Game Six Redux

Apparently, MLB Network thinks we have a burning desire to watch Game 6 again—with in-depth analysis to boot. On Sunday, May 1st, the network will air the latest installment of its "20 Greatest Games" series. Yeah, you guessed it. 'The Flushing' is the game.

Bill Buckner, Mookie F. Wilson and Bobby 'The Turncoat" Ojeda will be on set to wallow in the detritus of our misery. As Yogi Berra might advise MLB network on this score:

"Black it it out in Boston, no one will be watching it there anyway."

FN Poll: Trade For Doumit?

Vote in our latest FenwayNation Poll, asking whether the Red Sox should trade for Pittsburgh catcher Ryan Doumit. VOTE HERE

Doumit Era On The Way?

With the increasing use of Jason Varitek—beyond a simple "Dice-K/Beckett" platoon—one has to wonder if Jarrod Saltalamacchia's days in the bigs are numbered. If the Red Sox pull off a deal for a more experienced backstop (Pittsburgh's Ryan Doumit is available), it would make sense to send Salty to Pawtucket for more "seasoning" (sorry). NESN's Mike Cole has suggested as much.

Doumit has had injury woes, is a defensive "work-in-progress" and would cost Boston over $5 million. But how much is the post-season worth to Theo and The Trio? He is hitting above .270 this year and has thrown out 31% of runners. Decent on both counts—and he's only 30 years old. The Sox can't continue to overwork a nearly 40-year old catcher while hoping that Salty "comes around".

All things considered, a trade for Doumit (parting with some middle infield talent like Scutaro or a prospect) seems to make sense.

Wild Card Fever!

According to the website AccuScore.com, the Red Sox are the current favorites to take the American League Wild Card. Thanks to their recent surge, Boston is projected to win 89 games (actually 88.8), and would barely make it into the post-season. But, considering the start, it's amazing they are at this point today.

Lackey's Big Mistake

Now I remember why I never liked John Lackey. He's a whiner and a malcontent on top of being wildly over-rated. After turning in two stellar performances (kind of what we are paying him a king's ransom for), he had to create ill will in an otherwise upbeat and resurgent Red Sox clubhouse.

After previously hinting at his displeasure about being 'skipped' in the rotation, he added fuel to the fire yesterday by saying he was "pi**ed off" at the slight. Really? Why, because we took advantage of a rain out to put far more competent pitchers ahead of him? Tough noogies, pal! When asked if he used the supposed slight as motivation, he shot back, "What do you think? What's it look like?'' Like his ridiculous salary isn't motivation enough?

I suggest that Mr. Lackey continue to pitch well and thank his lucky stars that he has a manager like Terry Francona, who even gives a crap about his inflated self worth. Because we, as fans, don't.

FN Poll: Expand MLB Playoffs?

Vote in our latest FenwayNation Poll, which asks whether the 2012 MLB Playoffs should be expanded from 8 teams to 10. VOTE HERE.

Youk Bruised, Not Broken

According to a report in the Boston Herald, Kevin Youkilis only bruised his leg on a foul ball last night—forcing him to leave the game early.

Gonzo Goes Disney!

Once again, it was primarily the starting pitching that led to Boston's second road win of 2011 (4-2 over the Angels). Josh Beckett hurled a no-hitter through 5 innings, and then made just one mistake to Torii Hunter (2-Run HR). Pitching allowed the Red Sox to hang around with 2 runs of their own (produced by a 2-out single by Jacoby Ellsbury) until the 11th.

Then, with men on first and third, Adrian Gonzalez delivered his biggest Sox hit so far, a ringing double into the right-field corner to plate one. Dustin Predroia scored the insurance tally on a sac fly by Jed Lowrie. The Three Amigos in the 'pen (Bard, Jenks and Papelbon) were superb in closing out win number seven.

Salty On 2-Week Rope?

Hall of Fame writer Peter Gammons hinted that the Red Sox may be moving to a resolution of their obvious catching problems in two weeks. Speaking to WEEI, Gamnons correctly noted:

"You just can’t have this on a championship team, especially when a big part of that championship team is built around power pitchers who are in a couple of cases struggling for their identity."

