These. Are. The. Good. Times.

 Its seems that order has been restored to the baseball universe.  The Sox are now back in first place, the Yanks are in third, a place they spent most of last season, and hopefully they will reside there all summer and fall. 

  What kind of few days is Jason Bay having, it seems that Bay heard there was opening for the role of late innings heroric guy in the Boston Red Sox line-up.  Because the last few nights it seems that Bay wants to fill that role, first with his moon shot of Mary Ann Rivera on Friday, and now his latest herorics against Kerry Wood last night, to the tune of a three run dinger, in a game that was tied 0-0 at the time.  For the game, Bay was 3-4, with three r.b.i's.  It goes without saying, I think Theo should take action and get this guy signed, ASAP.

  What a performance by Tim Wakefield, who seems to have turned back the clock this april.  Wakefield again went deep into the game, and again was highly effective.  However, Wake got no support, and he recieved a no decision for his efforts.  For the game, Wake went seven innings, gave up ONE hit, and NO runs.  So far, it is a no doubter, Tim Wakefield has been the best pitcher on the Red Sox staff.  It seems when Wake pitches outside the AL east, his knuckleball tends to overwhelm the opposition.

  The offense sputtered for the most part last night, due in large part to Cliff Lee's dominating performance.  Lee also has a tough luck start as well, going eight innings, and allowing no earned runs, and giving up five hits, he also struck out five and walked zero batters.  Due to the lack of walks, the Sox left a few guys stranded, however they were also doubled up a few times as well.  I am always shocked when Jacoby Ellsbury is doubled up, something that has happened to him twice in four games.  Of course the hero of the night was Jason Bay, he went 3-4, with 3 runs batted in.  A little credit should go to Big Papi and Pede Pedoria, as they both got on in front of Bay.

  The Sox could have added more, as Mike Lowell got a gift triple from Grady Sizemore, however Rally Killer Donkey Hole Drew of course struck out on four pitches, and failed to advance Lowell.  I guess a long pop fly was too much ask of Donkey Hole Rally Killer. 

  Besides the lack of offense, the only other blemish on last nights game was the performance of closer Jonathan Papelbon.  Though he got the job done, it was not pretty, as he once again labored, as he faced six batters in the bottom of the 9th.  Papelbon was charged with an earned run, as he gave up three hits.  He did however strike out two Indians.  Hopefully these early season struggles by Papelbon are just that, and not an indication of anything else.

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 Other than having to listen to Steve Phillips and Joe Morgan, how sweet was last night's sweeping finale of the series ?  As usual, the Yanks and Sox provided us with some drama, and this time around, they kept it to under four hours.

  For the Sox, last nights game was really gravy, as they had already taken the series, but man was the gravy sweet.  The Yanks had thier "stopper" Andy Pettite on the mound for them.  Previously he had been 17-1 in starts where the Yankees had losing streaks.  I guess old Andy forgot to take his HGH Sunday morning, because he was not all he could be.  Besides watching the Yanks lose on ESPN Sunday night baseball, the next best thing was watching the look on Pettite's face when he got punked by Jacoby Ellsbury when he stole home.  It was something you don't see very often period, and it has been 15 years since the Sox have done it.  It is a gutsy, and electrifying move.

  Justin Masterson was again very effective and economical last night, going 5 1/3 innings.  Masterson fanned four Yanks, and allowed only one earned run.  Masterson gave up six hits to the vaunted Yankee offense, and walked just one batter.  It goes without saying, the future is now for this young prospect with the power sinker.  I think Theo and company have a tough decision on thier hands regarding what to do with Masterson once Dice-K returns from the DL.

  After the fireworks display on saturday, this game was tame in comparison.  Both teams seemed flat, however the Yanks were a tad flatter, as they only managed seven hits versus the Sox pitching, and none after the sixth inning.  The Sox bullpen managed to again handcuff the Yanks.  The Yanks only had one baserunner after the sixth, and never brought the tying run to plate after the sixth inning as well.  For the series, the Sox bullpen pitched 12 and 2/3 of inning against the Yanks, and only yielded three earned runs.  The Yankees wish they could say that, as thier bullpen worked 10 innings, and they gave up 11 earned runs.

  What does a sweep of the Fort Knox Bombers mean this early in the season, not much, although it is always awesome to sweep the hated Yanks.  History shows the Sox seem to always have the Yanks number early.  The Sox have taken every series from the Yanks, except one dating back to 2003. Either way, we will all take it.  It was a great series, and a better home stand.  The Sox have now won 10 straight, and hopefully have gotten thier season on track.

What is it when the Sox and Yanks get together, is there a special water they drink, it's April for crying out loud.  Once again yesterday, the Sox and Yankees answered all the questions about why these games are hyped so much,and why they constantly play these games on national t.v. .

  A Yankee/Red Sox game is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get, I guess.  Sometimes they are nail-bitters, and other times it looks like there will be no conclusion until the very last out has been recorded.  This time the last out was recorded almost five hours after the last pitch.  The sun was high in the sky when the game started, it was setting when the game ended.  Terry Francona had a head full of hair, he is now bald, President Obama was just starting his first 100 days, he is now planning his re-election campaign.  Lets put it this way...it was a long game.

  This game was billed as a pitchers duel, however few thought it would be, especially not on the Sox side, as Josh Beckett has been just plain average these days.  On the otherside, A.J. Burnett had been pretty dominate to start his Yankee career.  So when the Yanks jumped to an early 6-0 lead, and Burnett had only allowed one hit thru three innings, you had to think that this series was heading for splits-ville.  What ensued after though was just another historic Yankee/Sox game.

Pitching-  Josh Beckett was horriffic, end of story.  He had only one 1-2-3 inning, and was scored upon eight times in just five complete innings.  What was more amazing, was that Beckett was actually in line to win the game, after the Sox rallied in the 5th to take the lead.  For some reason though, Terry Francona gambled on Beckett, he quickly found out that was a bad move.  Who knows whats going on with Beckett, it's very clear at this point we are looking at guy closer to the 2008 version of his self, and not the lone brilliant year of his career 2007.

  On the other side, Yankees starter A.J. Burnett was equally as bad.  He also failed to make it six innings, and he was also tagged for a touchdown and two point conversion.  Sure Burnett started good, but the end result was the same, he stunk on wheat as well.

  Hitting-  What's to say, the Boston Red Sox hitters were brilliant yesterday (notable exception Rally Killer Donkey Hole Drew).  Every Sox hitter except Rally Killer had a hit.  The Sox feasted on the Yankees mediocre bullpen like it was thanksgiving, and they were very thankful.  The Sox made the Yankee pitchers pay for every mistake, including when Yankee manager Joe Giradi walked Drew to get to Mike Lowell, what a dope.  Drew is an automatic out, and Lowell is one of the hottest hitters in the American league.  Lowell took it personally, as he crushed a three run go ahead homer over the MONSTAH !

