all is right with the world again

all photos from the Boston Herald

"If you're not optimistic, you're crazy."
-- 4.1.07, Red Sox manager Terry Francona

now that's what i call some baseball. i feel safe quoting our very own Tito now, and may i point out that he said "optimistic," not "excited." maybe he ought to not stay up so late making Dairy Queen runs.


Joshy came out all gangbusters to kick things off. sure he walked four. big deal. what matters is that he Kd *five* & gave up only one run on two hits. i am confident the command will come & we will return to the two-strikeouts-for-every-walk average.

and bats. oh, the glorious bats. run-scoring double for JD Drew (who is at least making it a *tiny* bit easier to see him sporting #7, at least for as long as he keeps producing). the King of Doubles is back to hitting a double a game, this time sending two runners across the plate. the illustrious Captain is wielding a bat again, getting on base or at the very least sac-flying in a run. and Youk is continuing is his own personal Home Run Derby that he started in Spring Training.


the one thing that was so out of place was our Gold Glove quality third baseman, and his career-high *three* errors. that was painful. not because they caused any trouble for the Sox, but just watching it, knowing he was dying out there. it was like his brain couldn't comprehend anything short of his normal awesome-ness. i half expected him to peer into his glove, baffled, wondering if perhaps there was a hole in it.

i couldn't help but to smile this morning though. he proved just how smart he is: "Oh man, I feel terrible. This is the best way to wash it out,” said Mike Lowell, taking a big bite out of an ice cream sandwich. (Boston Herald) and you know he was dead serious when he said: "I wanted to kiss J.D. Drew after that play in the gap,” said Lowell. “I can deal with errors; they’re part of the game. But when runs come in, that’s different. I told J.D. when he came in after the inning, ‘No one loves you more than me.’" (Boston Herald) that's just how personally he takes making an error, that he is flat out expressing JD-love. hmmm... maybe if he can, i can reconsider my wariness of our new right fielder...

something else to note: In fairness to Lowell, it's not as if the two balls he misplayed were gimmes. The first was a hard-hit liner off the bat of David DeJesus that sort of deflected off the bottom of Lowell's glove. The second play was more of a spinning grounder that Lowell got caught in between on. "I kind of played an in-between hop on the grass," said Lowell. "That's a bad judgment. I put myself in the wrong position right there. (RedSox.com)

his almost infallible play doesn't go unnoticed or unappreciated by his teammates either: Beckett was thrilled to be able to take Lowell off the hook. The two share a friendship that goes back to their years in Florida together.... "As many times as he's picked me up in my career, I wanted to pick him up so bad," Beckett said. "That's why I was so pumped when we got that third out. It's not going to happen very often." (RedSox.com)

the most important thing to remember is that: Entering this season, he was the all-time fielding percentage leader at third base. He stood forlorn after his second one, looking like he wanted to crawl into a cardboard box. Because he knew that you knew that he makes plays like that in his sleep. Maybe in some small way, the Baseball gods last night felt they had to make sure Lowell knew that even the best have nights like this, at least once every 1,109 games in the field. (Boston Globe)

Francona is sure that his quota has been met for the next few months (after all, he is halfway to his season total for errors for last year!), and that's one way to get them behind you. having a bad game? just get two or three of them out of the way at once, and be done with it. i am sure this will be a scene we will be seeing far more than last night's aberration anyway. =P

i think Mr Lugo's fielding is a far bigger concern to contend with. and then there's this. i am thinking Manny & Julian are getting just a wee bit too cozy. like Manny needs something else to daydream about out there in left field...


how about we end with a few photos that just had to be shared, ok?

i am thinking that between his hitting & his defense, Youk is earning a new contract for 2008. right? Theo? do you see this? Youk & Lowell. at the corners.


i don't care how formidable Papi is at the plate, how menacing he is when he's glaring back at the pitcher, waiting to defy the (stupid) overshift. let it never be said that he doesn't care. just look at the concern on his face as he checks on the Royals catcher, who got clocked by The Big Man's broken bat. Papi is good people. he just is.


and i know he's stretching, but is it me, or is there something... weird... about this photo? i don't know if it's the fact that Jon's leg is in a strange position, or the fact that he's carrying on a conversation with Joshy while he leg is in said strange position, or what. but it strikes me as weird. i know he probably just happened to be captured while in the middle of this stretch, but the fact that it was frozen in time by the photo makes it appear as though he just stood like this, nonchalantly chatting with Josh, like this is completely normal.