Hardball Heaven

Finally, a Sox win and a Yankee loss to calm the jangled nerves of Red Sox fans. The lead this morning is back up to 8 1/2, and I can't remember doing this much scoreboard watching so early in the season.

Last night it was the Dustin and Drew show, with the scrappy little 2B contributing five hits and five RBI and J.D. pitching in with a 3 for 4 night, and three ribbies. After a tough first inning, Julian Tavarez settled in and pitched well.

It was certainly an action-packed start to the game. Dave Roberts led off for the Giants and promptly received a hearty ovation. His historic steal on Jeter and the Yanks in Game 4 of the '04 ALCS will never be forgotten. As Chad over at Touching All the Bases wrote in his live blog last night, without that steal we're probably looking at 89 years of failure. Dave Roberts should actually move to Boston, because he'll never pay for anything in this town as long as he lives.

After that, of course, it was Barry Bonds' turn to be "serenaded" and the fans didn't disappoint. Asterisk signs were everywhere, and the boos were loud, clear, and prolonged. He almost hit a homer in his first at-bat, pushing a ball just to the right of the Pesky Pole off Tavarez, who willed the ball foul with some body language that would have made Carlton Fisk proud.

The fireworks continued in the home half of the first. Big Papi was called out on strikes and as is his custom, saw fit to "question" the home plate umpire on the call. On his way back to the dugout, he threw down his helmet and bat and got tossed. Kneejerk reaction by the ump, in my opinion, but Papi's probably built up a reputation around the league. So before we even get out of the first inning, we've lost our best hitter.

But, alas (love using the word 'alas' whenever I can), our best hitters tonight were Pedroia and Drew, both of whom had an easy time handling Barry Zito's soft serves and the Sox coasted to an easy 10-2 victory.

Good pitching matchup today with Giants ace Matt Cain going against Dice-K. 4 p.m. start time, I believe on Fox.

Some assorted tidbits:

- Bob Ryan this morning writes about the media's interaction with Bonds yesterday, and reports that Barry actually tape-records his conversations with the press so that he 'has his own records.' I'm sure it's a direct order from his battery of lawyers.

- Saw this bit of news recently... if he plays that goddamn Chevy ad song on such hallowed ground as the Esplanade on the 4th of July, I'll vomit. I know - get ready to vomit. I'll never buy a Chevy, I'll tell you that much.

- Was watching the game with a buddy last night and we decided to put the Hardball Heaven Research Team (aka baseball-reference.com) into action. We wanted to know how many different guys have played 2B or SS for the Sox since Theo became GM in 2003. The magic number? 20. Everyone from Damian Jackson to Cesar Crespo to Mark Bellhorn to Pokey Reese. It has truly been a revolving door. Oh, how I miss the days of Burleson and Doyle.