He went on to say:

"This is an issue that in the next two weeks is going to be addressed, and I don’t know which direction it’s going."

Cut It Out, Jeddie!

The Red Sox secured their first road win of 2011 with a 5-3 victory over Oakland today. Jed Lowrie continued his torrid April, clouting his third HR (a two-tun shot) to stretch the Sox lead at the time to 4-1. Kevin Youkilis and J.D. Drew also went yard and Carl Crawford got an RBI.

Clay Buchholz went 5 1/3 OK innings, still throwing too many balls, but escaping with only one run (thanks to the bullpen).

Sox Announce Centennial

Red Sox President and CEO Larry Lucchino today launched the celebration of the 100th Anniversary of Fenway Park. The team unveiled a new logo for the celebration, a new website in collaboration with MLB and a commemorative brick program. They also asked for ideas from fans to help celebrate the milestone.

'Start' Of Something?

There's no question that loss number eleven hurt. The Red Sox winning percentage slipped to .313—which would translate into a grand total of 51 wins.

But, the Sox bats were stymied by the continuation of Brett Anderson's mystical string of success against Boston. And, truth be told, John Lackey had a heck of an outing—going 6 strong innings of one-run ball. This means that—if Clay Buchholz can pitch well this afternoon—all five starters will have shown that they are back on track.

Don't forget that both the 2004 and 2007 championship runs were fueled by lights-out starting pitching. They will need it again.

What to do with Dice-K

by Ric Glaub, International Editor, FenwayNation

April 18, 2011-Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Many years ago, I worked for a United States Senator. This was during the Watergate scandal. My boss, as Senate staffers usually referred to their bosses, was truly hurt by what he thought was an affront even a wound to and on America. Decades later, one of my strongest memories is late one evening my boss, leaning back in his chair and saying, perhaps to the two staffers in his office, more likely almost rhetorically, “what to do about Mr. Nixon?”

This is, of course, not entirely apropos, but I think I am not alone right now in leaning back in my chair and saying, “what to do with Dice-K?”

At a point at which many were calling for Dice-K’s head on a platter (myself included), he pitches an absolute gem. Seven innings, one hit, one walk, no runs and a totally economical 89 pitches. Go figure.

Where did that come from?

In most of the fan polls I’ve seen recently, including on FenwayNation, large majorities have been saying, trade him for anything they can get (which would be difficult, because he has a complete no-trade clause) or failing that just cut your losses and dump him in the Mystic River. Twenty million dollars down the drain, but he had become almost a joke and a very bad drain on the starting rotation.

Now this. Is it a one-time thing or might it be possible that he still has something left? Has he finally received a wakeup call? Dice-K apparently said after the game that he understood he needed to do something or perhaps he wouldn’t get another chance. Good thinking Dice. Before today’s game, I have to think the Sox front office was near pulling the switch and dumping Dice-K. Maybe, knowing that, Dice decided he needed to reach back into his inner self and find a way to pitch, or otherwise face shame and think about committing figurative seppuku, because of loss of face.

At the same time, it was only one really good outing. We’ll have to see and everyone will be watching whether he can become a consistent positive part of the Sox starting rotation.

He has almost certainly preserved his spot in the rotation for at least one or two more turns. It will be very interesting to see how he handles them.

Five And Ten: Satisfied?

Taking three of four from the Blue Jays over the weekend was a welcome change from what we saw earlier in April. Your Carmine Hose are now sitting at 5 and 10—better, but still a pitiful .333 winning percentage. To paraphrase 'The Wolf' character in Pulp Fiction, "Let's not congratulate ourselves too much".

The real cause for optimism is the renaissance of the starting pitching—with Lester, Beckett and Dice-K turning in gems (we'll conveniently forget about Buchholz and Lackey for the moment). And, while the offense (or more precisely, Jed Lowrie) has also come around, there are still a couple of troubling issues with this team.

