Opening Day 2012

Random thoughts while taking the day off to watch Opening Day

I'll really miss Terry Francona and Theo Epstein. It's a shame the 2011 season ended the way it did. Maybe it was time for a change, but they each deserve a lot of credit for 2004 and 2007. It's so rare that someone leaves on great terms, like Dave Roberts. All too often, players and management who should be revered eventually move on with ill feelings, like Keith Foulke.

Nice to see Ortiz go the other way for a double in the second. Much as I like Jon Lester, he's not close to being as effective as Justin Verlander. It's the fifth inning and the Tigers have put the lead off hitter on base in each inning so far. That's not a recipe for success. I'm very impressed that he's put up zeros so far given that every inning has started with the first batter reaching base. Lester continues to show that he's a very good pitcher but whether or not he is a true ace is still open to debate.

When there were rumors about the Red Sox hiring Bobby Valentine, I got nervous. Valentine has always struck me as someone who wants (and possibly needs) to be the center of attention and for everyone to know how right he is. Some of his assessments of players' strengths and weaknesses during Spring Training made me cringe. I believe it was Doubront who struggled in one start and did well in his following start. Valentine's comments following Doubront's improvement sounded like "He did really well because he listened to my advice. So long as he listens to me and does what I say, he'll do well." While I love Valentine's focus on fundamentals, I expect Valentine's general attitude will become a major problem this season.

Schilling is a complete hypocrite for claiming he knows what's going on in the Red Sox clubhouse and that the players already dislike Valentine, since this is the type of media opinion that he claimed had no merit when he was a player, but that doesn't mean he's wrong.

What different feel the Red Sox have this spring, completely ignoring the managerial change. It's not just that many experts pick them to finish behind the Rays and Yankees. There are major questions about the corner outfield spots, shortstop, the rotation and the bullpen. The Red Sox' opening day DL probably has a higher salary than some second division teams.

The Scutaro trade still feels odd. Aviles may be adequate in the field and a possible upgrade at the plate, but I'll be very surprised if he's the starting shortstop in September. My hope is that the Scutaro and Lowrie trades weren't just small market salary dumps but a sign that Iglesias will be ready for the majors soon, that Aviles is a stopgap in the meantime and that Scutaro's salary could be used more effectively elsewhere. I'm OK with not knowing the true story. While it's confusing, it's still much better for the team than Lou Gorman announcing in advance who he intended to trade and then being surprised at his lack of negotiating leverage.

Can Bard pitch effectively for six plus innings at a time? If he and Doubront are effective as starters in the first few months of the season, what's their innings ceiling for the season? 170? I'm OK with the Sox giving both of them a shot, with Cook waiting in Pawtucket, a Dice K as a possible option around mid-season and Oswalt as a possibility.

I remember being surprised when the Yankees cut ties with Aceves and excited when the Red Sox signed him. It seemed like a good, inexpensive signing at the time. Who knew he'd be so valuable to the team in '11, let alone the opening day closer in '12? Best of all, he seems like a great mix of intelligence and Tavarez-esque bat shit crazy. The Globe had an article last year that mentioned him wearing #91 because Dennis Rodman was his favorite basketball player. He wanted to start, they let him try, told him "You didn't make the cut, but might need to take Beckett's start unless...wait...never mind, you're the closer." I'd bet if he had the option to personalize his uniform, a la the XFL, he'd change it to "Uh. Save Us."

I wish Varitek and Wakefield well. I'll miss watching bullpen catchers try to corral Wakefield's knuckler during pre-game warm ups. The pitch really did seem to move like he'd coated it with the wood repellant from It Happens Every Spring. The Red Sox should remember to send Dan Duquette a thank you note to commemorate their retirements. I really did get excited when the Red Sox signed Wake. I loved reading about him when he came up with the Pirates and about getting help from the Niekros. I love weird, underdog baseball stories like his - signed as a first baseman, wasn't going to make it, decided to give it a shot as a knuckleballer. Utility guys with five different gloves (Randy Kutcher), ambidextrous pitchers (Greg Harris), large, lovable and effective relievers (Rich Garces), pitchers who hit in a pinch outside of inter league games ( Dick Drago), utility players who pitch in a pinch (David McCarty), switch-hitting relievers (JC Romero), catchers who yell at their pitchers in effective but unintelligible Spanglish (Tony Pena), journeyman minor leaguers who eventually get their chance (Chris Coste), chronologically challenged players (Jamie Moyer and Julio Franco) and guys who reinvent themselves to keep playing (Wake, Ron Mahay and Rick Ankiel) always make me smile.

On to other sports...

Kudos to the Celtics for not going quietly. They've beaten the bad teams and lost to the good ones. I don't expect them to goo too deep in the playoffs, but they're battling hard and that's good enough for me.

