Boston Red Sox (0-0) vs. Oakland A's (0-0)
GM 1 Tue 6am EST ESPN2: Matsuzaka (NR) vs. Joe Blanton (NR)
GM 2 Wed 6am EST ESPN2: Lester (NR) vs.0 Harden (NR)
As most of the country sleeps, two nations will be awake with the giddy anticipation that the new baseball season always brings. Or bleary-eyed and groggy while watching our national pastime kick off the 2008 season 7,000 miles away from home at an hour reserved for pre-dawn pee trips and nauseating early birds.
But definitely one or the other.
The Boston Red Sox begin their title defense in the land of the rising sun at about the time the sun is rising in the West, which is why it will feel so odd when the first game between the Sox and A's starts at approximately 6:07 a.m. EST. After all, there are still Grapefruit and Cactus league games being played stateside, and after this 2 game set is complete, Boston will play three additional "preseason" games against the Dodgers this weekend in LA.
Preseason games. After the season has officially started.
And baseball fans thought Bud Selig fucked up with the All Star Game tie.
But no matter. When the game starts it will be all about Dice K receiving a hero's welcome in his homeland, Jacoby Ellsbury continuing his quest to be the home-grown folk hero Judas Demon never was, and Big Papi attempting to put his sub-par (by his standards) 2007 season behind him by winning that elusive MVP he so rightfully deserves.
The Sox tuned up for this odd goodwill mission that is a marriage of horsehide and greenbacks by taking a pair of exhibition games from Japanese League teams the Yomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers, a surefire way to prepare for 'real' MLB teams like the San Fran Giants and Detroit Tigers if there ever was one.
The only major news to come from the trip to Japan was the sore neck incurred by backup 1B Sean The Mayor Casey, as the combination of the 17-hour flight and a poor sleeping position proved debilitating for the aging vet, and proved the Sox brass were quite wise to keep rehabbing ace Josh Beckett back home for some fine tuning on his injured back.
Beckett was officially placed on the DL before the trip, but he pitched a couple innings against scrub minor leaguers yesterday and is progressing nicely with his injury and should be ready for the Sox first real series back home next week sometime.
In the meantime his mates will try to win a couple of games in a foreign land at an odd hour with a pair of Nations glued to the sets to see what this opening series will bring.
If the Sox take a pir and come away with no major maladies, food poisoning or super strain of jet lag, all should be well.
But god forbid Boston drops a pair, Dice-K gets a hold of some bad sushi from a disgruntled Seibu Lions fan, and JD Drew goes 0-8 with 3 Ks and four groundouts.
Then the real grumbling will begin.
I can hear the mid-summer mantra now: "if only they didn't have to start the fucking season in fucking Japan..."
Play Ball and Go Sox!!!
But definitely one or the other.
The Boston Red Sox begin their title defense in the land of the rising sun at about the time the sun is rising in the West, which is why it will feel so odd when the first game between the Sox and A's starts at approximately 6:07 a.m. EST. After all, there are still Grapefruit and Cactus league games being played stateside, and after this 2 game set is complete, Boston will play three additional "preseason" games against the Dodgers this weekend in LA.
Preseason games. After the season has officially started.
And baseball fans thought Bud Selig fucked up with the All Star Game tie.
But no matter. When the game starts it will be all about Dice K receiving a hero's welcome in his homeland, Jacoby Ellsbury continuing his quest to be the home-grown folk hero Judas Demon never was, and Big Papi attempting to put his sub-par (by his standards) 2007 season behind him by winning that elusive MVP he so rightfully deserves.
The Sox tuned up for this odd goodwill mission that is a marriage of horsehide and greenbacks by taking a pair of exhibition games from Japanese League teams the Yomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers, a surefire way to prepare for 'real' MLB teams like the San Fran Giants and Detroit Tigers if there ever was one.
The only major news to come from the trip to Japan was the sore neck incurred by backup 1B Sean The Mayor Casey, as the combination of the 17-hour flight and a poor sleeping position proved debilitating for the aging vet, and proved the Sox brass were quite wise to keep rehabbing ace Josh Beckett back home for some fine tuning on his injured back.
Beckett was officially placed on the DL before the trip, but he pitched a couple innings against scrub minor leaguers yesterday and is progressing nicely with his injury and should be ready for the Sox first real series back home next week sometime.
In the meantime his mates will try to win a couple of games in a foreign land at an odd hour with a pair of Nations glued to the sets to see what this opening series will bring.
If the Sox take a pir and come away with no major maladies, food poisoning or super strain of jet lag, all should be well.
But god forbid Boston drops a pair, Dice-K gets a hold of some bad sushi from a disgruntled Seibu Lions fan, and JD Drew goes 0-8 with 3 Ks and four groundouts.
Then the real grumbling will begin.
I can hear the mid-summer mantra now: "if only they didn't have to start the fucking season in fucking Japan..."
Play Ball and Go Sox!!!
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