If the lineups on EB right now are correct, Eckstein is not starting!!!

I don't know what we'll do without his GRITTY and SCRAPPY presence.

Re: Josh Beckett. Josh Beckett. Josh Beckett. Roy Halladay. Josh Beckett.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Also, I can has Amalie Benjamin's job?

(Now Pedroia will have to fill the GAMER quotient. Did you know, those two are so similar!)

I'm sooooo happy to see Beckett back on the mound.

I know the Sox aren't making excuses (and neither am I), but how much do you think the travel they've done is making a difference in their play? I know how tiring a lot of travel can be and have to wonder how it's impacting them.

Who thought the Tigers would start of 0-5?

The Globe called Eckstein "pesky" this morning and all I could think of was a gnat. A hustling, scrappy gnat.

Nobody expected the Tigers to start so miserably. Just... wow.

See, I said the Cardinals would surprise everyone and actually win games. Nobody believed me up until about yesterday...

Josh Beckett is back
He will kick Toronto's ass
All is right again

Eckstein played for the Trenton Thunder (the AA team by me), so even though everyone else seems to hate him, I just can't.

Now that the Thunder is the AA of the Yankees, though, I have to root against them.

Aw hell yeah, we get a montage!

Montage montage montage montage!

Hey, TG, you know we all love you...

Bon Jovi? A Beckett montage gets Bon Jovi?

Because he and Doc Halladay are cowboys, see?

Drew's 5 for 13 with 3 walks against Halladay. Hell yes.

Is everyone else blacked out of the game on TBS? I've got NESN, which is what I'd prefer anyway... but I'm just curious.

Ellsbury is 3/3 with an HR. That was the Ellsbury of last fall though, who I'm not sure is back yet.

I'm in NH and TBS is blacked out.

Same here. TBS is blacked out in NESN-land.

TG: I was wondering the same thing. I have it on NESN (yea!). I was sure I'd have to watch in on TBS since I get the Sox games through the EI subscription. I haven't tried TBS, tho.

This year I also ponied up for the sports subscription so I can watch NESN before and after the game--money well spent.

YEA Pedroia!

I'm just watching NESN.

Awesome play at short. Take that, Mr. GRITTY.

damn the shift.

Damn. Not the nicest start.

Bet that made Josh MAD.

Is it just me or does Beckett look a lot bigger than last year? Just... bigger.

IT ZIG-ZAGGED. Oh my god. That pitch just... wow.

Ouch, Mikey. Ouchhh.

98 MPH!

Damnit Mikey.

NICE DP! Feel better, Mikey?

It did it again! Zig-zag! At 96 this time...

Double play! That's how we like it.

Turned the double. Awesome.

I bet Mike breathed a sigh of relief.

98 again! And again!

Oh, Beckett. I do love having you on the mound.

Yeah, Liza, I think he does look bigger

Jeez. Beckett is CONSISTENTLY at 98.

If it wasn't for the defense, we'd be well out of this...

Jacoby to the rescue.

I've said it before and I'm saying again: I like the Jays way more than any self-respecting fan of any other AL East teams should.

JD gets another hit! That's my boy!

Yeah JD!

Cmon, Tektektek. Wow--that's what I'd call a broken bat...

I guess that's why they call it a cutter.

An Ace is back on
the mound in the center, yea
righting the Red Sox.

Beckett Haiku!

Nice K, Josh!!

Beckett throws damn hard
97, 98
First strikeout for Josh

Beckkett

2 in a row. Way to go, Joshua.

That trumpet in the stand's starting to sound an awful lot like a moose in heat. Are they really that desperate for fans that they're starting to allow animals in?

YEAH JACOBY

YEAH JACOBY!

JACOBY!! Way to show off that bat!

JACOBY!!!!!!!!!

AWESOME.

Ellsie now 4/4 against Halladay w/ 2 HR's! Woot!

Yeah!!