  Bullpen-  Despite the final score, I felt the Sox bullpen looked pretty good overall.  They pitched four innings yesterday, and allowed only one earned run, not bad at all.  Manny Delcarmen continues to be impressive, and Ramon Rameriz is indeed the real deal.  Once again Hideki Okajima struggled as he gave up a towering homerun to Robbie Cano.  His run was the only one the bullpen surrendered.  Jonathan Papelbon pitched a pretty sloppy 9th inning, however despite throwing 30 pitches, he got out unscathed, and allowed no runs to cross.

  As I said to start the season, The Yankees bullpen is a mess, and the only way they can fix it is to throw more money @ that problem like they do everything else.  The Yankee bullpen also surrendered a touchdown and two point conversion, and they were scored upon in every inning they pitched.  Luckily for them, the Sox did not need to bat in the 9th, otherwise who knows what the final score would have been.

  Who know what tonight will bring, of course this game is on ESPN, and will have an 8pm start time.. Which means both teams will be boarding a plane around 3 am or so.  Hopefully this will be just a "normal" three hour affair between these two teams.

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 As is the case when the Sox meet in April, there is always a game or two to remember.  Last's nights game was no exeption.  It was like the opening of a dramatic broadway play.  It had everything, and as usual, the game found the drama in the drama.  Papelbon versus Mark Teixeria, a winner take all in the 10th with men @ second and third,  Papelbon won....nuff said...

Pitching

Jon Lester was way better than Joba Chamberlain, end of story.  He went more innings, he had less hits, and pitched his way out of trouble.  Joba needed the inept Sox hitters to bail him out with 4 double plays to end an inning.  Lester, as usual was pretty dominate versus the Yankees, and he seems to have thier number.  Lester has never lost a game to the Yanks, and last night that formula held up.

Hitting-  As will be the case all season, the Sox struggled against a hard throwing righty.  The Sox bailed Joba out inning in and inning out.  However they hit late, when they needed to and when it counted.

SideBar- It has been discovered that before the game, that J.D. Rally Killer Donkey Hole Drew and David Ortiz made a bet on which one would stink on wheat worse.  After a nation wide vote.....dramatic pause....the winner is Donkey Hole Rally Killer.  Rally Killer Drew lived up to his name last night.  Rally Killer went 0-4, with two inning ending double plays, left em loaded with a pop up, left a total of 8 guys on base...when it counted, failed to even advance one runner...and oh yea...he dropped a ball that allowed a run to score...I know it was a tough catch....but he is a big leaguer...and it hit his glove....nuff said...luckily for Donkey Hole Rally Killer...the Sox bailed him out after his normal disappering act.

Bullpens-  The Sox bullpen overall receives a grade of a C- last night.  Hideki Okajima was pure puke, and had to bailed out by Manny Delcarmen after he loaded the bases with recording and out.  And somehow....Javier Lopez found himself in a two run game in the 9th....He also loaded the bases before being bailed out by an awesome play by reigning MVP Dustin Pedoria.  Jonathan Papelbon was not especially sharp, but he was when he needed to be, fanning that piece of crap Mark Teixeria with two runners in scoring postition.  Also my BRO-MANCE with Ramon Rameriz continues to blossom, as he also keeped the Sox in the game by tossing a ZERO on the scoreboard....He was rewarded with the win, his second of the year.

Conclusion-  WALK OFF WINNERS ARE SWEET AGAINST THE YANKEES.....NO MATTER WHAT THE DATE IS ON THE CALENDER !!!!!!!

Well if you had the Boston Red Sox sweeping the Twins, and winning both games by a score of 17-4, you would have been correct.

  In the first game of the day, Tim Wakefield pitched another complete game, although he only had to go seven innings this time to get the complete game.  With that being said, Wake was just as sharp as he was versus the A's last week.  He limited the hot hitting Twins to just five hits and one earned run in his seven innings of work.  He also picked up his second win of the season as well, running his record to 2-1.

  Wakfield got rare support from his batters yesterday as well.  Mike Lowell, Kevin Youkilis and Nick Green all went yard for two run shots, to stake Wakefield with an early lead.  Donkey Hole Drew seems to have awoken from his slumber as he also had a multi-hit game as well.  In a related story, Big Papi may yet hit his weight this season, as he also picked up a few hits, and raised his batting average.

  The second game was a weird game to watch, especially if you were a Twins fan.  Francisco Liriano had nasty stuff, almost no hitter type stuff.  However he made just a few bad pitches, but when he did the Boston hitters were all over them.  For the game, Liriano struck out six batters in just four innings of work, but along the way, he was tagged for seven earned runs on just four hits.  It didn't help that he walked Drew and hit Varitek on the foot and then followed that up with a serving of over the Monster to freshly called up Jeff Baily.

  On the other side of the hill Brad Penny looked pretty good last night.  Especially if you compare it with his last debacle versus the O's.  Penny was able to limit the damage last night, going six innings, giving up two earned runs, and allowing seven Twins base-runners, six got on via a hit.  It was encouraging outing from Penny, all things considered, he is the # 5 starter after all.

  The offense was a little sluggish despite what the scoreboard indicated.  The Sox were very oportunistic last night, and took advantage of every bad pitch thrown thier way.  As a group, the Sox only had six hits, and only eight baserunners all night.  However thanks to ill-timed pitches, seven of those runners touched home plate.

  Next up, is the hated Fort Knox Bronx Bombers.  I'm sure for the Fort Knox Bombers coming to Fenway for a three game set will be a nice change of place, playing in front of a sold out stadium.  It will also be nice to see that big DORK Mark Teixeria, hopefully Leigh made the trip as well.  Either way I'm sure both of those ***-clowns will have plenty of money to spend in the thier trip to Boston.  If markie Mark thought Baltimore was bad....he ain't seen nothing yet.....

 So this is Derek Jeter.....you may know him...the playboy/shortstop/hotdog/overrated/overpaid member of the New York Yankees...I had to be specific...since most Yankees are overpaid....

 Now it's been reported that Derek Jeter makes alot of money thru his contract with the Yankees and various other endorsement deals....however judging from these photos over the years, it appears that old Derek must be going to the same hair cut place, since he looks like a pinhead in all these photos dating back 12-13 years.  Not sure if Derek knows this or not...but it is 2009...maybe time to update your look

 Of course...my grandmother also has not updated her hair style in several decades either....so maybe bad hair do's are making a come back  It's obvious that Derek Jeter must have some of the same money problems that the other pin-head A-Fraud has....what else would explain them both getting the same lame haircut for 15 years....

