Let's Play Ball!!

The season officially opens tonight in St. Louis, but the Sox' drive to another championship begins tomorrow afternoon in Kansas City.

Despite my efforts to ignore the fact that those damned fools at Sports Illustrated had to go and put Matsuzaka on the cover of their baseball preview issue, the Cover Jinx Curse may have struck again.

On the eve of Opening Day 07 and on April Fools Day no less, word came from the team that after throwing 82 pitches in a sloppy final spring start against Philly, Dice-K is suffering from some "arm fatigue" according to pitching coach John Farrell. This is common for many pitchers after the month long grind of the spring, but for a guy who never uses pitch counts, throws every day and who never ices his million dollar right arm, this comes as shocking and unsettling news to all of Red Sox Nation.

I know right now as I type there are literally millions of Nation members praying at some makeshift Bosox altar, probably containing odd paraphernalia like old pictures of you and the gang at Fenway, a coke mirror autographed by Butch Hobson, a Jerry Remy Topps card and a home made bloody sock, and hoping that this bad omen is not, well, a bad omen.

Damn you, Sports Illustrated! May your Swimsuit Edition lose its cache more and more very year!

Let the season begin!