Scroll down to the bottom of this page for a cool video on Jacoby:
http://www.sparqtraining.com/videos/index.php?v=13EBD4E29CA59CCF&vpg=2

Jacoby hits yard
Halladay gives a walk, Youk
2 down, top of third

The more I stare at that shot of Tavy, the more I'm convinced his right ear is pierced. Too bad there's no earring in it...

Devils - Cool. I've seen similar ones, but never that one. Let's just hope the fangirls don't catch sight of this one, he's in a tight shirt...

And there goes Papi. Oh well, here comes Beckett again!

The Greek God of Walks
Is a Romanian Jew
We love Billy Beane

Yeah Dustin! Nice one.

That was a great catch by Pedrioa.

Oh, how happy am I to have BoSox baseball on my TV...damn not having NESN. But it's Becks and the commentators are verbally kissing Tek's butt, soooo...yup. Happy.

At the end of the video you can hear them saying that he set the record for all of baseball with 102.31

Liza, that's a good one.

Empty seats on a Sunday afternoon. Just sad.

Abby - Thanks. :D

Okay, I have decided: I am buying the cheapest tickets there are in Toronto and moving in as close as I can to the field. It is EMPTY there.

BecKKKett.

fc - Minds thinking alike...

Yeah Mikey! And yay for the "we sorta did" commercial!

Beckkkett low strike zone
strikes out batter, ends inning
on pop up to third.

Manny doesn't seem to be as patient at the plate.

Eckstein's not at short
He's a scrappy little kid
Guess he's scared of Josh

Watching TBS
These announcers really stink
Wish I had NESN

3 Ks Halladay
Eckstein, scrappy as he is, out
of the game today.

Anonymous,me
forgetting to fill in boxes
to post on this blog.

Crappy weather here
Nice haikus njdevils
Rios is really rich now

Thanks, Liza. Yours are good, too!

Beckett on the gun
The radar gun, I mean, duh
Reaching 99

Beckett walks a guy
Me busy writing haikus
Who was that one there?

ugh.

Well good godamned. I came back just in time to watch that tater. DAMN.

just damn.

Uh oh.

51 pitches thrown
Wells at home plate, Beckett throws
Wells, two run homer sucks

There goes Wells.

That's gonna get Joshie mad... he's around 50something pitches now? I read somewhere that they're gonna take him out around 80-85...

MANNY!

MANNY!!!!!!!!!

OH MY GOD

MANNY.

whew. Great catch.

Thank you Manny!!!! I just exhaled like I'd been holding my breath for a few minutes. Phew.

Josh hearts Manny right now.

Once my brain is capable of comprehensive thought, I'll try a haiku on that one.

How about:

MANNY MANNY MAN
MANNY MANNY MANNY MAN
MANNY MANNY RULES

I thought that one was gone, and Manny was hidden by the info bar I had just popped up on my TV. A little too close for comfort there, Josh.

Vernon Wells home run
On a curveball by Beckett
The Jays have the lead

:(

I was actually writing up a comment that was like, "NOOO BACK TO BACK" when I looked up and it was in his glove. Wow. That caught me off-guard.

Super Man(ny)!

You have GOT to be shitting me. We are racking up the Es this weekend.

Oh no, Julio!

Yuck, the Yanks are winning, too.

What was that, Lugo? Style points don't count!

Joshie's up to 63...

njd, no reason for worry. It's early and that's just a 1-run lead.

Lugo misses ball
Beckett throws more pitches now
"I see ya at first."

Nice one, starr.

Beckett spits a lot
Let's try for a strikeout here
Good thing that was foul

They are gonna pull Joshie at around 85 right? I was really hoping that would get use to the sixth:-/

Beckkkkkett

Now let's see those bats get going.

Yeah- pregame they said he would see 80-85 pitches.

NESN sound effects
are driving me nuts this year
Are they value-add?

wow, i was not laughing - not sure where that text came from though u8nder "name." trippy

Way to get out of the inning. Boys, let's give Josh some help behind him so he can get the win.

TEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Johan versus Smoltz
Atlanta is up by one
In the fourth inning

Yay Tek! I figured it was gone by the way Wells stopped running.