So Yankees fans...please give to the A-Fraud and Derek Jeter haircut fund...they need your help now...more than ever.....

1. Brian Roberts
2. Cesar Izturis, SS
3. Nick Markakis, RF
4. Aubrey Huff, DH
5. Ty Wigginton, 1B
6. Luke Scott, LF
7. Gregg Zaun, C
8. Ryan Freel, 3B
9. Felix Pie, CF
-- Mark Henrickson, LHP

1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
5. Rocco Baldelli, RF
6. Jason Bay, LF
7. Mike Lowell, 3B
8. Jason Varitek, C
9. Nick Green, SS
-- Justin Masterson, RHP

 Is there a better holiday out there ?  For those of us not from New England, I guess there is, however it is a great rite of spring passage holiday.

  Last year I was lucky enough to be in Boston for all four games during Patriots Day weekend.  Of course the Sox swept the series versus the Texas Rangers, a feat I hope is duplicated today.  The game will feature an 11am start time, so don't forget to take that early lunch ....that may of course last a few hours.

  The Sox have Justin Masterson on the hill today in place of pile o crap Dice K, and the O's will counter with lefty Mark Hendrickson.  For the Sox, they are trying to win thier 5th straight, and get over the .500 for the first time since opening day, when they were 1-0.

One had to wonder when the 2008 version of Jon Lester would emerge.  Mark it down, April 19th, the day the Jon Lester righted the ship. 

  Lester was just nasty with a capitol K today for seven strong innings.  he was economical with his pitches, and allowed only six baserunners all day, none touched home plate.  His line for today, seven innings pitched, NINE strikeouts, and four hits versus two walks.  For most of this day Lester was very overpowering, and his timing could not have been better, because the Sox hitters also ran into a pitching buzz saw in Koji Uehara.

  The Sox hitters were for the most part were pretty quiet today, with the exception of two, two out rallies, that provided the difference in the score.  For the most part the Sox hitters were dominated by Uehara's aray of pitches, and pinpoint command.  The offense the Sox could muster were provided by thier pair of MVP's, Dustin Pedoria and Mike(RBI)Lowell.  In a related note Big Papi continues to be that smell that stinks up the entire ballpark.  He went hitless again today with two strikouts, as he failed to get on base at all today.

  The Sox bullpen continues to round into form, as they picked up the save without Jonathan Papelbon being available.  Ramon Rameriz continues to be lights out as he pitched yet another scoreless inning.  It may be early, but this guy looks like the real deal, and he may settle in nicely as the 8th inning set up man.  Saito had a shakey 9th inning, that provided some excitement to a game that seemed to be in hand, however after giving up a run, he settled down, and got Greg Zaun to strike out to end the game.

  After a rocky start the Boston bullpen seems to be taking shape into what we thought it would be, LIGHTS OUT.  As a group, they have only given up three earned runs in thier last 21 innings pitched, no small feat.  This past week they had an 11 inning outing, and a six inning outing in that resume.  If the Sox are going to continue to string together wins without a high powered offense, this group is going to play a huge role in thier team success.

 Well it was a lovely day to open the new Yankee Stadium.  The billion dollar plus plus stadium was all polished up and ready for business.  The Fort Knox Bombers were ready to go, they had thier 500 million band of free agents on the field dressed in thier best pinstripes.

  Alas today was not about a story book opening though, as the Fort Knox Bombers dropped the first of what I hope is alot of games at the new stadium.  The Yanks were spanked today in front of a sellout crowd.  The final score was 10-2, the second time in a few days the Yanks have given up a touchdown and fieldgoal in a game.  It was nice to see and it brought a little smile to my face when I heard the final score, I swear I almost heard Dirty Water in the background.

  I know the Sox have struggled out of the gate a tad, okay 3-6 is slighty more than a tad.  However the Yankees have started the season against two celler dwellers from last season, while the Sox have played six games already against the best of the A.L., and six games out West already.  At 5-5 I guess it's true what they say, 450 million sure doesn't buy what it used too.

 Well you just never know what to expect from a Tim Wakefield start.  What you never expect though, is Shakey Wakey taking a no-no into the 8th inning.  However, thats what we got today, and it arrived in the nick of time.

  The Sox bullpen was about as wiped as a staff could be, pitching 11 innings the night before.  The Sox were playing less than 12 hours after last nights extra inning affair to boot.  So a turn in the rotation by Wakefield was a little worrisome.  However that worry soon turned to joy as Wake continued to slap ZERO'S up on the scoreboard deep into the game.  I never thought he would get the no-no, however by time it got to the 8th I had a glimmer of hope.  By that time though, the Sox hitters had hung an 8 spot on the board and the game seemed secure.  It was a very impressive outing by Wakefield to say the very least.  The best compliment I can give him was that it was very Schilling-seque.  Wakefield was exactly what the Boston Red Sox needed on April 15th 2009.

  Wakefield's line for today's game was also pretty impressive as well, four hits, two walks, two earned runs, and four strikeouts.  He also threw only 109 pitches in his complete game performance, the 31st of his career.  Wakefield has now evened out his record at 1-1, and he now sports the lowest e.r.a. on the starting staff at 3.00 .

 The offense was streaky today, and most of the runs game via the homerun express.  Mikey Lowell hit a two run shot in the second, and J.D. DONKEY HOLE Drew hit a three run homer in the 8th inning.  I guess DONKEY HOLE  figured he would give the Sox an r.b.i. for every strikeout he had today, a team leading three.  Better late than never I guess with old Drew.  The interesting part of that homerun by Drew was the fact that Oakland walked Youk to get to Drew because he had been swinging the bat so badly.

  Lost in todays victory was the continued horrific performances by both Big Papi and Jacoby Ellsbury.  Both guys stunk it up equally in this series, and they both combined to go 2-10, with no walks today.  It's safe to say at this point, but neither guy may the answer at either spot in the line-up.  As each game turns to another, it becomes less and less likely that either one of these two will turn it around, especially in Papi's case.  Age and weight, and piss poor conditioning seems to have finally caught up with the 33 year old slugger that looks like he is 43.

  No game tommorrow as the Sox head home for a well deserved homestand.  Hopefully the momentum of this game and some home cooking will be what the Sox need to start stringing some wins together.  In the words of Yogi Berra..."its gets late early".......

 Though the journey to get there may have been different, the Boston Red Sox still lost.  This time, a heartbreaker in the bottom of the 12th inning.  The loss means that the Sox will now have started the season losing three consecutive series.  At some point boys and girls, we may have to face the music, this Red Sox team ain't gonna be that good in 2009.

