The Phillies and the Sox both turned in slightly disconcerting performances on Opening Day. Not as disconcerting as it was to discover that Ron Jeremy has a Master's Degree. Not nearly as disconcerting as watching this performance by "MC Rove." But pretty gosh darn disconcerting. Luckily, 99.38% of the season remains to be played. (Coincidentally, 99.38% is also the probability that the Phillies will face the Red Sox in this year's Fall Classic.)We'll begin with the Phillies. Things got off to a strange start, with Manager Charlie Manuel flip-flopping Ryan Howard and Chase Utley in the starting lineup. Ryan was moved to the 3rd spot, Chase to cleanup. Now, we're all aware of the statistical studies that indicate that lineup protection isn't all that it's cracked up to be. (See Lineup Protection, Fallacy of.) But, much more importantly, Chase batting 4th, after Ryan, seems backwards. At least to this replacement-level blogger. It needs to be fixed. Get on that, Charlie.
Brett Myers pitched very well, but gave up a late game-tying HR to old Sox Pal, Edgar Renteria, and left with a no decision. Edgar Renteria won the game in the 10th with another HR, this one off Ryan Madson. This was a game that the Phillies should have won. It's possible that the 16 runners left on base may have been a factor in their demise. Or the 11 K's by Phillies batters. Possibly, it was Pat Burrell changing his AB music from Dio to Don Henley. Or perhaps the uniform-patch-honored Ghosts of Braves Past (HOF's Lew Burdette and Johnny Sain) contributed more to the Braves' effort than the than the Ghost of Vuk did to the Phillies'. But I'm going to go ahead and pin the blame for the loss on Phillies "broadcaster" Gary Matthews, Sr. Because, when it comes to the broadcast booth, he is the suck. I suspect he'll be getting a lot of blame from me this season.
Once I saw REO Speedwagon on the field for the National Anthem in KC, I knew the Sox were in trouble. Curt Schilling sported the command of a replacement-level pitcher, and put up the stats (4 IP 8 H 5 ER) you'd expect from any blogger taken off the street. Hideki Okajima gave up a HR on his 1st major league pitch, and KC SP Gil Meche shut down the Sox bats (Ramirez and Varitek went a combined 0 for 8.).
There weren't too many positives for the Sox in the 7-1 loss. Except for perhaps the performance of their 1.334 OPSing 2B/Hobbit, Dustin Pedroia. While Wee Dustin's unfamiliarity with running the bases after a hit proved to be a bit on the problematic side, it was exciting to actually see him make with the hits. Hopefully, he will continue to contribute offensively. And not get stomped by a towering 5 foot tall opponent breaking up a double play.
The Phils and the Sox both look to even their records tonight, with Cole Hamels facing the Braves, and Josh Beckett starting against the Royals. I'm pretty confident that the Phils and Sox will be at the .500 mark after tonight's action. If not, they can at least take solace in the fact that they don't have this guy as one of their bullpens options. (Don't get any reclamation project ideas, Pat!) In the Mayor's defense, C Eric Davis could have done a better job framing that pitch.
2 comments:
I was at the game, and hearing Burrell not coming out to Holy Diver was the most depressing moment of my life.
...oh and the game was sad too.
Yep. Disappointing loss. A Dio-induced Burrell HR might have been enough to secure a W.
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