What They Are Saying

We all know how big the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry is but what are the Red Sox newcomers to the lineup saying about their first experiences in the greatest rivalry in sports.

Reliever J.C. Romero:

“The Red Sox-Yankees rivalry, that’s one of the reasons I signed here. I wanted to be a part of that. Everybody in baseball talks about that rivalry, and I wanted to experience it myself. It was just like I expected – a good, exciting series. The fans were great. They were into it the whole game.

I really would have loved to contribute more than I did, but it’s early. We’ve got a long way to go.”

SS Julio Lugo:

“I was impressed that two teams could bring that much energy in a regular-season game. I’ve been to the playoffs, and the energy is high, but not like that. We feel it. You feel the energy even before you get into the stadium.”

Reliever Brendan Donnelly:

“Everybody in baseball knows the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, When I came over here in the offseason, I knew I was leaving a good rivalry in Anaheim-Oakland and coming to the best. It was fun this weekend. It was exciting. You could feel the energy in the ballpark, and I know it’s going to be the same thing in Yankee Stadium. It’s going to be hostile there.”

“Every time the Red Sox and Yankees played, it was the national game. We used to watch the games from California. I remember watching one of the games last year and they showed the clock flash to midnight. The games are so long because every pitch matters and there’s so much emphasis throughout the whole game. Everything’s amplified when it comes to these two teams.”

Reliever Joel Piñero:

“It’s always a big series between these teams. Every pitch counts. I think it might have been a little different if I got in a game, but it’s always going to be a big game. Even when they were just announcing the lineups, it felt like it was the ninth inning. The energy in the ballpark is amazing, and that energy feeds onto us.”

Tuesday’s Half Marathon Around The AL

The delectable Sooze over at Babes Love Baseball tells us about AROD’s new record and Jason at My Baseball Bias tells us about the Yankees calling up their top prospect, Phillip Hughes.

Jeff over at Sox and Pinstripes tells us why he is impressed with Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka’s composure.

Tim at The Red Sox Times tells us Angels pitcher John Lackey has his own blog now.

Jaret Wright and Ramon Hernandez finally get to play together. But it’s not in Baltimore.

The Devil Rays don’t want to overuse their closer Al Reyes.

Vernon Wells and Frank Thomas helped the Blue Jays break out of their slump on Monday night.

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen almost gave control of the club to his bench coach.

Twins OF Torii Hunter violated a little known baseball rule with his gift of champagne to the Royals.

The Royals bullpen isn’t getting the job done so far this season.

Indians OF Shin-Soo Choo was booed for the wrong reasons.

The Tigers aren’t giving Jeremy Bonderman any run support when he pitches.

The Seattle Mariners are ready to hit the panic button.

Rangers closer Eric Gagne is back on the DL with a strained hip this time.

The A’s lost pitcher Rich Harden and OF Milton Bradley to the DL as well.

Quick Sox Recap: Dancing Knuckleball Edition

A win wasn’t in the cards tonight as Frank Thomas and Tomo Ohka led the Toronto Blue Jays past the Red Sox by the final score of 7-3. The loss ended a five game winning streak for the Sox and broke the Jays’ 5 game losing skid.

The Blue Jays had gotten on the board early in the game after a Vernon Wells double. He then stole third base and advanced home on a throwing error by Doug Mirabelli. The Sox battled back to take the lead in the 4th inning when J.D Drew and Mike Lowell singled to lead off the inning. Wily Mo Peña grounded into a fielder’s choice and then Mirabelli walked to load the bases. Dustin Pedroia then hit a 2 run double to give the Red Sox a 2-1 lead.

Thomas provided the big blow with a two run homer in the 6th inning to give the Jays the lead for good.

Ohka threw 5 innings, gave up 6 hits, allowed 3 runs, 2 which were earned. He struck out four and walked 3 batters. Tim Wakefield went 6 innings for the Sox, giving up 8 hits. He allowed 4 runs, 3 of them were earned. He struck out 5 and walked 2 Blue Jays.

The Sox will now turn to Julian Tavarez to right the ship on Tuesday night when they face the Jays again in the finale of a two game set.

The National Lampoon Sports Minute (Or So)

The National Lampoon Sports Minute (Or So)
Written by Steve Hofstetter, Adam Hofstetter, Cody Marley, Ryan Murphy, Rich Ragains, Elliot Steingart, and Chris Strait

Top NFL draft prospect Amobi Okoye admitted during interviews at the NFL combine that he has used marijuana. Teams are now wary of drafting him, as they now have to factor in the price of all those Cheetos.

Barry Bonds is continuing his pursuit of Hank Aaron. Let’s hope all of this success doesn’t go to his head. His massive, melon shaped head.

In basketball, Detroit Pistons guard Flip Murray says three gunshots were fired into his home by a pair of masked men. All three shots missed wildly, leading police to suspect that one of the shooters may have been Antoine Walker.

SuperSonics majority owner Clay Bennett has announced that Seattle will no longer have a basketball team beyond the 2007-08 season. The news shocked fans, who thought the Sonics stopped playing basketball in the late nineties.

Curtis Strange and Hubert Green have been elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame. The news was greeted by a very quiet and polite round of applause.

Friends report that reality star and wrestler Hulk Hogan has been quarreling nearly nonstop with his wife. Luckily no one has been hurt as all of their fights are heavily choreographed and planned out in advance.

David Beckham has been selected as the sexiest dad among a list of sexy entertainers and athletes. Former NBA star Shawn Kemp did not win, despite 75 of his children casting ballots.

