Photo: Movie poster for Major League, from its Wikipedia page.
It's been awhile since the Sox played a game, and even longer since I posted about it. Hopefully Boston will play today--Saturday, 4.20.13--as the city needs the distraction and celebration. It'll be a soggy Fenway, unfortunately, if they play. Speaking of rain, I got rained out of Fenway last Friday, and my next game, on the 23rd, looks like rain, too. Thanks...
--It's odd and sad to see Terry Francona in a Cleveland Indians uniform.
--About 9,000 people, on average, watched each of the three games at Cleveland's Progressive Field, ex-Jacob's Field, ex-Municipal Stadium. That's pathetic. The Red Sox's AAA team, the Pawtucket Red Sox, draw more than that at its McCoy Stadium on a nice summer day.
--I don't miss Mike Aviles. And didn't he go to Toronto in the deal for John Farrell, the Sox manager?
--Nick Swisher doesn't look right in a Cleveland Indians uniform, either.
--The Indians team right now--and its attendance at the park--is exactly like the Indians in the movie Major League. Watching the series was like watching the movie.
--I wouldn't pay to watch the Indians play, either, but I would pay to see some of the Indians play, and some of the players on any visiting team.
--Mike Napoli can motor for a big, stocky guy.
--The Sox are playing Billy Beane ball: Don't swing for the fences; work the count; make the pitcher throw a lot of pitches; wear out the starting pitcher; get into the bullpen; hit singles and doubles; draw walks; keep the line moving. Just like 2003, 2004 and 2007. And not at all like last year.
--The Sox defense is the most steady I've seen it, at least since 2007, and maybe better than 2003 and 2004. Maybe the best, day by day, since I've been watching. And I've been watching since Ned Martin and Bob Montgomery, if you know what I'm sayin'.
--I'll say it again: Lester and Buchholz are pitching with rhythm, efficiency and confidence, and they're both 3-0 with ERAs hovering near 1.00.
--And Lester is keeping his fastball down and not trying to blow everyone away with high heat he doesn't have, a la Josh Beckett. (Though, truth be told, Beckett's pitching very well, so far, for the Dodgers this year, with a 3.26 ERA and a 1.1 WHIP. But he hasn't won a game yet, which leads me to say--)
--This year's team is a perfect example of addition by subtraction. Yes, the guaranteed money to these guys is gone, too, but so are Bobby Valentine, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez, and all of the obnoxiousness and ridiculousness. Any team without these guys is bound to get better.
--Couldn't the Sox management have done all that and kept Francona to begin with? (Though I do like John Farrell.)
--I'm changing my tune. (Get used to that.) With Ortiz due back, it's right that the Sox send down Jackie Bradley, Jr. and keep Mike Carp, who's hitting well, especially considering his lack of playing time. Bradley needs to get himself straightened out. His time will come again.
--Speaking of that, I don't like that sometimes these things are called "demotions," as in "Bradley was demoted to Pawtucket." Iglesias was hitting over .400 when he was "demoted." Can't we just report it as "sent," as in "To make room for Ortiz, Bradley was sent to Pawtucket?" It's not just semantics; sometimes it's inaccurate, as in the Iglesias example.
--Jamie Erdahl and Jenny Dell are wonderful, but they're not Heidi Watney. Who's sort of wasted in MLB Network's Quick Pitch, I might add.
--If you're interested, my thoughts about the marathon massacre and its aftermath will soon be on my regular blog, here.
--And my review of the movie 42 will be on that site, and on this one, as well.
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