  The game started with alot of promise, the Sox quickly put some runs on the board, and every Sox batter was involved on getting on base in the 1st, with the exception of Ellsbury, Papi and Nick Green.  The promise quickly turned sour as the piece of crap known as Dice-K manged to make the A's starter look like a CY Young winner.  Dice-K threw 43 pitches, gave up five earned runs, on five hits and two walks.  To be quite honest, it was a miracle he got those three outs before exiting the game with arm fatigue.  I really glad that Dice-K got to showcase his skills for the WBC.  I wonder when all these players from smaller countries will learn...it's not what you do in the WBC that counts...it's the MLB that counts.  In either case, it looks like Dice is on the shelf for awhile, and the Sox will now need minor league call ups to get through this week.

  I guess we can take some solace in the fact that the bullpen did hold the A's scoreless for 11 innings after Dice-k's massive failures in the first inning.  However that's all it is, a silver lining to a crap filled cloud.  Oh yea, after that great 11 inning performance, Javier Lopez was the guy left standing.  No suprise that he gagged it up.  Every time I see him take the mound, I always wonder what he is doing in a big league uniform.  How badly did Lopez blackmail someone to get to the major's is my main question.

  At this point the Sox now have more unanswered questions than they did to start the season.  Coming in, we all wondered about Papi, Mike Lowell and Jacoby Ellsbury.  Those fears have been realized, as all three players are hitting well below .200 eight games into the season.  However new questions have arisen about Dice-K and Jon Lester, and thier abilities or lack there of.  It's only two weeks in, but in the words of Bill Parcells, "you are what your record says you are".  Aside from last nights game the Sox have not really competed in any of thier losses.  In a tough American League East race, a bad, no correction horrible April maybe enough to ruin the entire season.

 What do you do when a team built on pitching and defense fails to do either, pull the rip cord I guess.  For the 5th time in 6 games, the Boston Red Sox did thier best Washington Nationals impression and stunk up the joint.  The Sox have now opened the season on a very unimpressive 2-5 clip, hardly the stuff October dreams are made off.

  Jon Lester was quoted after the game as saying that he did not think that his stuff was that bad.  To quote the great Crash Davis from Bull Durham, "don't think meat, just pitch, you can only hurt the ball club when you think".  Jon Lester needs to shut his pie-hole up and go back to the drawing board.  I understand getting snake-bitten pitching against a good club, but the Oakland A's, come on.  Lester was shakey from the jump, and before you could say west coast game suck, it was 5-1.  If you are keeping track, Jon Lester has now dropped his last four major league game dating back to the 2008 ALCS.  It has also been about a month or so since he has pitched effectively in any capacity at all.  Lester's awful performance last night keeps the Boston pitchers streak of getting a decision in tact.  Lester's line last night, six innings pitched, ten hits, six earned runs and 5 strikeouts.  I guess the good news is at least he ate some innings and pitched six frames.

  Lester was not alone in his pitching failures, the Red Sox bullpen also came along for the ride against the mighty powerful Oakland offense, comprised mainly of HAS BEENS.  The bullpens line last night was also dreadful, combined totals were 2 innings pitched, two hits and of course two earned runs.  If you are scoring at the home, the bullpen has allowed a run in six of Boston's seven games played.

  The story of last night's offense will be a pretty short story as well.  THEY STUNK, THE END !  Other than Kevin Youkilis, the Boston hitters combined to go 4-28 with one lousy r.b.i between them.  Of course with the offense you had to know the game was pretty much over after the explosion in the second inning by the A's . The only thing close to a rally that occured was in the 6th inning, however J.D. Rally Killer Donkey Hole Drew was there as usual to close out the inning, swinging and flying out on the first pitch he saw.  I wonder how many millions of dollars Drew Donkey Hole would have if he were paid by the innings he ended, gotta be a truckload right ?

  Next up for the Sox is the unsure Dice-K.  It's safe to say, that being on a losing streak and having Dice-k take the mound is not exactly reassuring to say the least.  after Dice-K comes shakey Wakey, so this indeed could become a long week.  Looking ahead to Friday, the Sox will get the best pitcher in baseball this season so far, the O's Jeremy Gutherie.  Sounds like it could be a VERY LONG WEEK indeed.

 The Sox annouced today that shortstop Jed Lowrie will be placed on the DL due to an injury to his left wrist.  So thats why he has stunk it up so bad...hmm sounds kinda-off fishy to me.  My question is, with Lowrie out...who else will suck as bad as DONKEY HOLE DREW.

Here is the Red Sox's line-up vs the Oakland A's

1. Rocco Baldelli, CF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
5. J.D. Drew, RF
6. Jason Bay, LF
7. Mike Lowell, 3B
8. Jason Varitek, C
9. Nick Green, SS
-- SP, Jon Lester

So I woke up this morning, and checked the Boston Globe for some good news.  For instance, J.D. DONKEY HOLE RALLY KILLER Drew had fallen in the shower, or he twisted his ankle, or he just sneezed funny and hurt his back.  No such news, no such luck, so I guess I have to find a silver lining to the last week's play somewhere else.

  The only good news I can find is this, it's still early, and the Sox played a tougher schedule than all of the American League East Foes, so one or two or three games out after one week ain't so bad is it ?  While the Sox got the two best teams in baseball last year, the Yanks were feeding on two of the worst, and all they managed was a 3-3 split.  The Rays also only managed a split in there first six games as well.  As for the O's and Jay's, who do they think they are kidding, this is a three team race, and there are no more invitations to the American League East race being sent out.  If either the Jays or the O's are this side of .500 in a month it would be a miracle.

  It's tough to take much from a few games, however there may be some tough tea-leaves that are hard to ignore.  For instance, maybe the Sox bullpen is not as good as advertised.  Thru six games this season, the bullpen has been scored upon in everygame, except one.  This type of production is hardly inspiring, especially in  three of those games, the runs the pen gave up was the difference in the final score.

  It's also tough to ignore how bad the offense has been thus far as well.  The Red Sox are 2-0 when they score five runs, and 0-4 when they don't.  There were alot of questions about this teams run producing abilities coming into this season, and so far they have only been answered with more questions.  For instance, is Big Papi really done as a power hitter ?  Is Rally Killer Drew the worse number five hitter in all of baseball, and if so, will someone get Rally Killer the phone number to 1-800 gutless piece of **** hotline.  Also, is someone going to inform Jacoby Ellsbury that his job as a lead-off hitter is to get on base occasionally ?

  The starting pitching, which was supposed to be one of the bright spots of this squad has also failed to live up to expectations.  One week into the season, and every Sox starter except Brad Penny has suffered a loss.  Jon Lester looked like a mess in his home debut, so I guess we will see what he has today before dialing 1-800 panic.  Dice-K looked pretty good in the WBC, however he must have saved it for his home country, because he also look pathtic in his home loss last week as well.