1.) First and foremost: Carl Crawford. His inability to find a comfortable niche in the order is screwing up multiple spots. J.D. Drew is now leading off and, let's face it, he shouldn't be. Jacoby Ellsbury has got be the permanent lead-off hitter—which might keep him from swinging for the fences so much (not that 4 HRs is a bad thing).

2.) Jarrod Saltalamacchia is just not cutting it—on offense or defense. Don't look to the Captain as a solution, though—he's actually got a lower batting average than Crawford! We need a real catcher until Ryan Lavarnway can inherit the tools of ignorance (maybe 2 years from now).

Kudos to Tito for committing to Lowrie—now let's keep him there for the duration. So, bottom line, "5 and 10" is a starting point as the team embarks on a very tough 9-game West Coast swing. Let's not get too comfortable, shall we?

Patriots Day Parking

If you're planning on attending the 11:05 AM Patriots Day game tomorrow, please be aware of the severe parking restrictions around Fenway Park due to the Boston Marathon.

The restrictions are summarized HERE.

Bottom Feeders

The bottom of the Red Sox order drove in 6 of 8 runs as the Red Sox won back-to-back games for the first time this year, beating Toronto, 8-1. Jacoby Ellsbury launced a mammoth 3-run HR to right (way up into the seats) to push the Sox to a 4-1 lead. Jarrod Saltalamacchia—despite dropping four strike threes in the game—knocked in three runs to "salt" away the win.

Jon Lester was good, but not great, going 6 innings and yielding only one earned run. He went to 3-2 on what seemed like every hitter, however, and was helped by two spectacular double plays.

Felix Dubront was painfully ineffective in relief, but Daniel Bard, Bobby Jenks and Dan Wheeler closed out the win in decent fashion. If the Empire loses tonight, we're only 4 games out of first place.

Crawford Benched On Saturday

After going a pitiful 0-5 on Friday night in a 7-6 loss, Carl Crawford was not only moved out of the lead-off spot, he has been benched by Terry Francona. Jed Lowrie (SS) will lead-off and Darnell McDonald, Mike Cameron and Jason Varitek are also in the lineup.

90 More To 100!

All those prognosticators might have been right. Only instead of 100 wins, the Red Sox are well on their way to 100 losses. In yet another inventive way to lose, they took a 3-0 lead—thanks to HRs by Pedroia and Youkilis—and managed to squander it by means of more bad pitching. Tonight it was Clay Buchholz, would could not go more than 5 innings, and gave up the three runs to tie the game. But the prize for futility has to go to Bobby Jenks, who coughed up 4 more earned runs in just one-third of an inning. Final score, 7-6. Mercy. Record: 2-10. Double mercy.

Castiglione Calls History

While we don't like borrowing ideas from those in the Empire, a recent spate of "John Sterling Calls History" Tweets were very funny. It gave us the idea of creating a similar line of Tweets for our own beloved Joe Castiglione.

You can take a look at our first tweet HERE.

You can submit your own Joe historical tweets HERE.

Be sure to add this after your tweet: #CastiglioneCallsHistory

Gonzo Inked To Deal

The song and dance is over. The Red Sox will avoid a hit on their luxury tax. CSNNE.com's Sean McAdam reports that Adrian Gonzalez and the team have agreed on a seven-year, $154 million deal (to be announced at a press conference today). OK, now, can we get to .500?

Sox Rich With Draft Picks

As a result of the departure of Victor Martinez and Adrian Beltre, the Red Sox will have five of the first 81 picks in June's 2011 MLB Draft. The Sox will pick 19th and 26th in the first round, 36th and 40th in the 'sandwich' round, and 81st in the second round.

De Facto Demotion Of Lackey

Aside from the obvious benefit of not losing again, the rainout also provided Terry Francona with a politically-correct way to demote John Lackey to a lower spot in the rotation. By skipping the inneffective righty (15.58 ERA), Tito can now start the Toronto series with much better options—Buchholz, Beckett, Lester and, yes, even Dice-K. Lackey will start the West Coast swing on Tuesday—far from the booing faithful on Yawkey Way.

