Red Sox / Yankees Opening Day Diary

I decided to keep a running diary for the first game of the year. Ya know - just for the heck of it.

Randy Johnson and David Wells both look pretty good in first but the second inning is a different story for both veteran pitchers. Two impressions about Johnson; it looks like the umpire is giving him a pretty big strike zone and I don't think his fastball is going to get by the Red Sox hitters. And just to throw a random thought out there - I think The Unibomber's Package would be a good name for a punk band.

ESPN is blacked out where I am and even if it wasn't - I'd still watch the NESN telecast. One reasons to like NESN better is that they have more content and less fluff (plus I feel blessed to avoid having the nonsense of Joe Morgan make my ears bleed). Before the bottom of the third they had a quick interview with Jason Varitek where he said that he doesn't sign any pictures of him fighting with A-Rod. That reminded me of Larry Bird who refuses to sign any pictures of him grabbing Dr. J by the neck. I was also highly amused when Varitek intimated that even though he's not proud of the moment it doesn't mean he wouldn't do it again.

I think the word I'm looking for to describe Wells' pitching in the third is "sloppy". His pitching also makes me curious what the over/under was on the game (it was 9). At the end of 3 its 4-1 Yankees.

As a pitcher you cannot be successful unless you get a lead strike on the batter most of the time and also unless you keep leadoff runners off base. I'm sure Wells is more frustrated than I am right now. At least he better be.

WTF? The commercial for Fever Pitch is touting it as the "hit comedy of the season". How can they say that when the movie hasn't even opened? What season are they talking about? Pre-season?

Randy Johnson pitched the home opener at Fenway back in '98 when he was still with Seattle. The Mariners were up by seven going into the seventh so me and my buddy Brian and I decided to leave for wetter pastures (they stop serving at Fenway after the seventh). I ended up seeing the Red Sox come back in dramatic fashion - capped off by a Mo Vaugh grand slam to win the game - from the friendly confines of Copperfields. That was a great day.

Tonight Johnson went six and struck out six while only yielding one run. Thing probably would have been much different if Matsui wasn't able to rob Kevin Millar of a home run. All-in-all, Yankee fans have to be pleased with the Big Unit's debut.

I wonder if Blaine Neal is this year's Bobby Jones? My guess is he has maybe two more outings to prove he's a major leaguer and if he can't make the most of those opportunities then he'll be living in a van down by the river.

The only thing keeping me interested in this game is the fact that if the Yankees blew a five run lead they would be hearing about it for a month.

OK its 9-1 and the red Sox may have been able to come back from three games down but they're not coming back from this deficit. Congrats to the folks who took the over.