TEK!!!!!!

It is so hard to work and watch the Sox at the same time. I really don't feel like working. It's a beautiful day and the Sox are on.

People on SoSH calling for Lowrie after Jul-E-o's bobble:-P

And NICE TEK!!!!

Captain, my captain
goes out the yard for one
to tie up the game

Captain America is doing quite well with his bat this season.

It’s tied up at two
Nice home run by Varitek
Way to go, Captain

lowell-to-youk and all is right with the world

He's not quite looking like rock solid screaming face Beckett, but for the first start after a DL stint and essentially non-existent spring training, he's doing OK so far.

Oh Josh'll be fine. His not-rock-solid is any other pitcher's awesome.

Good point, fc

Beckett will journal
about the game and pitching
Will he write success?

I'm surprised he's still in.

ummmm...

Holy shit. Tito....I don't want to to say anything mean but, come on.

One (or even two) batters too late. Ugh.

oh crap bases loaded...

I guess 85 was a good number.

Shit.

Fabulous.

WHY? WHY?

MANNY MANNY MAN
MANNY MANNY MANNY MAN
MANNY MANNY DAMN

HORRIBLE location on that pitch, MDC. He served that up RIGHT UP THE FUCKING MIDDLE.

Are we allowed to swear on this site?
#%()*@#!^#$*!!!!!!

What was with the site? Until now, it wouldn't let me access it...

Also: HE JUST HANDED THAT TO HIM. It wasn't even like, "I dare you to hit this," it was like, "Happy birthday."

omg.

well that fuckin blows chowdah chunks

It wasn't letting me acces it for a few minutes, either, Liza. I figured it was just my computer, but I guess not...

(On a shallow note, Beckkkkkket has pretty eyes.)

Our middle relief sucks donkey balls.

bring back snyder already.

Well that sucked. Time for the offense to do their job.

I command the Red Sox bats to wake up and do something. Otherwise I'm gonna watch me some NASCAR :D

Liza, I totally agree. I'm a member of Team Beckett for life. He's pretty.

If they bring in Lopez, I'll smash my head against the wall.

Unless he does well. Then I'll know the world truly has gone topsy-turvy. (And on that topic, the Royals are wining. Again.)

See, though, the thing I like about Youk: he runs out anything he hits, even if it's just a pop-up. Just in case.

I hate Frank Thomas
Manny gave it right to him
I hate Frank Thomas

I thought Beckett had a good outing overall. The linescore won't show that though.

There will definitely be an F-bomb or two in the press conference. Just too bad it's not a home game for us to see it live.

I am a member of Team Beckelbon

Abby - See, though, I'm a Team Pap-er. I just like Beckett's eyes.

GOOD, other-Manny.

Nice hit, Manny.

Halladay, two outs
Manny waits to hit the ball
Rocks it for double.

MDC should watch the other Manny...Nice Hit!

If they strand Manny on base...
UGH.

Eh - I can take or leave Beckett. He doesn't really do much for me.

Keep it alive, Lowell
Foul off pitches (don't strike out)
Or take them for balls

At least there are no towels today.

Texy only likes Beckett's potty-mouth and the fact he's from Tejas :D

AHH!! *swear word*

Nobody like my combination of Team Beckett and Team Papelbon.

Team Beckelbon

Now THAT is a NESN show worth watching:-D

I fill in Christin's swear word

AHH!! FUCK! SHIT!

No towels! I hadn't noticed. Good.

Also, uh, April Fool's was last week...

Girls like bad boys
who execute pitches well
brown-eyed handsome men.

Ooh - that Red Sox Memories program looks cool.
And I still love that Reyes bobblehead commercial.

hey bullpen: try not to stink this inning, ok?

Beckett's got my heart but I do love me some Papelbon shenanigans.

Beckelbon sounds a lot better than Papelkett.

I liked the Beckelbon, Ian. I just like Pap better.

Okay, Aardvark. Let's get some outs.

High socks!