Game Rained Out

Statement from Red Sox Ticket Office:

'Tonight’s game, Wednesday April 13th versus the Tampa Bay Rays was postponed due to inclement weather and poor field conditions. The game has not yet been rescheduled. Fans with tickets marked April 13th, game number 6 should hold onto their ticket stubs as they will be valid for admission to the make-up game only. No refunds or exchanges will be issued.'

A Set Of Modest Proposals

When we started FenwayNation in January of 2000, we wanted to be (at least to some degree) a haven for the rational Red Sox fan. We haven't always lived up to our mission statement over the last decade, but I think we need to do so now. This 2011 edition of the Red Sox is extremely talented. However, as we stated before the season started, there are some key flaws: serious catching issues, an over-rated rotation, and a bullpen full of question marks. Throw in a silly set of bloated expectations and you get a 2-9 start.

We do feel that the team needs shaking up—but only with sensible actions. Thus, our set of modest proposals to right the Good Ship Carmine Hose:

1.) Make Jed Lowrie the permanent SS. The kid can hit, he's a credible defender and he deserves a starting role. If he fails, put Scutaro back. No big deal.;

2.) Explore trade opportunities now for an everyday catcher. The Salty/Tek thing is not working out. The former can't throw or hit consistently, the latter is really showing his age.;

3.) Put Dice-K on the DL with 'Fenway Flu'; make Aceves the 5th starter. Maybe Dice-K can get his head on straight in a AAA rehab. Aceves has starting experience, and could not possibly be worse than Matsuzaka.;

4.) Put Ellsbury back in the lead-off spot. He belongs there. He can be the spark the offense needs. Show the same patience they had with Pedroia in his rookie year. Stick with him.;

5.) Hit Carl Crawford 5th. He doesn't like leading off, fine. Pedroia is your number 2, end of story. Gonzalez has to hit 3rd to maximize his at-bats. Youk is the only logical clean-up guy. Crawford fits in the five hole. Shut up, hit, steal some bases.

That's it. FenwayNation's five modest proposals to make things right.

Basement Price-Ing

This is getting serious. Your Boston Red Sox cannot pitch, cannot hit in the clutch, and cannot catch any breaks—a perfect prescription for a 2-9 start. Jon Lester actually pitched brilliantly for all but one inning and ended up on the short end of a 3-2 decision to the Rays. Jed Lowrie (a 2-out RBI double) and Darnell McDonald (a solo HR) were the hitting stars, but everything else that was hit hard off the masterful David Price was right at a Ray. That's the bad luck part. But, even with better luck, this team would still be woeful. Something has to be done to shake-up these guys—we would suggest the immediate insertion of Jed Lowrie at SS. Without something drastic, this could very quickly become the baseball version of the Titanic—just in time for its and the ballpark's 100th anniversary.

FN Passes Million Hits In '11

FenwayNation.com passed the 1,000,000 hit mark on April 11. The Editors would like to thank our loyal readers in 107 countries worldwide!

Time To Unload Dice-K?

Express your views in our latest FenwayNation POLL, which asks if it's the right time to trade, or otherwise unload, Dice-K. VOTE HERE.

Manny's Bittersweet Lesson

by Mark Lawrence, 'Down Under' Editor

Sydney, Australia—April 9, 2011. This morning, I awoke to two pieces of news from the Wonderful World of Baseball, neither of which surprised me all that much: the Red Sox had lost again and Manuel Aristides Ramirez had taken the easy way out.

It seems that Manny tried being Manny one time too many, again testing positive for yet another proscribed substance. Under the rules, Manny would face a one hundred game suspension for this latest transgression and so – well, whaddya know? - it was suddenly time to retire. And from what I’ve been able to glean, Manny’s attitude could hardly be any less predictable – there’s all the calm arrogance of a criminal caught in the act – okay, coppers, ya got me – and absolutely no trace of contrition, either. And I’d bet cash money that the dishonor he’s done to his dwindling fan-base and to the club naïve enough to sign him this season will never enter his mind. Oh, no – apparently, ole Manny’s jetting off on a little Spanish vacation – just to get away from it all, y’unnerstan’.

