Happy Easter!

And to celebrate, let me give you a couple of goodies for your Easter basket. Like... this choice little story about Dustin Pedroia, from right before Friday's game against the Hanshin Tigers:

About 30 minutes before the game, Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia stood in the dugout working over the handle of his bat with a pine tar rag. Out of nowhere, a blunt noise filled the stadium. Pedroia pirouetted toward left field. A band of Tigers fans in left field had begun a chant. Then drums joined in. Then a horn. And clapping.

"What the (expletive) is that?" Pedroia asked.

Get used to it, he was told. That's Japanese baseball.

The answer seemed not to suffice.

"Shut up!" Pedroia yelled toward the fans.

Four hundred feet away, they couldn't hear Pedroia, and even if they could, his bellyaching would not have deterred a thing. Baseball games in Japan are spectacles in simplicity: quiet, bordering on silent, during the opponents' at-bats, and fervent, with cheers and whistles and other such chicanery, during the home teams'.

It was enough to keep Manny Ramirez awake.

The jetlag apparently agrees with J.D. Drew. Following close on the heels of his homer against the Hanshin Tigers on Friday, J.D. smacked a grand slam against the Yomiuri Giants on Sunday. For his outstanding performances in the Tokyo Dome, I'm naming J.D. my Baseball Boyfriend of the Day.

If it'll keep his bat hot, I propose we feed J.D. a diet of sushi all season long.

Here's video of his blast. I included J.D.'s entire at-bat and a little more of the reaction after the homeruns than is in the MLB.com video clip - mostly because it tickles me how a guy from the visiting team gets an air raid siren for his grand slam.

Bonus fun: Daisuke Matsuzaka gets a high-five in celebration of J.D.'s moon shot - and he's high-fived so hard, he's knocked over backwards onto the dugout seats. Which, of course, is re-played by the guys in the Japanese broadcast booth.

In which I highlight noteworthy blogs for you to gather reconnaissance on the Red Sox upcoming opponent. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

Athletics Nation: premier A's blog with all the latest info, rumors and breaking news Catfish Stew: all the latest news and notes on the team, plus great features Athletic Supporters: the A's MVN page, chock full of news and analysis The Bullpen Baker: coolest sports blog idea ever- she bakes cookies for the A's bullpen and posts the recipes

I've found it downright fascinating to watch the Sox battle it out with pro Japanese teams from the Nippon Professional Baseball league. It's like watching a film that was originally shot in English, but that has been dubbed over with subtitles in a language you don't understand: you clearly can tell what's going on, but it's still slightly weird and unfamiliar. It looks the same as the baseball we all know and love... except, not exactly.

Here's a quick little 3-minute clip from yesterday's game against the Yomiuri Giants, for those of you who didn't get to see it live. It's a little slice of the atmosphere- very last batter of the top of the 7th, Jacoby Ellsbury is at bat, Brandon Moss is on second, Hideki Okajima is warming up in the pen.

Things of note:

1. They actually play the seventh inning stretch in Japan! Which they may be doing only because the American teams are in town... but still!

2. Mike Lowell sings along to the song, but with entirely different words and in a loud voice. He makes at least one person laugh. I'm betting it's alternate dirty lyrics. En Español.

3. I'm also pretty sure Mike says, "Hell no!" when the announcer tells everyone to stand up for the 7th inning stretch.

4. Even in Japan, you can clearly hear the crowd holler "root, root, root for the RED SOX". Which is awesome.

5. They play the "clap-clap-clapclapclap" sound effect for the American fans in the crowd.

Bonus:

6. You get to see Hideki Okajima warming up in the bullpen... which looks like it's in a bunker underneath the bowels of the stadium. With closed-circuit TV.

7. Okajima gets introduced to the crowd, full of fans of his old team. And the fans are ready with cheers... and flashbulbs every time he pitches.

Bless the ProJo's heart (can a newspaper have a heart?) for their latest headline:

Normally, if the adjective "high-spirited" is used to describe Josh Beckett, you'd assume the author was trying to find a nice way to say "kind of jerky". But in this instance, it really does mean what it says-- that Mr. Beckett is in high spirits despite being sidelined with back problems for the last few weeks. He threw against the minor league babies back in Ft. Myers on Sunday while his compadres were in Japan... and did very well.

