Sox 5 Indians 3

April 15, 2008- The Sox sweep the short series against the Indians thanks in large part to a PH V-Tek homer in the 9th. The Sox jumped out to the early lead thanks to newcomber Jed Lowrie. However, Tim Wakefield struggled to keep the Indians at bay and the Indians pulled ahead, only to have Lowrie put the sox back on top. Manny Delcarmen hit Ryan Garko with the bases loaded to tie the game but it was Varitek's PH home run that won the game, and Okajima's save that iced the game.

Last night was also Jackie Robinson day and as you can see David Ortiz could have been mistaken for Mo Vaughn last night. The game ended on a spectacular catch by Jacoby Ellsbury who was playing in right in place of J.D. Drew. Ellsbury reached into the stands for a spectacular game ending catch.

David Aardsma who finished off the 8th inning recieved the win

Sox-Yanks 4/13

With everyone in Yankee land throwing fits over a Sox jersey being found deep inside of the new Yankee Stadium, let me remind everyone that David Ortiz will be fine, now that he is no longer buried deep under cement in New York, look for Papi to bust out in a big way soon.

Tonight the sox go for the series win and 2 out of 3 from the Yanks. Dice-K will be opposing phenom Phil Hughes.

Here are tonight's lineups. Notice that there is NO DAVID ORTIZ also JON PAPELBON IS NOT AVAILABLE for tonights game.

YANKEES
Johnny Damon CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Bobby Abreu RF
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Hideki Matsui LF
Jorge Posada DH
Jason Giambi 1B
Jose Molina C
Alberto Gonzalez SS
Phil Hughes (0-1. 5.00)

RED SOX
Jacoby Ellsbury LF
Dustin Pedroia 2B
J.D. Drew RF
Manny Ramirez DH
Kevin Youkilis 3B
Sean Casey 1B
Jason Varitek C
Coco Crisp CF
Julio Lugo SS
Daisuke Matsuzaka (2-0, 1.47)

Tonights Lineup

Here is the lineup for the Sox tonight 4/10 against Nate Robertson

Red Sox
1. Julio Lugo, SS
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Manny Ramirez, LF
5. Kevin Youkilis, 3B
6. J.D. Drew, RF
7. Coco Crisp, CF
8. Sean Casey, 1B
9. Kevin Cash, C
P -- Tim Wakefield

Once again Coco starts in place of ellsbury, Lowell is out with a thumb sprain and Youks moves to third with Sean Casey getting the start at 1st

Fenway's 2008 Renovations

In case you are not yet up to speed on the renovations that went on during the past offseason, I have some pictures to help you out. Among the renovations that took place were the removal of the temporary luxury boxes used during the 1999 all star game, they were replaced with left field pavillion seating. Also in Centerfield, there is a new brick facade which is a precursor to a new centerfield restaurant which should be opening up sometime this season. About 1,000 extra seats were added to bring the total seating capacity to be somehwhere in the vicinity of 39,000. Please enjoy these pictures

Buckner's First Pitch

The hoopla over Bill Buckner throwing out the first pitch is extremley overblown and once again we see the media latching on to their scapegoat and not willing to let it go. Any Sox fan can tell you that the grief of the 1986 world series was extreme, but that Buckner was not soely to blame and others such as Calvin Schiraldi, Bob Stanley and Manager John McNamara were just as much to blame as Buckner for the series loss.

Bucker did recieve a standing ovation on opening day in 1987 as a member of the Red Sox and again in 1990 when he came back again as a member of the Red Sox in his last major league season. Buckner was a borderline hall of fame player with over 2,500 hits and a .289 career batting average over 22 seasons.

Buckner has signed photos of the infamous gaffe along with Mookie Wilson, I think that this just opens him up to any criticism he recieves, however, Buckner has also faced a lot of abuse at the hands of the media and fans over the years and just the sheer emotion he exhibited yesterday made this move the right move, unlike the sweet caroline debacle that happened later on in the game.

Sox Sputter, Hand Tigers First Win With 7-2 Loss

The Sox had a tough time holding back the previously winless Tigers tonight during their 7-2 loss at Fenway Park. The game featured lefty Jon Lester opposing Jeremey Bonderman. The Sox jumped out to an early 2-0 lead due to multiple walks by Bonderman and an RBI single by shortstop Julio Lugo. However, Lester once again the victim of poor control failed to hold the lead as he walked 4 in 5 and 1/3 innings on his way to his second loss of the year. The big play for the Tigers was Marcus Thames go ahead homer in the 4th which put the Tigers on top for good. Four Tiger relievers held the Sox in check after Bonderman exited in the 6th inning. Red Sox relievers Bryan Corey and Javier Lopez also failed to provide much relief as the Tigers padded their lead further in the 8th and 9th innings. Mike Lowell left the game after making a diving play in the first inning. He is listed as day to day with a sprained left thumb.

Tommorow the Sox and Tigers wrap up the three game series when Tim Wakefield opposes Nate Robertson

How My Love of the Sox Started

While my love of the sox started at a young age watching Billy Hatcher steal home, and Tim Nahering and John Valentin man the left side of the infield, one game in particular stood out in my young mind. The day was April 10, 1998. The pitching matchup that day was the immortal Brian Rose of Seekonk, MA pitted up against Randy Johnson, arguably the best pitcher in the american league at the time. The score was 7-2 going into the bottom of the 9th. The majority of the crowd had left and hope seemed to be lost. Yet the magic begun when former Red Sox closer Heathcliff Slocumb entered the game, Slocumb couldnt manage an out and former sox reliever Tony Fossas followed also not being able to secure an out then future Sox pitcher Mike Timlin entered the game also not getting an out. Paul Spoljaric entered the game to face Mo Vaughn with the bases loaded. With the crack of a bat Vaughn ended the game with a grand slam in front of probably a few thousand remaning fans.

An indepth box score and look at the game http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BOS/BOS199804100.shtml