According to Marc Topkin of The St Peterburg Times, it’s not just the Tampa Bay Rays who have been left holding the bag – the fans’ support for a team facing possible contraction has been damaged, probably beyond repair – and a group of civic-minded Floridians who sunk a bunch of their hard-earned cash into a Manny tee-shirt venture designed to benefit the families of slain policemen, are left with a pile of unsellable Fruit of the Looms and, as Mr Topkin reports, staring down at a huge loss. I wonder if Manny might consider reimbursing them.

Ramirez’s numbers – 2,573 hits, 555 home runs and a career batting average of .313 – should have ensured that he had a pretty good shot at election to the Hallowed Hall. Add in those 11 consecutive All Star appearances, the nine Silver Sluggers and that precious World Series MVP honor and he would’ve been an unbackable favorite. But now, like I’ve said before, I have a better shot at going to Cooperstown than Manny Ramirez. And, whether you loved him, hated him or didn’t care about him either way, it’s actually kind of sad that such a prodigious talent was also so fatally flawed and so incredibly arrogant.

Tales of Manny’s odd behavior and his inexplicably indifferent attitude towards pretty much everyone around him are legendary: taking a swing at Youkilis in the dugout; disappearing into the Monster at the start of an inning and, perhaps most despicably, shoving 64 year old Jack McCormick to the ground, ordering him to just “do his job” when the travelling secretary was unable to meet Manny’s request for 16 free tickets for his entourage. I think that incident signaled the beginning of the end for Manny’s Boston sojourn. The spurious knee injury soon followed and fans endured the frustrating sight of Ramirez failing to run out ground balls – the Major League equivalent of a sulky child giving a strict parent the middle finger – and signaling that his own personal trade deadline had arrived.

This is hardly the way that any of us might’ve expected the Ramirez saga to end – not with a Cooperstown bang, but with a cowardly whimper from the sunny shores of the Costa del Sol. Ramirez now takes his place in a long and shabby line of players whose professed love and respect for The Game placed a distant second to their greed, ambition and arrogance. The chance afforded to Manny by the Red Sox helped shape the slugger into a baseball legend – and possibly planted the thought in his addled head that he himself was approaching invincibility. Ian Browne, the MLB beat writer, once asked Manny how he felt about hitting elsewhere in the line-up – and Manny’s response shows just how high a regard the two-time loser had for himself: “Hell, it don’t matter where I hit – I’m Manny Ramirez.” And it was likely that same deluded arrogance that allowed him to continue to cheat, confident in the knowledge that he’d never be caught or – if he somehow was – his reputation might just mitigate his crimes and reduce his punishment to a mere slap on the wrist.

And while an incident like this truly is an ugly stain on the National Pastime, it does prove that no one player is bigger than The Game itself. And as Manuel Aristides Ramirez watches his much anticipated Hall of Fame enshrinement fade away forever, I’m guessing it will likely be the bitterest lesson of his life.

Poll: Damon Cheered Or Booed?

Please vote in our latest FenwayNation Poll, which asks whether—upon his return to Fenway as a Ray—Johnny Damon should be cheered or booed. VOTE HERE.

The Road Back

Josh Beckett is like the guy in the bad movie who delivers the antidote just in time to save humanity from the zombie plague. OK, not exactly, but close.

'The Ace That Could Be' hurled 8 shutout innings, struck out ten, walked only one and mixed his pitches like Joe Biden mixes metaphors. Marco Scutaro delivered the key offensive blow (a two-out. two-run double) to push the lead from 1-0 to 3-0 and provide some psychological comfort at the Fens.

The Red Sox still left a small third world country on base, but a 4-0 win is a win is a win. Actually, to be exact, a win is a win (since we've only got two).

