Sox get set to kick off 2007 home opener

Seattle (2-1) at Boston (3-3)
2:00PM, Fenway Park

Josh Beckett (1-0, 1.80) vs. Jeff Weaver (0-0)

"Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, welcome to Fenway Park"...

Our beleaguered Bosox head back to the friendly confines of Fenway after Sunday night's uplifting win in Texas with just as many questions about this year's club as answers.

Granted, IT'S EARLY, so none of this shit really matters, but if we don't post about it what the hell else are us bloggers going to blog about?!

Boston travelled to Kansas City and Arlington this opening week and to say the new-look team came away from the 6-game trip with mediocre results would be an understatement. The Sox are batting a measly .237, have hit only 3 home runs (2 courtesy of Papi on Sunday) and scored an underwhelming 19 runs for an average of just over three runs per game. This stat is atrocious for a team filled with mashers (Papi, Manny), .300 hitters (Lowell, JD Drew) and on-base speedsters (Coco, Lugo.)

After 6 games here are the mostly-brutal numbers for the starting nine:

Lugo- .261 (6-23), 1-2B, 2R, 1SB, 5Ks

Youk- .217 (5-23), 1HR, 2RBI

Papi- .217 (5-23), 3HRs, 2-2B, 4RBI, 4R, 6Ks

Manny-.217 (5-23), 0-HRs, 2RBIs

Drew- .391 (9-23), 2-2B, 2RBI, 2R, 6Ks

Lowell- .261 (6-23), 3-2B, 2RBI

Tek- .125 (2-16), 2RBI

Coco- .150 (3-20), 2R, 1SB, 4Ks

Pedroia- .313 (5-16), 2BB, 3Ks

As you can see we're not exactly talking about Murderer's Row here, although I'm confident most of these guys will hit by the time the weather reaches "normal" springtime temps. But the longer guys like Coco, Tek and Pedroia, already coming off poor seasons, struggle, the harder it will be for them to turn it around, which will render the bottom third of the lineup a hitters wasteland/pitcher's dream.

The encouraging signs for Boston have mainly come from the pitching staff. Schilling proved on Sunday that his opening day disaster was probably just an aberration, Beckett pitched well in his first start against KC, Dice-K is Dice-K-riffic, and Wakefield pitched well despite picking up a loss in Texas. In the pen Paps is there to save the day again (whew), and by proving Sunday he can do a 5-out save it should alleviate the pressure on the rest of the mediocre relievers.

Boston will take on a Seattle team that comes to Fenway having played only 3 games in 8 days thanks to the horrendous weather in Cleveland this past weekend. The Mariners' series with the Indians was snowed out for the entire weekend, and Seattle should be happy just to be playing ball anywhere, even though a trip to Fenway after sitting in a hotel room for 4 straight days won't be easy.

Postseason hero Jeff Weaver will make his Mariners debut after leaving the Cardinals via free agency after he walked off the mound a winner in the series-clinching game. The guy had quite a topsy- turvy season, going from staring 1-7 with the Angels and being dumped for his younger brother Jered to a World Series winner. Yet for all of his postseason success last year (3-2, 2.40 ERA) Weaver is still 15 games under .500 for his career (86-101), so let's not crown him the next Whitey Ford just yet.

Seattle's lineup boasts of some powerful-yet-puzzling sluggers such as Richie Sexon (whom the Sox were rumored to have courted this offseason), free agent bust Adrian Beltre and notorious miscreant/malcontent Jose Guillen. Of course the backbone of the Mariners offense is still Ichiro, and even though he has showed signs of slowing down of late, he is still a patient hitter, excellent baserunner, and terrific outfielder despite having moved to center from right to make room for Guillen; tomorrow's matchup of Ichiro vs. Dice-K will be one of the most anticipated and talked about moments in baseball in a long time.

There should be plenty of pomp, pageantry and Papi as baseball returns to Fenway Park for another season.

As we like to say at these times, hope springs eternal.

Let's just hope the Sox bats spring to life as well.

Play ball!