There’s a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth going around right now, and understandable but unnecessary.  There’s still a lot of baseball left, and the Sox can turn this around.  All we have to do is gain two or three games on the Yankees before we meet back up in NY.  (I’ll be there to kick off the series, so you know we’ll take ’em out. 8-))  It’s time to start playing like there’s no tomorrow, because there basically isn’t…

he Boston media are notoriously doom & gloom.  Chill out.  The Sox will win the division, David Ortiz will be the MVP, and everyone will eat crow.

Way to welcome me back to Fenway big guy…  The game was over almost before it was done, although the Sox bats didn’t do much to bail Wells out.  Hopefully he’ll do better on Monday.  On the plus side, the Sox continue to play excellent defense, and Dustin Mohr hit a home run in his first real game as a member of the Red Sox.  HR watch: Arroyo 2, Wily Mo Pena 1.  It’s a good thing we kept DiNardo around, we ended up needing him.  Sox fall to the Blue Jays 8-4.  Both Manny and Alex Gonzalez need to start doing something at the plate.

Coco Crisp just signed a contract extension with Red Sox. He would have been under control anyway, but this avoids arbitration/year-to-year contract negotiations. The extension contains a $1 million signing bonus and salaries of $3.5 million in 2007, $4.75 million in 2008 and $5.75 million in 2009. The club option for 2010, which would buy out his first year of free agency, is at $8 million and includes $500,000 buyout and salary escalator provisions. So it’s $15.75 for three years. That’s only a little more than one year of Johnny Damon! I like what Crisp has brought to the team all-ready, and I think he will continue to do good things. Looks like a great move by and for the Sox.

Sox open up the house the way it should be opened, by beating the Toronto Blue Jays 5-3. Didn’t get to see most of the game cuz I’m trying to get the work out of the way before I go to tomorrow’s game. Josh Beckett’s first inning struggles continue, but fortunately his late inning dominance does as well. He and Schill are both 2-0 so far–about 10% shy of where they’ll end up. ;-) Good to see Lowell have a productive offensive day, and Youks should do good things atop the order. Loretta, Gonzalez, and Youks turned a heck of a double play when Loretta batted down a line drive. This is going to be a fun team to watch.
Unfortunately, all was not good news. Trot has a minor groin strain, and will be out a few games. This will hopefully give Wily Mo Pena enough time to string together some productive at bats (and hopefully not let any more HRs drop off his glove). As it stands, Arroyo furthered his lead on him, and it’s now two homers to none.

Theo & Co. just announced that David Ortiz has signed a four-year contract extension, with a club option for 2011. No word yet on dollar figures, but the gossip queens say it’s in the neighborhood of 4 years @ $12 mil/per. Apparently Peter Gammons is saying it’s $50M for 4 years. Until you hear something from the mouth of any of the horses involved, take any numbers with a grain of salt. Ortiz’s heads up to the new guys on playing in Fenway:

I keep telling the new guys “Wait until you play your first game at Fenway Park. You might need a diaper. … You might need a diaper, homey. It’s gonna be like that every day.” It’s outstanding.

To which Theo joked “you can buy them all diapers now.” And a hearty guffaw was had by all. ;-) Hopefully a unburdened Papi can start jacking homers out of Fenway tomorrow. 8-) And on into 2011…

Boston Red Sox : Official Info : Press Release:

“Coco has a non-displaced fracture at the base of his left index finger,” said [Red Sox Medical Director Dr. Thomas] Gill. “He will be placed in a splint for 10 days and reevaluated at that time. Once sufficient healing has occurred, Coco can begin batting and return to baseball activities. No surgery is indicated at this time.”

Hope he makes a recovery that’s as speedy as he is. I was looking forward to the warm welcome the Fenway Faithful would have given him in the home opener (and all of the hits he would have given in return!). In the meantime, I imagine Adam Stern will get more starts in center field than anyone expected, and I think he’ll handle himself well.

Looks like Tim Wakefield and Josh Bard ironed out whatever problems cropped up last time in Texas. Wake had an excellent outing, going six innings and allowing only one run (unearned) in the first. Wake ended his night by striking out three straight to get out of a 1st and 3rd jam with no outs. Bard had no passed balls today, a welcome change from the 3 PB last time. Adam Stern got the start (probably his last before getting sent down to Pawtucket when his Rule 5 time is up on the 19th) and delivered two hits and two RBI. Foulke had an excellent 8th inning, retiring the side in order on two K’s and a popout. Personally, I would’ve have brough him back for the 9th and the save, but I can understand Francona not wanting to push it too much. Papelbon had a shaky night (which is fine, he is a rookie after all) but no runners crossed the plate, and he picked up his third save. Sox win the game 4 runs to 1, and start the season 5-1. Fenway is going to blow up on Tuesday.

I unfortunately haven’t had a chance to watch much of the last two games (it being campus preview weekend around here), but you’ve gotta like what we’ve seen of Schilling so far. I think he will have a great year, and it’s looking like Paps will do the same. When (not if) Foulke gets back to where we need to be, we should have a pretty killer bullpen. With, or without, Rudy Seanez. ;-) Hopefully the Yankees keep losing too. Gotta love the current AL East standings. 8-)