And Nike took out a full-page ad in the New York Times thanking disgraced radio host Don Imus for bringing the issues of race relations and sexism to the forefront. The company also plans on throwing a parade for John Rocker. Imus’ joke has also led to a lucrative book deal for the Rutgers coach Vivian Stringer. The book is tentatively titled, “Acting for Beginners.”

For more of the Sports Minute (Or So), visit minuteorso.com

Monsters on a Monday

Like I said earlier, you were probably so excited about last night’s historical win in Boston that you hadn’t heard about the news that I just posted. Now that you have, you’re probably back sitting in your office going “It’s just another manic Monday.” So I thought maybe this will help you finish out your day at work or wherever you are reading this. Enjoy. Hat tip to my friend Pokey for the video.

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Red Sox News

You’re probably coming down from your high right now of watching the Red Sox make history last night and also from their 3 game sweep of the Evil Empire, which means you may have missed the good news. The return of Jon Lester to Fenway Park.

No, Lester isn’t rejoining the Sox just yet. But he was in Boston to meet with Terry Francona and John Farrell to address the plan of action for him. He also threw a side session in the bullpen before the game last night. The signs are encouraging and they probably point to him making two more starts in Pawtucket before the Red Sox decide where he will pitch. He will have to come off the DL soon though because he is allowed only 3o days on a rehabilitation assignment. The good thing is that he has options left, so he will probably be activated from the DL and then sent to Pawtucket.

“It’s a little weird right now, just because I’m leaving [Monday],” said Lester. “Short-lived visit, but it’s definitely nice, and we get to see the Yankees play. It will be a good night.”

“Sometimes this offseason, I didn’t think I’d be back pitching, but I just kept pushing myself and trying to get back, and get back to doing what I love to do,” said Lester. “Any time you’re dealing with something like that, it’s a tough thing to come back from, let alone come back and play baseball. I was just fortunate enough to beat it early and to get back to doing this and having fun.”

Physically, Lester feels great.

“I feel strong, feel healthy,” said Lester. “The other night, I didn’t have any problems with my legs giving way later in the game. I feel good, really. I feel about as normal as I can be.”

Daisuke Matsuzaka has pitched well in all four his starts. Obviously, his first start was the best one of them all. Yet his record stands at 2-2. While he was happy that the team won, he isn’t happy with his performances so far.

Q. What is on your mind after your second win of the season?

A. It resulted in a win, and that is good for the team and myself, but … [I did not pitch well.] After my last start at Toronto, the team was winning, and I could feel how much the fans in Boston wanted this, I didn’t want to be the one to stop the winning streak. In all of my four starts so far, my command of pitches was not there. Other starts, I was able to adjust in the game, but this particular start, I couldn’t.

Q. How do you feel after facing the Yankees and their hitters?

A. The Yankees have some great hitters, as you all know, and they will hit your mistakes. They don’t make too many hitting mistakes. So I had less margin of error. I was focusing on getting each batter out. To face that caliber of hitters, as a pitcher, is a great challenge that I look forward to. It is a great motivation. I enjoyed it very much. Next time, though, I hope to get results to go with my enjoyment.

Q. Was it special that you won against the Yankees?

A. Sure, it was special that my first win at Fenway was against the Yankees. But I wished that my pitching performance was better. They are in the same division, I am sure I will face them more.

Q. It was the first sweep of Yankees at Fenway in 17 years, did you know that?

A. I didn’t know while I was pitching. I was told after the game.

Q. What was your thought in the eighth inning, when the bases loaded?

A. I had faith in my teammates, [I thought that standing ovation in the 8th was for Hideki Okajima] and for [Dustin] Pedroia [for his diving catch]. It was a great play and I was simply happy and grateful.

Q. You hit A-Rod and Jeter with a pitch, could you talk about that?

A. Those guys are great hitters. Especially A-Rod has been red hot lately, I knew I had to pitch them inside. Obviously, I didn’t mean to hit them.

Q. What about the four home runs in a row that the Red Sox hit?

A. As I was watching them in the bench, especially when the third, and then fourth home run happened, I had a hard time keeping my cool. I couldn’t have imagined something like that could happen in the game that I was pitching.

Q. Did you ask the manager to pitch the eighth inning?

A. He asked me if I could go, and I said “of course I can.” I really wanted to get [A-Rod] out, but couldn’t. I couldn’t live up to my manager’s expectations, who let me go out there. I was disappointed that I let my team down.

Q. There were a lot of cut fastballs.

A. I too noticed that he [Jason Varitek] was calling more cutters than usual. He probably liked what he saw. I had a good feel of it and more velocity than usual.

Like myself, even Hideki “Darkman” Okajima was surprised that he was pitching for the third game in a row. Read more of this after the jump.

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The Monday Jog Around The AL & NL East

Red Sox 3B Mike Lowell wants to remind everyone it’s still April.

The Yankees emergency catcher, Josh Phelps, was pressed into action Sunday night.

Injuries are beginning to take their toll on the Blue Jays lineup.

Jay Payton was surprised to see he was leading off for the Orioles on Sunday.

James Shields pitching performance for the Devil Rays on Sunday went for naught.

Mets OF Shawn Green is having some issues catching the ball.

The Phillies are starting to show signs of life right now.

Nationals pitcher Jerome Williams was ok after giving up 10 runs on Sunday.

Braves catcher Brian McCann was ok after getting hit by a pitch on Sunday.

Marlins 2B Dan Uggla had 6 RBI’s in Sunday’s win over the Nationals.