For now, though, Josh will join Curt Schilling on the disabled list to start the season- retroactive to March 19th. The timing of that placement onto the 15-day DL means he will be available to be activated in time to pitch on April 4th.

That placement was also the first in a series of moves to trim the Sox roster for Opening Day tomorrow. Tim Wakefield, Mike Timlin and Sean Casey will all be designated as "inactive" for the Sox-A's opening series in Japan; in addition, Jed Lowrie and Bobby Kielty will be designated as extra players. All 5 players will be unable to play in those two games, and will not be allowed to be in uniform on the field.

Who'd have thought the Sox would be playing on Opening Day without four of their main pitchers? Josh, Curt, Tim and Mike will only be spectators for the festivities.

In less than 10 hours, baseball will begin.

Real, live, actual, honest-to-god baseball. Baseball that matters, that means something. Baseball that affects stats, baseball that affects records. Baseball that will help determine the 2008 world champion. I love spring training, I love the workouts, I love the Japan exhibition games... but nothing compares to REAL baseball.

It's like Christmas Eve. Actually, it's better than Christmas Eve.

So, since it's Christmas in March, let me be Santa - and here's a gift for all of y'all. If watching this video doesn't get you psyched up for Red Sox baseball... you need to check your pulse.

For everyone out there who's getting up early to watch, there will be an open gameday thread. I think that thread should be EPIC. Or, at the very least, giddy. Stop by and join us - I'm hosting an opening day party here at my house, and so I expect to be posting while drinking several bloody marys.

Red Sox vs. Oakland Athletics 6:05 am Tokyo Dome - Tokyo, Japan SP: Daisuke Matsuzaka vs. Joe Blanton tv/radio: NESN - MLB.TV - WRKO - WROL

Opening Day is finally here! I'm so excited, I don't even mind that it's before the crack of dawn! BASEBALL'S HERE, Y'ALL!

Use the comments to this entry as your own personal Gameday open thread. These open threads have been fun so far - so I'll keep 'em up as long as y'all are interested in having them.

1. Buy booze - preferably vodka for bloody marys and/or champagne for mimosas.
2. Set alarm clock for 4:00 am - sucks to be in the Central timezone!
3. Invite baseball-crazed friends over for the gamewatch. Thank the gods you're not the only insane one getting up early.
4. Wake up, trudge to the TV and turn on NESN's pregame show.
5. WAIT A MINUTE. Why isn't NESN showing up? Why is DirecTV "searching for signal"? HOLY CRAP.
6. Call DirecTV. After waiting on hold forever, get told by automated message that they're "aware of the problem", "wait times are long" to speak to customer service, and to call back another time. Get hung up on by DirecTV.
7. Try to calm self down by reminding self that game is on ESPN2.
8. WAIT A MINUTE. Why isn't ESPN2 showing up?
9. Begin to freak out.
10. Try to calm self down by reminding self that game is on MLB.TV.
11. WAIT A MINUTE. Why is MLB.TV blacked out?
12. Freak out in full effect.
13. Frantically keep changing channel back and forth from NESN to ESPN2 in hopes one or the other starts to work. Neither one starts to work.
14. Greet guests arriving to watch the game with the news that there might be no game to watch. Everyone starts to question their decision to get up at 4:00 am for a game they cannot watch.
15. Call local Red Sox bar - find out, to great relief, that they are open to show the game.
16. WAIT A MINUTE. Local Red Sox bar also has DirecTV, and same problem.
17. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuckity fuck fuck.
18. Brilliant guest at party remembers your Dad back in Texas has a slingbox... and regular cable. Try to contain rising excitement. Start up SlingPlayer.
19. Buffering.... (crossing fingers!)
20. WE HAVE PICTURE! WE HAVE SOUND! WE HAVE BAYSBAWL!

Sure, it was tiny baseball on a computer screen being broadcast off of ESPN2 from Houston... but who's complaining? It's better than nothing. I'm sorry I wasn't able to join in the live thread madness, since we were using my computer to watch the game (grumble, grumble) - but I'm psyched to see everyone had fun anyway.

The good news is: after this week, I won't have to worry about DirecTV anymore - I'll be getting NESN on local cable. That's right... I'm moving to Boston. My movers come Thursday, and after a weekend jump to Kansas City to be in a wedding, I'm making the thousand-mile drive to New England. I'm gonna be a local, y'all!