I love seeing that there's still fire in Garnett. Ainge deserves a ton of credit for picking up Bass (for Big Baby) and Pietrus. Their lack of big men may or may not be exposed in the playoffs. They get killed on the boards by teams with a big front line, like the Lakers, but it's possible that won't do them in. They still struggle mightily in the fourth quarter if the other team plays good defense because their half court offense boils down to a contested outside shot by Pierce. Speaking of their offense...

Despite how Rondo racks up numbers, I still think he hurts the team a lot more than he helps in close games. The Celtics don't need him to score a ton in the fourth quarter. They just need him to be more effective in the half court set.

I watched the fourth quarter of the overtime game against the Knicks where Rondo put up ridiculous numbers but (at least while I was watching) Jeremy Lin was a catalyst in the Knicks' offense, causing havoc with his penetration that led to double teams and guys cutting into space and being open because of Lin, while Rondo looked like a spectator. Rondo's contributions to the half court offense involved giving up the ball at the top of the key and disappearing apart from an occasional offensive rebound or letting his defender play way off him and forcing a pass to Pierce, who is double-covered sometimes before he even receives the ball.

I love what Rondo does bring to the table but find it maddening that he's been in the league this long but still hasn't improved on his two most glaring late game weaknesses - the inability to keep the defense honest by hitting an uncontested outside shot, and the fear to go to the free throw line. I wish he'd fix at least one of those two gaping holes. I really hope I'm wrong.

The Celtics play the Bulls tonight. I may be able to watch. Rose may play. An ESPN article talked about him practicing. The link to the article actually said "Bulls Rose (groin) takes contact, to face Celts?" Comedy.

The Bruins have done well this season, despite battling some level of Lord Stanley's Hangover. At times they've looked unstoppable. Other times, bored. Last year's run was unbelievable. It's odd to think about how close they came to getting beaten in the first round by the Habs. Had Chara's skate been turned slightly, there would have been one less duck parade.

Speaking of coming so close, I loved the Patriots season. The Giants were the only team I worried about them facing in the playoffs. Scary flashbacks. And yet, had Brady connected with Welker late in the fourth or if the Pats recovered any of those fumbles... So close.

I still laugh when I see comments about the Patriots record against "winning" teams since they didn't beat a team in the regular season that finished above .500. Of course, the Pats really only had one opportunity to do so - against the Steelers. Had the Pats beaten the Giants in the regular season, that wouldn't have "counted" since the Giants would have then finished the season at 8-8. That's like comparing an 8th inning reliever's "save percentage" against a closer's. It's not really a save opportunity for the set up man since he's not going to be allowed to finish the game. Technically, had the Pats lost one of their games against the Jets, the Jets would have finished above .500, thereby making the other Pats win against the Jets a "quality" win. Absurd, but so is the entire argument about the Pats' record and their schedule.

The Pats received the standard divisional champ schedule - playing the other divisional winners in their conference. That two of the other three prior division winners finished at or well well below .500 (hello, Indianapolis!) should just make people more impressed by the Patriots' amazing run since the 2001 season. Even the season there the Patriots lost Brady in the first game, they went 11-5 and nearly made the playoffs rather than tank the season to get the #1 pick in the draft.

So what was the Patriots' record against teams that went above .500 against the rest of the league? 7-2. The Steelers, for comparison, were 5-4 against teams that were over .500 against the rest of the league.

I also had a good laugh when I heard one NFL fan on a local radio show say he was rooting for the quarterback who was a humble underdog coming out of college who had nothing handed to him, no one believed in him but he just worked hard to beat the odds and turned himself into a star. It took me a while to realize that this guy wasn't talking about the sixth round draft choice who was a backup in college and spent his rookie season as the fourth string quarterback. No, he was talking about the guy who was the #1 pick in the draft who, despite being guaranteed an enormous contract before ever taking a snap, said he'd never play for the team that wanted to draft him, instead forcing a trade to a big market in the Northeast. What an unassuming kid. What an underdog. What a feel good story. There's the guy to root for.

I love the Pats offseason moves - nothing overly big in terms of cost but nice pickups for depth. Let's see if they can find an improved pass rush in the draft and if Gronk can return to full Gronk-ness next season. Good luck to Law Firm.

The Jets pick up of Tebow may be a great move, especially since the Jets' offensive coordinator installed the wildcat under the Dolphins. It could also become a slow motion train wreck. Memo to Sanchez: If your teammates anonymously question your leadership and your response is to challenge them to say that publicly...you're actually helping to make their point.

MLB has an ad for its Extra Innings package where they show highlights from the end of the 2011 season, including Longoria's home run to send the Rays to the postseason. The funny part is that the voice over says "If a playoff clinching miracle falls into the stands and no one is there to watch, did it really happen?" They probably weren't trying to make fun of the Tampa Bay fans, but I'm surprised no one thought to alter the language slightly just to be on the safe side, given their attendance problems despite the team's success.

Lester pitched well, Verlander pitched better, the Sox rallied to tie it up in the ninth, and Melancon and Aceves combined to give up a run in the ninth. Get well soon, Andrew Bailey.