  Is it too early to panic, most would say yes it.  However if you recall, last season the Detroit Tigers were a heavy favorite to win the American League last year.  The Tigers stumbled out of the gate, and never recovered, failing to ever contend, and finishing well below .500 in the very weak A.L. Central.  Only time will tell about the Red Sox and 2009.  However the American League East race should be tightly contested, and game given away in April, may come back to haunt you in September.

 Is there a player worse than J.D. Drew in the Red Sox line-up, there is no debate, the answer is NO.  Although Drew did hit a homerun today, he managed to pee all over it with his horrific performance at the plate and his play in the field.  The Sox will play alot of games this season, they will win some and lose some, but today Rally Killer took care of this one all by his self. 

  After hitting his homerun in the second, I thought maybe this would snap Drew out of his funk.  However in the third, when he overthrew the cutoff man, giving the Angels second and third instead of first and second, I knew that this guy blows no matter what.  Of course both of those runs came around to score, thanks in large part to Rally Killer Drew.

  It's been a bad week for Rally Killer Drew, sure the Sox are 2-4, however if this DONKEY was hitting .200, they may be 4-2.  The game finds gutless cowards like Drew, thats why you have to tuck them away in the line-up to minimize the damage that they can do.  Not quite sure why Francona has inserted Drew in the 5 hole, it is a move that is sinking a ship that already has alot of holes, no HOLE bigger than Rally Killer Drew.

  The capper for Drew this week came in the 8th and 9th inning.  Both times this DONKEY HOLE failed to advance runners, get a walk, a hit a r.bi., nothing nada.  In the 8th inning, after Scott Shields had walked the first two Sox hitters, Drew meekly swings at the first pitch, lazy fly ball, that fails to even advance the runners, the least this DONKEY HOLE can do right.  In the 9th inning, with the tying run in scoring postion, after the Sox had rallied to within one, Drew lives up to his Red Sox Nation nickname Rally Killer.  DONKEY HOLE Rally Killer Drew stands at the plate, watches four pitches, swings at none, and strikes out looking to end the game.  We have seen this alot from Drew in his time in Boston, however it is never easy watching a guy stand at the plate like a statue with the game in the balance.

  When you look back at the history of Red Sox free agent signings, it's hard to find one worse that DONKEY HOLE Rally Killer Drew.  This mediocre piece of crap is paid 14 million dollars a year, to do what most players are paid a fraction of to due.  Drew is one of the highest paid players on the Red Sox, it times he acts like it.  It's not his fault that the sox overpaid his sorry *****, however he has responsibility to his self and the game to live up to the contract he signed.  This, however will not be the case, and we all will marking time until DONKEY HOLE's contract expires, or heavens forbid he has a career threating injury.  Until that day arrives we are stuck watching one of the most gutless, joyless waste of space that has ever put on a Red Sox uniform.

  It seemed like it had been a month since the Sox had won a game.  Interesting first week of the season, every Red Sox pitcher got a decision, either a loss or a win.  Today Brad Penny joined Josh Beckett as the lone winner on the Sox staff.

  Penny like Wakefield yesterday did everything that you need from a bottom of the rotation pitcher.  Penny allowed only three earned runs and five hits over the six innings he pitched today.  Penny also struck out two to go along with two walks, all in all not a bad outing.  He was very economical with his pitches as well, throwing only 86 pitches over his six frames pitched.  It was certainly the type of outing the Sox needed to get today, especially since they were facing a top of the rotation pitcher in Joe Saunders.

  The bullpen was a better today, allowing only one earned run over three innings.  Ramon Ramirez continues to be impressive, as he threw 1.2 innings of scoreless relief today.  Jonathan Papelbon's relief appearance was a tad more exciting, not sure if that is quite the right word to use.  It seemed when the Sox grabed an insurance run in the top of the 9th, that this game was OVAH!  However Papelbon did not have his best stuff today, and the 9th got really interesting to say the least.  Torri Hunter hit a solo homerun and that was followed by a double by Kendry Morales.  It got even more interesting when Papelbon walked the bases loaded with two outs.  After what seemed like a 100 foul balls, Papelbon finally got Howie Kendricks to fly out to right field.

  The offense was again very dreadful and pathetic looking.  The Sox collected 8 hits today, but three players accounted for six of those hits.  Jason Bay, Rocco Baldelli and shockingly enough Jason Varitek all had multi hit games today.  Jason Bay's two hits were homers though, that accounted for three of the Sox five runs scored today.  The heart of the Red Sox order today combined to go 0-7, needless to say Kevin Youkilis had to cool off at some point.  Big Papi again looked  lost at the plate, as he had another awful 0-ffer day.  Papi was not alone in his stink-feast, Jed Lowrie was there with him, arm-in-arm.  Lowrie has to wonder what he is doing in a big league uniform, and not in Pawtucket somewhere.  Lowrie may have a big league glove, but he is packing a little league bat, as he has started this season with a .056 batting average.  Never thought I would utter these words...but when is Julio Lugo coming back....

So I guess the starting pitching was better last night.  I mean what do you expect from a number 4# starter but a chance to win.  Tim Wakefield was not especially sharp last, however luckily for the Sox the damage was pretty limited in the first six innings, despite six hits and five walks thru his six innings of work.  I guess this qualifies as a good nights pitching, after the last two starts we have seen by Red Sox pitching.  As is the case when Shakey Wakey pitches, the Sox's bats were virtually silent during his time on the mound.

  For the third time in four games, this vaunted bullpen was way less than stellar.  This time the offender was Justin Masterson.  Masterson took any chance the Sox had of winning away with his lackluster performance in the 7th inning.  His line last night, 8 batters faced, three earned runs, four hits, and a walk.  Not his finest hour to be sure, luckily the pen had to only pitch two innings last night, or the score could have really got out of hand.  Last night brought the bullpens innings pitched up to 10.  In those ten innings, the Sox bullpen has given up seven earned runs, meanwhile in four games, the Sox entire offense has only score 8 runs.  Something has to give with the this bulllpen that was supposed to be the best in baseball this season.  Even if the Sox had an offense, which they don't, they could not overcome this lousy of a pen.

  Well the elephant in the room all off-season and spring training was how this offense was going to perform.   Four games in, it's safe to say the Sox would have earned a grade of an F.  With the exception of Kevin Youlilis, no one is hitting.  Big Papi looks really slow, and really lost at the plate, and with the exception of last night, Jacoby Ellsbury looks lost at the lead-off spot.  Another dull a spot in the Sox offense has been Rally Killer Drew. I know Drew was signed to be the Sox number 5 hitter.  However in his time in Boston, he has spent little time occupying that spot.  Drew has been a complete train wreck in three games this season, going 1-11, with no r.b.i's, and a ton of batters left on bases.  To make matters worse for Drew, is that most of his failures have come in critical times, with men in scoring position.  If the Sox offense is to have any success at all, Rally Killer is going to finally have to do what he was brought to Boston to do, get on base and drive in runs, not end innings.

