Spring Training is for getting back into baseball mode, right?

for the guys, it means getting back into baseball shape, stretching muscles & flexing skills that haven't been worked the way they are when you play everyday. yesterday's exhibition game against the Mets is giving me that same opportunity to get warmed up -- in my case, in commentary on what i saw, or rather heard.

i've been listening to all the Sox preseason game radio broadcasts online. as i tuned into WRKO (sister station of EEI that used to carry all the Sox games), i heard the familiar voice of Joe Castiglione & his new co-announcer, David O'Brien, discussing how long they can go without using the bathroom. i have no idea how they got on the subject -- almost afraid to ask! --but i can say that their six hour record doesn't really impress me all that much. =P

Wakefield & Papelbon split the first six scoreless innings, each taking three. Wake had a solid performance, giving up four hits & walking one, but striking out three. his knuckler sounded like it was on. i can't wait to actually *see* it again. when that pitch is working for him, it is *crazy* to watch. after his three innings were up, he revealed in his post-game interview that he is also working on developing a curveball so that he has something to fall back on when the fickle knuckleball isn't working. even better than that, though, was hearing him say that he would like to go another five years if his body holds up. all i know is he *better* not go out in anything but a Boston uniform. got that, Theo??

scooting off on a side note while we're talking about players that should retire as Red Sox. someone please tell me what is going on with Trot. i think not playing RF in Fenway may have officially pushed him over the edge...

and i'm sorry, but seeing this Dirt Dog in Cleveland duds is just... wrong. at least we know that the resounding ovation he'll hear when he returns to Fenway will be deafening. i have goosebumps just thinking about it.

but back to yesterday's game. because we can't not talk about Papelbon. he came out throwing lightning. one hit, one walk & four Ks for the kid who should still be our lights-out closer. i can't feel good about his move to the rotation when i see guys like Donnelly & Pineiro auditioning for that slot. i'm just not sold that this is the best move... i am almost certain he will be great as a starter, but we have starters. extra starters even. (is there such a thing extra starters, after last year??) but we have *no* closer. nope, just not convinced that this was the move to make.

the relievers were awfully reminiscent of last year's bullpen though. not comfortable with that. i wanted the reassurance of a better pen & i'm not getting it. they gave up the five-run lead they were given to protect & if not for the landslide of Boston bats in the bottom of the ninth, i was having serious doubts that the Sox were going to come away with a win at all.

thank God for defense, hitting & smart base-running. Cora & Lugo (yuck. still don't like him.) ran well early in the game. every starter but Dougie got either a hit or an RBI. there were no errors committed for a change. (looking at you, Julio Lugo, because you already have two in just five games, which is a third of what A-Gon had during the entire 2006 season. i think you need to watch the glove work of Alex Cora, who was a shining example of what RSN got accustomed to with last year's infield.)

but even more than the starters, i am starting to like some of what i am seeing from some names i barely recognize. like Bobby Scales, who came in for Manny as the game moved along. he made a great sliding catch to stop a double & an RBI, and then later, he made an over-the-shoulder catch while running to prevent extra bases. not used to seeing that kind of effort being made in left field! he is on my list of guys i would like to see playing in Fenway, along with Jacoby Ellsbury who is faster than the wind.

huge moment when another unrecognizable name -- Eddie Rogers -- won the game with a walk-off grand slam. i bet he'll be talking about that for a long, *long* time.

one of my favorite moments has to be hearing the announcers talk about Mike Lowell being happy when the deal with the Rockies fell apart. because The King of Doubles is happy playing in Boston. i hope the front office gets the message. contract offers for our third baseman need to start being discussed. stat. ::snaps fingers:: Theo! that's you! wake up!

::sighs::
it feels good to flex my "Sox game thoughts" again. have i mentioned that i can't wait for baseball season to actually start?? it's probably a good thing it's only Spring Training still though -- both because the Sox are *not* ready to be playing for real yet & i still have a lot of offseason rust to shake off my commentary skills. =P