FN Poll: Manny's Legacy

Please vote in the latest FenwayNation Poll on the legacy of Manny Ramirez. VOTE HERE.

Another Line-Up Shuffle

In his quest to have 162 different line-ups this year, Terry Francona issued yet another iteration today. Jacoby Ellsbury will hit 9th on Saturday against the Yankees. Carl Crawford will again lead-off and Jed Lowrie will play shortstop and bat seventh.

The Sad Case Of Manny Ramirez

Your humble scribe was a big fan of Manny Ramirez during his double-ring stint in the Hub. When he was nailed for violating the MLB drug policy while with the Dodgers, it made me re-think his greatness.

Now, as Major League Baseball confirms his second failed test, the unavoidable conclusion is that he has been juicing his entire career. In my mind, he should never be inducted into the Hall of Fame. It pains me to say this, since he was such an integral part of the '04 and '07 Championships. For all his lovable goofiness, he cheated the fans, his peers and himself. The fact are the facts, and if we are baseball fans as well as Red Sox fans, we have to be honest with ourselves.

ONE For The Ages

It was not pretty. But we'll take it.

John 'Shell-Acky'* was once again abysmal, yielding 6 earned runs in just five innings (and more base-runners than a human being should be allowed to allow). But the positives were far more important on this Opening Day: Dustin Pedroia backing up his tough words with 3 hits, a HR and 3 RBI. Adrian Gonzalez getting an RBI in his first Fenway game (and one of his two hits was a bunt to beat the shift). J.D. Drew getting 2 huge RBI to extend the Sox lead to 9-6. Jarrod Saltalamacchia going 2-4 with a clutch double and an RBI.

In addition, the 7-8-9 sequence of Jenks-Bard-Papelbon was nearly perfect. So, we're now 1-6 and finally off the schnide.

* Knick-name by FN Editor Henry Kanter's Electrician's Assistant

Crawford Leads Off Today

Terry Francona has shaken things up again. Carl Crawford will lead off today in the Home Opener and Jacoby Ellsbury will bat eighth.

Sox DFA Reyes

According to Joel Sherman, the Red Sox have DFA'd under-performing lefty Dennys Reyes.

Sox Are Underdogs Again

As you scour your brain for some sub-atomic particle of good news, ponder this: the Red Sox are once again underdogs. This is the role best suited to the Olde Towne Team. They do not respond well to front-runnership. Best team ever? One hundred wins? Team of the century? No freakin' way. We're lucky to make the Wild Card. There, feel better?

NOG Empowers Drunken Cretins

So much for the vaunted 'community responsibility' of the New Ownership Group. Not satisfied with bilking fans for swill-like beer, they will now be purveyors of hard alcohol in the main concession areas of Fenway. No longer will screwdrivers and margaritas be the exclusive province of the bow-tied elite in the luxury boxes. Now, the little man will also be able to partake of over-priced booze—and make even greater fools of themselves in front of the 'family' crowd at Fenway. Like it's not bad enough to have an endless pink-hatted parade of two-fisted beer drinkers (and their male counterparts) constantly going back and forth to the trough? Now, we'll have Mr. Jack Daniels and his followers to contend with.

Does the NOG have no shame? And how about 'Mayor For Life' Menino? Could he possibly suck up to them any more than he already has? After feigning disapproval of the idea a while back, he, of course, caved. Way to show some backbone for your citizenry, Mr. May-Yuh!

Please Don't Squeeze The Brahmin

This is now becoming epic. The win-free Red Sox are—in classic crappy team fashion—finding new ways to lose. After Jon Lester righted his personal ship with seven shutout innings, it was time for the bullpen to chime in. Daniel Bard (he of the 16.88 ERA) walked the lead-off guy in the 8th. The runner stole second (we won't even talk about Salty's "throw"). Old friend Orlando Cabrera bunted the runner to third. The other Cabrera (Asdrubal) laid down a perfect suicide squeeze to plate the lone run—without benefit of a hit.