Oh, and I almost forgot the most important step in hosting an Opening Day Party:

21. Collapse in exhaustion after 10 innings of nervousness and drinking. Sleep for 3 hours.

Did someone tell Manny Ramirez in advance that there would be a giant novelty check after the game for the person who performed the best? Because that seems like just the sort of thing that he'd really get excited about. Especially a giant check for a million yen - which sounds like a ton of money (even if it really only amounts to $10,000 or so).

As the MVP of today's Opening Day game versus the A's in Tokyo, Manny won himself that giant check -- plus a snazzy new color copier. (thanks, corporate sponsors!) It was his 10th inning 2-run double that did the trick, brought him the MVP... and sealed the victory for the Sox. Lesson learned for Huston Street and the A's: don't pitch around Big Papi, because Manny will make you pay.

"Before I told Alex (Cora), I want to face this guy (Huston Street)," explained Ramirez. "It came true and I did."

And when asked why he would want to stare down one of the games preeminent closers, the Sox slugger responded, "Because he's nasty. I like those challenges."

More on Manny's Giant Check:

Manny Ramirez lurched toward the man holding the giant check and tried to grab it. The man elbowed him away. Ramirez took the hint for about 5 seconds, then reached out once more. There is something special about a giant check. This one was his, and he wanted it now.

[Manny] acted like a kid who just crushed three packets of Fun Dip. Ramirez, as versed in global currency markets as an inchworm in linguistics, couldn't quite decide what to do with the $10,000 or so.

"That's going to be some gas money," he said one minute.

"Maybe send it to my mom," he said the next.

"Can they give it to me in cash tomorrow?" he said later.

Part of the check ceremony entailed standing next to teammate Hideki Okajima, who had won half a million yen for the "Fighting Spirit Award," and holding up another cardboard sign - this one of a color printer by the opening series' sponsor, Ricoh.

Manny didn't exactly wave it around, and when he found out he would receive the printer, too, excitement didn't take over.

"Send it to Fenway," he said.

Ramirez had one last bit of business. Someone handed him a Sharpie. Perhaps they'd auction off the signs he held. Ramirez leaned over and signed the cardboard printer. And then he took the pen to his check, that big, beautiful piece of nostalgia.

He wrote Manny Ramirez on it, sure to remind everyone that the giant check was his and no one else's.

Red Sox vs. Oakland Athletics 6:05 am Tokyo Dome - Tokyo, Japan SP: Jon Lester vs. Rich Harden tv/radio: NESN - MLB.TV - WEEI

This whole "2008 baseball" thing is already old hat for us. We're already knee-deep in the season. The Red Sox magic number is 162 (it's never too early to start counting)- and Jon Lester will try and lower that down to 161 against Rich Harden and the A's.

For everyone crazy enough to be up (again) at the crack of dawn, here's your open thread to talk about the game. These open threads have been fun so far - so I'll keep 'em up as long as y'all are interested in having them.

Please, people on The Office- stop being so awesome. Steve Carell is breathtakingly hilarious... and a Sox fan. Mose Schrute writes one of my favorite blogs in the world... and is a Sox fan. And now John Krasinski is just piling on with the Sox love. It's almost too much to handle.

John, a Newton native, was recently selected as one of the "61 New Best Things About Boston" by Boston Magazine. And in the blurb about him, he talks about his devotion to Boston sports. The article also happens to contain two of the greatest photos ever taken - this second one is particularly genius:

This all just reaffirms that The Office is the best show on TV. Other than Red Sox Report, of course.

A quick hit and run post this morning - my movers will be here any second, so I'll be away from the computer until that's all sorted and done later today.

Jacoby Ellsbury is once again a magazine cover boy - this time he's sharing the cover of Sports Illustrated's baseball issue (!) with fellow rookie and member of the class of '05 Clay Buchholz (and Ryan Braun, Justin Upton, Troy Tulowitzki and Ryan Zimmerman)... albeit that Jacoby and Clay are behind the cover fold.

click to see full size cover

Tom Verducci's accompanying article about the Red Sox-Yankees feud is also (as always with Verducci articles) a fantastic read.