Well, this could be a very interesting thread...

I posted about the whole fiasco in a separate post - but this may well be the shortest gameday open thread ever.

c'mon, mlb, get your shit together so i can have some sox/jays today!

i'm proud of our guys for standing up for their coaches & support staff, but (selfishly) I WANT MY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON BASEBALL!

There's just one poor, lonely bat boy - with a foam finger and a batting helmet.

The batboy is a scab!!!:-P

PICKET LINE CROSSER!

Interesting - Dice-K left earlier and made his scheduled start at the minor league complex. David Aardsma will start instead.

1:10 first pitch -- there will be baseball! WHOOT.

selfish!jenny ftw.

You think you're jonesing for ball? I haven't seen the Sox play since MARCH 6TH. I'm in need of Soxball, stat.

Good pitching lineup today after Aardsma, if they stick to their original plans...Timlin, MDC, Oki and Paps!

Thundersticks are NOT a good thing. The only thing worse are the cowbells that TB gives out sometimes.

we've got sox on the field. YEAH BABY.

Top half of the inning went well. Nice that David can step in like that.

Per the Herald blog: " On his way to the minor-league complex to make his re-jiggered start, Daisuke Matsuzaka told Japanese reporters, “I was cut.” " Hahahaha.

Also: please, please, please Remy & Orsillo don't fall into the lazy journalist trap and refer to Eckstein as "scrappy" or compare him to Pedroia. PLEASE.

meghan - AWESOME. i love that guy. like, f'real. ;D

Dice-K FTW!

Also: it is no coincidence that my new favorite Phillie is Casey Smith, I don't think. I love all the Caseys!

Gotta love Manny(the sad face is what makes it)

Just testing to see if I didn't break the thread by any mislinks

I want to say-- I'm proud of my Sox. Standing up for the right thing. Always love a game, but seeing this sort of thing makes me happy.

I'm very very proud. They were doing the right thing.

Apparently when Dice-K left to go pitch in the minor league game, as he was walking out, he told the Japanese press, "I've been cut." Awesome.

Interesting photos of the whole thing. http://www.beloblog.com/ProJo_Blogs/SoxBlog/archives/2008/03/photos_tension.html

I'm glad this is happening. Not because of any principles or anything like that. Just because it adds some spice to my day.

Nothing like a little unexpected controversy to liven things up.

They have Poland Sprigs water in the dugout...I SEARCHED for that in FL and was never able to find it.

And JD- wear eyeblack so you don't have to squint!

BTW - Manny's little sad face addition makes me smile.

It'll be interesting to see how many Jays pitchers the Sox eat their way through today.

YOUK!!!!!

Ok..I am surrounded by 8th graders who will not give me a second's peace. Are they or are they not leaving today after this game?

Woot! That was really weird though...

Jacoby would have caught that ball hit by Wells.

Casey makes an out at 1st! Lugo and Cashie team up for a putout at the plate!

And, yes - per the Herald, they're going to Japan.

Shark- Its assumed, that, since they are playing, everything was resolved and they are going. Youk is going to give a PC in a little bit where he should confirm this.

Thanks for the update! WHEW!
Good for them. Shows a lot about who they are as a team and family.

Here's the latest and greatest.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2008/03/coaches_and_sta.html

youk = articulate! nice work, player rep. gets it done on the field (HOME RUN) and off. ;D

I'm way late on commenting, jenny - but totally agree. He also did a nice job avoiding divulging any of the specific details of the arrangement. He's crafty, that one!

HOLY HELL.

I feel bad for that kid, but JEEEEEEEZUS.

This at bat sucks.

UGH. It's bad enough he hit Sal "Marvelous Moustache" Fasano. Then that last at-bat was painful.

And now Papelbon is pissed. Awesome.

Big fist-pump from Paps after the tag.

And now Papelbon is pissed. Awesome.

Sucks I'm missing this.

Bah on work.