Oh, but it doesn't end there. No, no, no. These are your 2011 Red Sox. In the top of the 9th, after the first two Carmine Hose went down meekly, Papi drew a walk. Tito inserted Darnell McDonald as a pinch-runner (the clearly right thing to do). After J.D. Drew rifled a shot off the pitcher to third, McDonald (for some unknown reason) started to round second base. Well, he slipped and fell and was gunned down for the final out of the game. I'd say we're ready for the Yankees, right?

All In? Hardly.

It's ridiculous to say that today's game in the 'Mistake By The Lake' is a "must-win". It's only Game 6, for crying out loud. But, with (arguably) our best starting pitcher on the hill in Jon Lester, it is our best chance to get off the losing schnide. Last night's debacle featured all the things that are wrong with this team: bad starting pitching, horrendous relief, no clutch hitting, no life.

After this, an opening home series with the Empire will start with John Lackey. Need we say more?

LeBron Distracted By Soccer, Too

OK, the obsession with a hands-free sport was bad enough, then the flirtation with NASCAR (God help us!) and now the NOG is pussy-footing with one of the most obnoxious scoundrels in all of sport—LeBron James. Reports say that the NBA's Court Jester has made a "DECISION" to buy into the Liverpool soccer team that so mesmerizes Mr. and Mrs. John Henry. Are you kidding me? This guy is actually proud of wearing a Yankee hat, is a potential roadblock to the Celtics getting banner number 18 and the NOG is breaking bread with this bozo?

Good thing the Red Sox got off to such a good start this year, otherwise......

FN Poll: Best Shake-Up Move

Vote in our latest poll, which asks for the best "shake-up" move for the Red Sox. Vote HERE.

Tito Shakes Things Up Again

Terrence The Tough is at it again. Red Sox manager Terry Francona has moved Carl Crawford into the number two spot tonight in Cleveland—with Dustin Pedroia hitting third. In another surprise, Jarrod Saltalamacchia will start his fourth straight game—a spot which most people assumed would go to Captain Jason Varitek since Josh Beckett is pitching. Curiouser and curiouser!

Tampa Away Rays?

According to Mike Ozanian of Forbes, Major League Baseball is seriously considering contracting the Tampa Rays after the 2014 season. This is long overdue for a pathetic fan base that can only average 23,000 a night for a team that has won the toughest division in baseball two out of the last three years. Good riddance, Cowbell! Bring on the dispersion draft!

The Mistake Beckons

It rises like a shining beacon out of the Great Lakes-induced fog. Cleveland, home of the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, is the best possible spot for the 0-3 Red Sox to flee after their dismal opening series in Texas. Josh Beckett will take to the hill tonight facing a collection of major leaguers who are headed by Grady Sizemore and Shin-Soo Choo. Their fearsome starting rotation features: Fausto Carmona, old friend Justin Masterson, Carlos Carrasco, Mitch Talbot and (tonight's starter) Josh Tomlin.

As Gerry Callahan has correctly surmised, if Beckett and the Red Sox can't handle these guys, there is real trouble in River City. Randy Newman famously sung of Cleveland as the "City of Light, City of Magic". It needs to be the latter for the Red Sox.

Terrence The Tough

Have you noticed that your usually mild-mannered manager of the Boston Red Sox has gone all Patton since the team started losing? First, he dropped the new $140 million man, Carl Crawford, to seventh in the order from his number three perch. Tito thought maybe Craw was "trying to hard"—presumably to justify his high price tag (although the skip held back on that implication). By the way, Crawford responded by getting his first two hits from the seven-hole.

Then, after an 0-10 performance (with 5 strikeouts) from new backstop Jarrod Saltalamacchia, 'Terrence The Tough' opined that Salty is "anxious right now swinging at a lot of first-pitch strikes. He needs to relax..". Hmmm. I kinda like the new tough-talking Tito.