WHAT. THE. HELL.

Lugo: you can't suck at hitting AND fielding. BRING OUT CORA.

It's time to bring up Lowrie

Wait--someone tell me that's NOT an error at first...

High socks = love. I miss Timlin.

damn it Lugo!

I second that motion, Ian

No- that E was ALL Lugo.

Nope Liza that one's all on E-6 Lugo

Oh, okay. Thanks, Remy and TG. (heh)

Ian - Yes. I love Lowrie. I want him to play.

Although, Lugo does deserve to be at the home opener...

Thanks everyone. I didn't quite mean that literally though. Heh.

If they bring up Lowrie, it will make y'all happy since most of y'all think he's hot.

It will make me happy because anyone is better than Lugo at this point plus you'll probably get a better bat out of Lowrie.

I believe it was another error on Lugo, not on Youky.

Love the tall socks on Aardvark.

Texas Gal- I love the Reyes bobblehead commercial!!!! And at the end when they say "I said 2k, K?"

I hate the towels! My God, how annoying.

I'm all for more adorable on the Sox. Bring up Lowrie!

Texy you see the quote from Clay Nation yesterday.

“I thought I executed pitches when I needed to execute pitches,”

Beckett must have been working with him on his postgame press conferences.

Ian - I don't think Lowrie is hot. He's kinda adorable in that dorky, sweet way, though. And his bat is much better than Lugo's. (Please don't read in to that more than you need to.)

Aardsma-KK! Good thing he's not the one in Pawtucket today.

(Repeats to self: It was Lugo. It was Lugo.)

*on waivers. Not in Pawtucket. Oops. I'm kinda distracted right now.

I think Beckett distributed a sheet to the baby pitchers with phrases they were allowed to use in press conferences.

Hello, Josh Beckett!
Don't you look sexy today--
oh, crap, husband's home

Very strong outing for him but he looked a little tired at the end and he definitely dropped a couple f-bombs when Tito came out to get him. And if I were Lugo I'd stay VERY far away from Josh--with that one error Josh just gave him a fantastic "thanks a lot, asshole" glare.

I don't doubt it.

Also, Ken Griffey Jr's now 6 homers from 600.

OKIE

FUCK YOU, LUGO

AAHHH! LUUGGOO!

Poor Lugo. Today's just not his day.

WHAT THE FUCK LUGO!!!!!

Let's tar and feather Lugo...

I mean.

LUGO!! WTF!!

I'm not one to jump on a player who's having a bad day, but Lugo is pissing me off today.

Here's an idea.

TRADE COCO FOR SOME BULLPEN HELP STAT!!!!

Look, Lugo is sucking, but let's not turn on our own.
Juts BRING IN CORA.

I really would like to see Lowrie come up.

Because you had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don't lie
You're coming back down and you really don't mind
You had a bad day
You had a bad day

Lugo, your errors
are making us all scream mean
play well or go home

Same, TG--I didn't even jump on JD's bad YEAR last season. But this is pathetic. That's, what, three errors for him this game?

At least he got that one. Ugh.

That last one on the dive probably wasn't an error

Anyone know what time the Kapler episode of Charlie Moore's on tonight?

JD's bad year had a lot to do with the health of his son. We do have to remember they are human beings after all.

with that said, Lugo still sucks ass today.

Not sure, Abby. That's one of the most frustrating things about that show- there's no indication in the program guide info online or on the TV as to who is on each episode.

8:00 PM Abby

WHOA! JD!

JD! Woohoo!

JD!!

DREW!
:D

Now why can't we have runners on base when that happens.

WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO. Comeback time boys

Thanks JD!

JD! A reason to smiel!

Thanks, guys. It's all set to tape.

And sorry, Ian, you're right about the error--my bad. There's still some bad fielding going on at SS today, though.

C'mon, Tek. Let's get something going here.

And to be safe Abby just DVR the one at 8:30 too.

YAYAH.

I wish someone was one base, or like if the bases were loaded when he hit that- but nevertheless that was sweet.

