Not a whole lot of description necessary for the Sox first week of 08. I'd say a sweep of the Tigers and a 5-2 record does a pretty nice job of speaking for itself. A record, I might add, that iIm pretty sure is identical to the 05 start. As is the lack of respect, which is fine; under the radar is the way to be.
Swisher in the leadoff spot is so far so good, i'm very interested to see if the teams game level remains high once Jerry Owens returns. Ordinarily I would say of course, and be counting the days. But as it turns out, I'm a little bit in love with Carlos Quentin over there in left field. The guy has a cannon and isn't too shabby at the plate. Though I am a tad concerned with his likeness to Jose Canseco. I still think we need the speed and hopefully that just ads a whole new attack to our offense. It's a tough decision to make, but after sending Fields down, and the likely optioning of Brian Anderson, Kenny has got to be getting used to giving bad news. And as he always says, these problems are good ones to have.
Thanks to a very old and trusted friend (as in long time, she's quite youthful), I had the opportunity to attend Opening Day at Comiskey. I can't describe how nice it is to get back to the park and watch baseball. Javie was a little rough at the start, the offense hung in, as they proved is going to be their trademark and of course the grand slam out of Mr. Clutch Joe Crede sent the crowd over the top. The temperature got colder as the game went on but I don't think anyone noticed. Though I was still unwilling to shed my jacket to proudly strut in my #24. 5 straight, let's see how long this can hold up. I know I'll be in the house for plenty of them. Thanks again Jessica for hooking up those excellent seats.
Meanwhile...
Fukudome is officially a Bombshell. The guy can rake. His by the book approach at the plate is continuously amazing to me. Too bad (yes, a southsider talking) there will be nothing to show for it in October outside of a Rookie of the Year award. If he keeps up anything near what he's been doing he's a lock.
On the subject of ROY you can be fairly sure the Ramirez talk is quieted for awhile. I was excited about the guy but really, I couldn't stand hearing people calling him rookie of the year prior to any at-bats.
Has anybody else noticed that the standings in the AL East seem to be upside down?
The LA Dodgers have a pitching staff that looks stellar and these guys staying healthy and effective definitely means NL West winners.
Watch out for Cincy!! They have some young studs on the mound and more importantly. They still play in the National League Central. The Reds are looking at plus 500 ball! (?)