  The Sox are the Fox game of the week today, yippee.  For all those who don't have the MLB ticket, today will be your first chance to witness the stink up close.  The Sox will send Brad Penny to themound in his Red Sox debut, and the Angels will counter with thier ace Joe Saunders.  Advantage Angels in this one, a 1# type starter, versus a guy that nobody in baseball wanted to sign.  Let's all enjoy this one, at least Joe Buck and Tim Mcarver will take it easy on us. 

Well the good news today was, the bullpen looked a whole lot better.  The bad news was, the pen got no support from the Boston hitters or the starting pitcher today.  The Rays did today what they have done six of the last nine times they have played the Sox in Fenway, they won.

  I guess Dice-K was a little gassed after his WBC performance's, because he sure didn't have it today.  Last season, Dice gave up 12 homers in 167 innings, so far this season, he has given up 3 homers in just six innings.  I guess there is also a silver lining that Dice did manage to just make six innings today.  It was not a pretty outing to be sure.  Dice faced 28 hitters, and 13 of them reached base, and four touched home plate.  I guess another good side note was the fact that he only walked one and stuck out five.  I guess the Rays were too busy teeing off on Dice-K to walk today.

  Red Sox hitters were no fun to watch today as well.  Again in key situations, with men on base or in scoring position, the Sox left men on the base paths.  There was no bigger offender today than J.D. (gutless) Drew.  It seemed everytime the Sox would have a rally, up would stroll Nancy to the plate to spoil the rally.  All in all, Drew was 0-4 today leaving 6 of the Sox 8 runners on base.  In a one run game, one hit from Drew would have most likely made the difference in the game.

  Luckily Gutless Drew had company today in stinking up Fenway Park.  His battery mate was Jed Lowrie, who also was 0-4 today, leaving three men on base.  Two of those men happened to be on second and third in the 8th inning.  Of course just like yesterday in eerily similar fashion, Lowrie struckout.  The fear of Red Sox Nation has shown its ugly head these last few games.  The fact of the matter is, these Sox are going to have to pitch themsleves into contention, because the sure ain't hitting thier way there.

Well there is saying in sports and life, "you can't win em all'.  I think that phrase was coined just for baseball.  The good news for Red Sox is I don't think that many flukey things can occur in one game and soley go against one team like it did last night.  If you are Rays fan (I know it's not October yet they are still hibernating) you also have to be discouraged as well, because you will never have as many breaks as you did last night go your way.

  Jon Lester started the game last night like he was going to match Josh Beckett strikeout for strikeout, however things quickly changed.  Lester had some funny bounces happen to him about the same time he became less sharp.  It also did not help that Scott Kazmir had one strikezone and Lester had another.  Sounds like sour grapes, however if you actually watched the game last night, you know what I am saying.  Even that wind-bag Rick Sutcliffe thought the Sox hitters got hosed last night, and he was about as biased as Micheal Kay.  For the most part Lester pitched pretty good last night, with the exception of that weird 5th inning.  Lester however was not very economical though with his pitches, and by the 5th inning he had thrown almost a 100 pitches.

  The Sox hitters were pretty awful last night, leaving a small village on the bathpaths most of the night.  Most nights that is a losing formula, as it was last night.  Give the Rays some credit, they got the big outs when they needed them, and the Sox could not get the big hit when they needed it.  One more parting shot on the Sox offense, I know it's early, but Jacoby Ellsbury needs to work on being a better lead-off guy.  With the exception of his weak infield hit, Jacoby is 1-9, with no walks and 2 strikeouts.  So far in his at bats, he is averaging just three pitches looked at, hardly lead-off type of stats.  Hey Jacoby, this just in, Scott (Satan) Boras has just fed-ex'ed you the new book Lead-off hitting for dummies, there is forward by Johnny Damon in it, should be pretty interesting.

  The lone bright spot was the inning pitched by Ramon Ramirez in the 7th inning.  Ramirez is a possible candidate for the set-up guy spot, and he was certainly impressive in his inning of work.  That was not the case for the rest of the bullpen last night, as they gave up another 2 earned runs.  If your scoring a home, the vaunted Sox bullpen has pitched six innings, and given up four runs, certainly not a lock down bullpen at this point.  In Javier Lopez's defense, he is just a horrific pitcher, and should not have made the team out of spring training.  Credit his private investigator on getting those incriminating pictures of Theo Espstein.

  Next up for the Sox is the these same Rays, with Matt(the spitter) Garza on the hill.  The Sox will counter with Dice-K, fresh off his 600 pitch WBC spring training.  Hopefully Dice will attack the zone today like he did in the WBC.  First pitch is at 1:35 today.

SILVER LINING IN LAST NIGHTS CLOUD......THE YANKEES LOST AGAIN...AND I THINK IF YOU LOOK REAL HARD...YOU CAN SEE THE VULTURES CIRCLING THE NEW YANKEE STADIUM.....

So it's been awhile since I have bashed the Yankees and thier pathetic fan base for an entire blog, guess we better start this season out the right way.  It seems only fair to do so, after all the Yankees are indeed the reigning champions of November and December almost ten years running.  However it seems that October is another story all together.

 So a few weeks ago in spring training, after the A-Fraud scandal had broke, Jeter was in the Yankee dugout, giving an impromptu interview.  The topic of course, was steroids.  Jeter went on and on about how it was not fair to paint all players from the steroid's era with the same brush.  To that extent, Jeter is correct, however he should just shut his big yapper up about steroids.  Though Derek Jeter may have never taken steroids, no player has gained more from them than he.  Most of Jeter's career has been played with a bunch of the most notorious steroid users of the steroid era.  I wonder just how great the Yankees would have been in that era of dominance if say, Roidger Clemens, Andy Pettite, Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield, A-Fraud, Chuck Knoblauch, and possibly David Justice and Bernie Williams, as well as several more players had played clean. Derek, there may have never been a needle in your butt,seems however that ignorance indeed may have been bliss in your case.  Like I said, shut your mouth, and go back to being one of the greatest slap hitters and hyped players of all time.

 "The Genesis of A-Fraud"- Robby Peay

Where did it all go so wrong for the "greatest" player in the game ?  Just a few years back, A- Fraud had it all.  He had one of the best reputations in the game, all the money in the world, and he was playing in the media capitol of the world.  Then one October night back in 2004, a crack appeared in the facade that is A-Fraud.  Since that night it has been thing after the other for this piece of trash.  The bush league play in Toronto, the divorce, allegations of adultry, strippers, and worse still hookers.  Joe Torre's book surely did not help A-Fraud either.  Then came news that A-Fraud had tested positive for several types of steroids.  Of course like most players caught with thier hand in the cookie jar, A-Fraud downplayed his useage of the illegal drugs.  I guess the final chapter for A-Fraud's drug use has yet to written, or maybe it has, Selena Robert's book on the subject is due out latter this month, a must read I'm sure.