And I'm sorry for wanting to tar and feather Julio... That wasn't nice at all. I was just very frustrated. My apologies...

Good job by Halladay despite the three bombs. He went seven innings.

Two more shots at taking back the game.

Yeah Texy they put in the info but all those dates say August.

Someone should tell NESN the calendar says April

I'm surprised they never played "Holiday" by Green Day... it's not exactly the same name, but it's close enough

Also: even though Remy just said they were on sale at redsox.com, I don't see any spring training gear in the store.

Okie's in! Yay!

Let's Okiedokie these guys...

I think NESN's graphics department is having a bad day as well.

It just said top of the 7th inning and now they have made the correction

Tex, I think you have to be signed onto the site to access the spring catalog.
Anyone else going to Thursday's game? We could meet up for a beer?

NOT AGAIN

FUCK. Three errors plus another horrible fielding mistake. SUCKS.

LOWRIE LOWRIE LOWRIE LOWRIE

Yep, now that's three Es at shortstop.

DP. Good. Ugh.

Lugo's making me bring out his nickname from parts of last year.

E-6

Nice DP there, Lugo.

Whoa... Halladay back on the mound! Anyone got his pitch count so far?

Are you watching this, Lugo?

Yeah, if he hadn't gotten that DP, my TV would have a remote embedded in the screen right now. RC is the new Safeco for us I think:-/

Doc is at 99.

OW! That looked like it HURT. McDonald looks like he's crying...

That was a pretty insane play...

Yikes. At least he's getting up.

Liza it's 97 coming into this inning. He threw 95 in last start.

And ouch, you don't want to see that no matter what team it is. Unless it's the Yankees of course ;)

That had to hurt!
I guess he deserved it after getting Pedroia out (just kidding--I'm not that mean!)

When I saw all three coming in, I seriously said "I hope they run into each other." (Though, I say that every time)

That was awesome.
I'm glad he's okay.

Glad to see he is up and walking on his own. Ouch.

Thanks, Meghan.

Yeah. They look shaken now, but nothing more.

It looked like one of those deals where you get the wind knocked out of you.

I like this trend here. Let's keep it going Manny.

And that should end Doc's day

That's more like it, Papi!

YES--Youk in from third...

Let's go Sox!

Jeez, Roy. Just keep giving pitches like that to Ortiz. That could've been dangerous for the Jays (but good for us).

Or not

Cmon Manny...

That's not normally a pitch Manny would swing at.

"See, though, the thing I like about Youk: he runs out anything he hits, even if it's just a pop-up. Just in case." -Liza, 2:55pm

That was my exact thought when he kept running. Good thing he did!! He got a triple out of that...

Hartford Courant Blog has a post titled Paging Jed Lowrie

http://blogs.courant.com/redsox/2008/04/paging-jed-lowr.html

BOO.

Manny. That was AWFUL.

Not again...

Halladay's made it through 8. Pretty impressive.

Ian - And Cafardo's written "At this rate we may see Jed Lowrie at shortstop by May." on Extra Bases.

I'M SHIPPING UP TO BOSTON WAAAA OOOOOO

That's my cell phone ring.

Pap, get your pitches down. Don't leave them up like that, even if it does get Ks.

NESN, come back!

Papelboner impressive. Rally cap time folks

How in the world could McDonald's OBP be .000 if he has had a walk?

NESN needs to get with the program.

Chyeah, Pap! That's what we like to see!

Now, Sox bats, if you could just WAKE UP, that'd be nice.

Abby - Is it out for you? It's just fine for me.

The NESN graphics people are having a bad day like Lugo

The high-def feed's all fuzzy if not out but the regular def NESN is fine.

My high def feed is just fine here.

Those are the NESN graphics guys. Explains everything.

Also: Pawtucket's losing, 9-2, in the bottom of the ninth. Portland's ahead, 4-2, in the sixth.

Cmon MIKEY

Ya think Remdawg is ready to head home singing 1000 bottles of beer on the wall.

It's back. Stupid Verizon.

