this point is that "unofficially" the word is that Lackey will likely miss two starts. That is the latest from the EEI bunch. The sports desk at NESN is still reporting that there is no official word.

Well that is even more interesting. The Sox have the MRI. The official report according to EEI is "no report".

Hum.......Maybe the Sox are trying to work on a Plan C presuming Ace as a replacement starter was Plan B. Talk about a cluster f*** of a plan B. We were supposed to get more on Lackey today but did not. That may not be a particularly good sign.

Not sure there is a good place for this post but it is not worthy of a new thread. NESN was hoping to have something more on Lackey during the game today. There was nothing reported. The MRI was today though or at least everybody thought it was scheduled for today. Has anybody heard anything about the MRI results or seen anything posted?

Here is one from left field ...I mean really left field. But its a board and its fun to play with stuff. I should qualify this by saying that one of the things I have never liked about knuckle ball pitchers is that it is a very passive way to pitch. You don't go out there looking to own the inner third with a knuckle ball and if things don't go well it can be pretty disheartening to the pitcher and the team. However, none of the Toronto relievers even made an effort to control the Sox hitters. That whole Toronto bunch looked kinda' dispirited the whole series....not really into it at all even in games they were in. They apparently can't get Joey Bats back on the field while expecting to before each one of these games and I guess the decision is his. I am beginning to wonder if this is a team that knows that they will be much involved when the Commish drops the Biogenesis bomb and they are just waiting for their season to end before it starts. Cabrera may be the only big hitter they have playing clean for all we know. He surely cannot afford to miss the pay window for 100 games on top of the 50. He surely does not look like he is getting juice help. Would we be completely surprised if there were not multiple Jays on the Commish hit list? Also that whole thing of MLB finally deciding that enough is enough came pretty late and really not much more than a month or two before the start of the reg season if memory serves me.

What an embarrassment... their field is a carpet with a launch pad at home plate. Apparently the rumors that they steal signs is true since Farrell has had them using multiple signs with no runners on base! They can't keep the fans off the field and do the wave down 10. Just give up and die.....sink to the basement where all bought and paid for teams surely need to go.

Any longer up with the big club and these guys are going to have to get used to Iggy encroaching in the infield. Pedey for his part is already fine with it. WMB appears to need a bit more convincing.

Iggy's first step must be ridiculous. This is carpet....carpet!!!

Maybe Gibbons is too oblivious to be pissed. I would be ripped if I were him. Now it's too late. If he sends a pitcher out there to hit a Sox batter in the 9th it will be just spite. Damage is done. Apparently has not even instructed the relievers to earn back inside which they have not owned for even a minute all day.

Gibbons has got to be pissed. Dickey set a bad tone for the game and the guys Gibbons has brought in are not even trying to move the Sox hitters back off the plate...nothin'. The Sox hitters are bringing a shovel and a bat to the plate. Shovel to dig in...bat to hit.

Playing with a big lead is so much better than playing from behind. We were behind big in so many games last year and you could just see the other team settle in, nice and loose, dig in and hit free and easy. Game gets hard to play when you are losing and even harder to play when you are losing often. Surprised a Sox player has not been knocked down by a Jay's pitcher yet today.

That is a little more information than I need to know.