  Where does it all end up for A-Fraud and the Yankees ? Who the hell knows, I know this though, there were never two parties more made for each other. Correction, three parties made for each other, the Yankees, A-Fraud, and Yankee Fans.

How proud Yankees fans are to have this collection of overpaid, overhyped, trio of mercenaries on thier team.  In the worst economic climate since the great depression, the Yankees went out and spent just south of 500 million for three players.  The good news for Yankees fans, is they may be good this year, maybe.  CC Sabathia's blowout loss to the Orioles with standing.  However I guess it's a good thing Yankee fans are happy with this year's current crop of free agent signings.  Because guess what, just like A-Fraud, you are stuck with these guys long beyond thier primes, and because thier contracts are 20-25percent more than anyone would pay for them, they are all un-tradeable.

  So Yankee fans, enjoy watching A-Fraud well into to his late late thirties.  He and Markie Mark Teixeira should make up quite a nice infield, and by that time, wheelchairs should be legal in MLB.  Also, good luck with C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett as well.  If Burnett stays off the DL it will be a miracle, and if CC stays out of the buffett line, it will be a bigger miracle, no pun intended.  Can you imagine CC's waist-line two,three, seven years from now.  Guess what Yankees fans, you don't have too, he will be a Yankee for all those years, and  for all those different sized uniforms he is going to need.

 So enjoy this season, and all the ones to come Yankee nation.  It should be quite a journey.  Because even if the Yankees win this year, and I doubt they will, they really don't win beacuse of the price they have mortgaged the future at.  But haven't I always said that Yankee's and thier fans were always bad at math.  They always focus on the wrong numbers, like 1918 and 26.  Hey I got one for Yankee Universe, how bout 2000....2000...2000....and over 1.8 billion dollars in payroll spent...to equal zero World Championships........

Well the Yankees flashed thier tub-o-goo ace yesterday, and the Red Sox countered with thier ace today.  You know what, I got $161 million reason why our ace is better.  The proof was in the pudding, oops I better not say pudding, we might have ole C.C. running for the dinner table.

  Josh Beckett perhaps hearing the critics, pitched today with a renewed vigor today against the American League champs.  It was ala 2007 Beckett style pitching that we got to see today.  Beckett had a minor hiccup in the third, but other than that he was flawless.  Whenever and wherever he needed it Beckett got the big out or the big strikeout.  In the 5th Beckett got into a little trouble with a man on third and second, no outs.  All he did was retire the next three batters in order, no runs scored, disaster averted.  All in all it was superb outing, especially considering how early in the season it is.  Beckett's line today, seven innings pitched, two hits, one earned run, three walks, and count em TEN STRIKEOUTS...how many did Sabathia have against the O's yesterday, I lost count, or I guess the count never started.

  The offense could have been better, however with that being said, five runs should be plenty enough offense to win ballgames.  Every Boston hitter got a hit today with the exception of lead-off hitter Jacoby Ellsbury, who started the season with an O-ffer.  It was encouraging to watch the Boston line-up today keep the chain moving against a very good right-handed pitcher.  James Shields, however was 0-3 in Boston, and now he is 0-4.  Shields showed flashes of greatness today, however it was usually against the bottom half of the Red Sox order. Speaking of the bottom of the line-up, #9 hitter Jason Varitek started his season out right, going 1-4 with a Pesky-Pole style home run.

  The only dull spot to today's opening day win was the perfromance of the set up guys in the 8th inning.  After looking at heat all day the Rays were probably relieved to see soft throwing Hideki Okijima.  Of course Okijima did what every reliever does after a dominant starter leaves the game, he instantly got in trouble.  Okijima walked and hit a batter before being removed.  Of course both runs scored after a double steal, and a single by Evan Longoria.  Justin Masterson settled down and got the next two batters in order.  Jonathan Papelbon worked a 1-2-3 9th, striking out two of the three hitters he faced.

ALSO CONGRATS TO CARLOS PENA.....HE IS TODAY'S GOLDEN SOMBREROS WINNER

 Look @ it this way, the delay of the Sox game yesterday, allowed us to catch the Fort Knox Bombers game on ESPN yesterday.  Whatta a laugher that was, I especially liked how the bullpen made my prediction of a few days earlier look really good.  Anyway enough about the Yankees...Finally a line-up that matters....the OPENING DAY LINE-UP of the 2009 BOSTON RED SOX

Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
5. J.D. Drew, RF
6. Jason Bay, LF
7. Mike Lowell, 3B
8. Jed Lowrie, SS
9. Jason Varitek, C

SP -- Josh Beckett

Well it's a no brainer @ this point the Rays are my choice to finish in third and out of the playoffs.  The Rays, however could be one of the five best teams in baseball this season, however like the Yankees and Red Sox, they have the bad luck of being in the same division.

  The Rays are my pick to finish in part because there is no way thier luck  will be as good as 2008.  The Rays needed every ounce of fortune to go thier way, just to finish two games against the Boston Red Sox.  They also needed the Yankees to have thier worst season in over a decade.  There is just no way all the stars align for this band of over-achievers this season.

  The Rays still have the same pitching as last year, maybe better with David Price waiting in the wings.  With that being said, the Rays sustained no injuries to thier pitching staff last season.  Something the Yankees and Red Sox experienced to a large degree last year.  The Rays bullpen also looks to be not as good as a year ago.  Thier closer is still Troy Percicval, someone who does not strike fear in the hearts and bats of hitters in the American League East.

  The Rays offense may have improved slighty with the addition of Pat Burrell and Red Sox alum Gabe Kapler.  However thier offense needed to improve alot, and it didnt.  The Rays can't simply rely on pitching and defense if they want to win the American League and the pennat this year.  The Rays do have the horses in the farm system to make a deal at some point this season, if they are still in contention, which they should be.

  With all this being said, the Rays could very well be the best team in the American League once again.  BJ Upton and Evan Longoria are year older and more experienced, and they both have now tasted October glory.  It looks to be on paper on of the most exciting pennant races this century.  One thing is for sure, starting today, we will have 162 games to find out.

Okay for part two of the official prediction it gets a little tougher.  The difference between the Sox, Yankees and Rays this season should be eye lash thin.  There are many variables and moving parts, ie trades and injuries.  However with all that being said, I think the Fort Knox Bombers will be the American League wild card team in 2009.