It doesn't look good
Is there a rally monkey?
My hat's inside out

Hooray! A bad throw NOT made by Lugo!

nice hometown scoring there.

YEAH LOWELL

Nice to know the Sox aren't the only ones not doing very well defensively.

Let's go, JD...

LOL, Ian, I agree. After 19 long days on the road, I'm sure they're all ready to go home.

I thought that Verizon was "true quam"?

Ian - Not so much.

Full count... if Drew can work a walk, I'll be really happy...

Or not. Too bad they didn't collide again. (I don't really mean that. I wish he dropped it, though.)

Aw, I wanted another collision

Yay Tekkie!

YES

Come on Jacoby... Come on, pretty...

JACOBY. Do not suck. Hit the ball, por favor.

Come on Jacoby!

two runners on base
Jacoby Ellsbury bats
Can he tie the game?

DO NOT STRIKE OUT. I forbid you.

Abby they must have forget to use the 1530.

See bat.
Hit ball.

Yankees just won 2-0
=(

OMG NESN went out

Technical difficulties! DAMN!

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES!?!?!?!?!?

Oh my god, if that had been gone...

HOly shit NESN!!! Where is the picture?!?!!??!

NESN NOOOOO

What just happened?

TECHNICAL FUCKING DIFFICULTIES????

Ok now this really sucks ass.

NESN tech difficulties NOW?

FUCK NO

Oh my god. If Lugo... all will be forgiven...

Jacoby could'a been the hero.

Sigh.

This is annoying

For those of you with NESN, Jacoby just struck out

C'mon, Lugo...

and what sucks more is that we can't switch to TBS here in New England.

Yeah--they still have the audio, but no picture.

I think the Verizon dude forgot to bring The Light with him.

Someone plug the feed back in already.

Come on, Lugo.
This is your chance for redemption.

OMG OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG...

Foul.

Does Lugo know what he's doing to my blood pressure?

Oh well.

Fuck.

Booooooo

Probably better off not seeing the end of the game.

Can we all stick around for a support group?

Ugh.

Its only April but it still sucks.

y'all might as well know this now but stranding players on base drives me nuts!

Great. NOW we get the picture--a commercial.

Crappy game. Let's hope a day off in New England will do them good.

Ugh. Not fun.

That really bit hard. Completely sucky series.

NESN graphics is really having a bad day. They forgot to give Accardo the save

Bad day all around. I bet the day off will do wonders for them. How long has it been since they've seen their families?

On the bright side, maybe all these fair weather fans that I've been seeing around will finally go away.

Haven't many of them brought their families along on this road trip?

Katherine - are they that lame? In April???

That sucked....if we can make it out of April at .500 I will be happy, and we are at that now, and it's not like it's going to get any easier. Boo.

On the bright side for me..I've got Tek, Drew, Ells, Halladay, Paps and Oki on my fantansy team. Woo fucking hoo.

I don't think a single 3-game series is going to drive away fairweather fans from the defending national champions.

Starr, I bet you're right. Forgot about that. It'll be nice for them to sleep in their own beds.

I think they only brought them to Japan.

Meghan- I also have Halladay and Oki on my Fantasy team.

I don't think many of them brought their families.

Ortiz is probably just missing this guy:

Once he gets home he will start hitting again:-D

Betcha Dice-K is missing a little guy somethin fierce.

Cutest. Kid. Ever.

oh wow he's adorable!! look at his hair!! and the bat! haha my new favorite picture!

AWW! Ortiz's son is so adorable

::sigh::

that's about all I can muster right now.

I'm off to console myself in a trip to Trader Joe's. Have a good offday, everyone.

Maybe I should mention I'm in Baltimore. There are O's fans, Red Sox fans and then fans that change hats with the current AL standings.

AKA, Jays fans. Like me.

Go Erik Hinske! Go Josh Phelps! Go Shea Hillenbrand!

Cause seriously, I liked you guys a lot better than this 6-RBI-a-game Rios/Wells/Thomas fiasco. They're a B.