Best Team on Paper?

by Ric Glaub, International Editor of FenwayNation

April 4, 2011-Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Some weeks ago, FenwayNation’s peerless Editor-in-Chief suggested I write a pre-season column. I told him I’d think about it, and I actually did ­long and hard. I even started a couple of columns, but didn’t finish them. The problem was in my mind that virtually anything that could be written about the Sox had been written. This is clearly the most examined and analyzed pre-season Sox team in the nearly 30 years I’ve been a fan (yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m a newbie).

In my earlier efforts, the closest I came to anything I liked was a discussion of this whole topic of the “best team on paper.” Almost everyone was picking the Sox to be World Series contenders, talking about their depth in pitching, offense, defense, etc. All of that was fun to hear and read, of course, but it struck me that the “best team on paper” thing should apply to fantasy leagues, not the major leagues. At any rate, I didn’t finish that column either.

As this is written, the Sox are 0-3 to start the season, having been swept by the Rangers. Obviously, it is a bit early to panic. It’s only three games into the season, and the Rangers are a dangerous team. However, it appears there are smudges on the sheet of the “best team on paper.” So far, the front end of the rotation has given up 26 runs including 21 extra-base hits of which 11 were home runs. They were serving up dingers like free cotton candy at the circus. The offense hasn’t been all that hot either.

Whooda thunk we’d be three games behind the O’s at this point or for that matter any point in the season?

The Sox have long had a love affair for catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, reasons for which the Rangers certainly didn’t see, having been figuratively willing to give him up for five Fenway Franks and a used Gatorade container. So far, he’s 0-for-2011 (granted he had a decent spring, so we'll keep the jury out), and there are questions about how his handling of pitchers contributed to the wellspring of Rangers offense this past weekend.

Oh, well, we’ll see.

Hopefully, a three game series at the Mistake On The Lake will help right the ship. But even if it does, next is a date with the Evil Empire.

As I wrote earlier, it’s too early to go into panic mode. However, I don’t think it’s too early to be concerned. When all three of the starting pitchers for the opening series, and one of the relievers, all say they didn’t feel like they pitched badly, one has to wonder. Come on, 21 extra-base hits, 11 home runs and 26 earned runs? That’s bad pitching. The fact is, they stunk up the joint. Of course, I think they believe they will do better. And I think they will. At the same time, they need to own up to their current poor performance. Making excuses can only make things worse.

I don’t sense a fire in this team’s belly and they need to get one. I wonder if they all spent the pre-season reading all those reviews which claimed they were the “best team on paper.” If so, they need to remember the games are played on the field, not on paper, and start to get some dirt on their uniforms.

The Sox are at the bottom of the AL East. It’s time for a wake up call.

Swept Away In Texas

On the way to their consensus eighth World Series Championship, the Red Sox may have hit a slight roadblock from the current American League Champions. Ya think? Boston was swept away in Arlington, mostly victimized by horrendous pitching. Clay Buchholz was the best of the worst, giving up only four solo home runs in 6 1/3 innings in a 5-1 series ending loss. Mercy.

Duckboats Back In Storage

Scratch that 162-0 season. The Red Sox blew 2-0 and 4-2 leads on their way to a 9-5 drubbing at the hands of the reigning American League Champions. Jon Lester was horrible in his first Opening Day start—going just 5 1/3, giving up 5 earned runs on three homers. He also hit two batters, battling control problems the whole day.

On the bright side, Adrian Gonzalez had three RBI on two hits and Big Papi went yard to temporarily tie the game at 5 in the top of the eighth. Daniel Bard took the loss with a forgettable bottom of the eighth—yielding 4 earned runs.

R.I.P.—Lou Gorman

Longtime Red Sox General Manager Lou Gorman passed away today at age 82. The Red Sox Hall Of Famer was the driving force behind the 1986 American League Championship team. Ironically, he was also largely responsible for the team the Red Sox played in the World Series that year—the New York Mets.

Gorman had a hand in developing the following Red Sox greats: Roger Clemens, Wade Boggs, Jim Rice, Dwight Evans, Ellis Burks, Mike Greenwell, Mo Vaughn and John Valentin. His genial manner made him a favorite of Red Sox fans everywhere. He will be sorely missed.