Yankee offense-  Forget that the Yankees lost sluggers Jason Giambi and Bobby Abreu, none of that matters.  This offense is as potent as it has ever been, probably the best one they have fielded this decade.  Even with A-Fraud on the shelf for a month or so, this team is going to score plenty of runs.  The Yanks will toy with Johnny Damon and Derek Jeter flip flopping the lead-off spot.  Doesn't matter, both guys are good hitters and great OBP guys.  With that type of action ahead of them, look for Mark Teixiera and A-fraud to have a big season.  The Yankees are not just top heavy either, the have speed and power all they way thru the line up.  Consider this, Xavier Nady and Robinson Cano will be near the bottom of this line up, with a speedster at the bottom in Brett Gardner.

  Yes indeed, everything will be roses for the Yankees this year.  If you are a fan of high powered offenses in baseball, then this is the team to watch.  On the flip side, the Yanks have a few guys getting older, Jeter, Damon and Pasoda, and A-Fraud will be playing with an injury for the rest of the year.  However if anyone of these pieces faulter, look for the Yanks to open up the pocket books and make some type of trade.

Pitching-  The Yankees have THE best staff in baseball, period end of the story, no arguement. 1-5 the Yankees are loaded with starting pitchers that would make the Atlanta Braves of the 90's jealous.  The Yanks turned on the printing press yet again this off-season, and then spent over 300 million on 2 starting pitchers, and people say there is a recession.  The Yankees pitching staff is so devasting that thier last years opening day ace, is now thier #3 starter (Chien Ming Wang).  Andy Pettite, whom most teams would be happy to have as thier 2 or 3 starter, is the Yankees #5 pitcher.  To make matters even worse for opposing teams, is the fact that these pitchers will be able to work with a margin of error.  The Yankees offense should easily average over 5.5 runs a game or so, more than enough for each and every member of this staff.

Bullpen-  Alas there is a ***** in this armour after all.  Like all Yankees teams since thier dynasty run, they have a flaw that is bad enough to sink the ship.  Sure they will score alot of runs, sure they have a great offense. However they will need it, because the 7th and 8th innings could be a little hairy for them.  The Yanks are hoping that lefty Demaso Marte comes around to be the set-up guy, however he looked badly overmatched last season.  Mary-Ann Rivera should still be a reliable closer, although he ain't no spring chicken either.  I'm sure he has enough left in his tank though to terrorize hitters in the American League East in 2009 though.

So there it is, the second place team in the A.L. East.  I hope I am wrong about this, and the Yanks actually finish third.  Maybe A-Fraud's injuries keep him in check all year.  Maybe the other guys don't play to form, maybe Jeter gets old overnight....whew sorry about..I was just day dreamin....

Stay tuned for part three tommorrow.......................

Well after an extended spring, we are on the cusp of finally playing games that count, games that will be played with a regular line up and games closed by somebody I know..Jonathan Papelbon...versus some kid whose name I can't pronounce.  Every year I take a hard look at every team in the divsion and try to predict where they are going to finish.  This year is gonna be tough, there are a lot of factors that may cause the end result.  However based on what we have here on paper and the here in now, it is prediction time.

 In first place, winning the East by an eye-lash, I have the Boston Red Sox.  Hey this should come as no suprise, this is Red Sox Nation Daily, not Yankee Planet.  Of course this prediction is made based on facts, not heart.

  The 2009 Red Sox will be an interesting unit, one that will be similiar to a National League team, especially in the late innings.  The Sox will not hit as good as they have in previous years, however they will not need to.  They will be able to win games all sorts of ways this season, win big, win small, win via the pitchers duel, whatever your poison the Sox will win that way.  Some nights the offense is going to be slow and unbearable to watch, however they will be bailed out by thier pitchers.

Offense- It ain't gonna be pretty this year, thats for sure.  There are question marks surrounding Mike Lowell and David Ortiz, and of course Nancy Drew has already had problems staying up right in spring training.  With that being said, the Sox will still field a potent line-up night in and night out.  Jacoby Ellsbury looks to be a year better and wiser, and Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedoria will both continue to blossom into bigtime players.  Jason Bay is in a contract year, so he should have alot to prove as well, and his bat should be pretty explosive again for the Sox.  Bottom line is this, with the pitching the Sox will have on the field every day, it will allow this offense just enough room to breathe.

Pitching- Okay so the Sox don't have the best starting staff in the league, thats true, however what team is as deep as the Red Sox.  The Sox are so deep, they sent thier best spring training pitcher down to Pawtucket ( Clay Bucholtz), and they did not even have to rush future Hall of Famer John Smoltz through spring training.  The Sox also have Daniel Bard in the minors, this flame thrower hits 100 mph with ease with his fastball, something tells me this kid will be heard from in 2009.

  Last years team, one that fell 3 outs short of the World Series started out the season banged up, and had to throw piece mill staffs out for most of the season.  This year that is not the case, as Josh Beckett looks to rebound from a dreadful injury plagued year in 2008.  Jon Lester most likely will emerge as the co-ace of this squad as well.  Lester has added another pitch to his deadly assortment of pitches, and his cutter looks as deadly as it did last year.  Dice-K has had a pretty good spring this year, becoming the MVP of the World Baseball classic and throwing some strikes along the way.  The Sox have worked with Dice to improve his command of the zone.  Hopefully Dice-k can be as good or close to his 18 win campaign last season.

  There are a few question marks at the back end of the rotation however.  Like how much does Tim Wakefield have left in the tank.  It appeared last year he faded badly and did not have much left.  Personally I had hoped he would retire, however such was not the case, and we find ourselves with Shakey Wakey as our #4 starter.  Wakefield's starts are much like a "box of chocalates, you never know what you are going to get."  For the moment it appears that Brad Penny is the the 5th starter.  I am starting to think that Theo Epstein has a thing for chubby pitchers..aka Curt Schilling/David Wells/Bartolo Colon and now Penny, better keep the clubhouse fridge stocked up.  The good thing about the Penny experiment is the Sox have alot of outs and back-up plans as far as that goes.

Bullpen-  Usually I do not go all hip-hop on my blog, but the 2009 Red Sox bullpen is just plain ole thug nasty.  The Sox have three closers in thier pen, and several set up guys, and oh yea by the way...they will at some point have to make room for John Smoltz...you may have heard of him, he has 200 saves and 200 wins.  This unit looks to protect a lead like a chastity belt protects virtue.  Being as deep as they are the Sox can keep a guy like Manny Delcarmen in the earlier innings where he belongs, and they also have a ton of flexibility with Okijima and Ramirez as well as Javier Lopez.  All in all, this bullpen looks to be one of the best pens that Theo Espstein has ever put together in his time in Boston.  In this group lies the key to all of the 2009 Boston Red Sox fortunes.

Coming up next next is my AL East second place prediction, or otherwise know as the American League wild card team.