Hardball Heaven

We've always marveled at the "home field" advantage the Red Sox enjoy in cities like Tampa Bay and Baltimore. Those venues have always been popular destinations for members of Red Sox Nation. It has to be great for the Sox, and absolutely deflating for the real home team.

Last night - after taking a very impressive 3 of 4 from a solid Indians club - the Sox opened up a weekend series in Tampa against the Devil Rays, winning 7-1 behind the suddenly resurgent Tim Wakefield and a big homer from Kevin Youkilis, who had been struggling. The chants of "Yooooooook" throughout Tropicana Field came through loud and clear on the telly. Late in the game, when a D-Ray runner was called safe at first on a double-play ball, the crowd booed. The Yankees, meanwhile, split two with the Orioles so the AL East lead stands at 8.

Put simply, the Devil Rays are Wakefield's bitches. The man is an incredible 17-2 against them in his career, and he's been lights out in the dome. When the team bus sees the exit signs above, Wake is smiling. Last night's game also gave a a glimpse into how the Yankees mopped the floor with Tampa last week - their bullpen is positively HORRENDOUS.

The teams go at it again tonight at 7, with Jon Lester making his second comeback start against James Shields.

A few random thoughts and links for your Saturday:

- Can someone tell me why Coco Crisp is pulling a Manny -- a/k/a not talking at all to the media? Is it because we lumped in with Lugo and Drew when he was struggggling? He's had a nice year, but he's not good enough to pull this crap. Would have been nice to hear from Coco on why he paused before crossing the plate in Cleveland the other night, costing the Sox the potential tying run in a tight ballgame.

- I don't have the energy or time to research the last time the Sox played in back to back 1-0 games, but what happened in Cleveland has to be pretty rare. The Sox won the first one and lost the second. Interesting how 1-0 games in soccer suck, but they can be pretty cool in baseball.

- You'd never guess this was Alfonso Soriano's ride. What a clown.

- Couple of new links over to the right worth checking out. Sports by Brooks is a great daily read. The guy knows his sports and he likes putting pictures of hot chicks up. With Leather is another good one.

- Latest on the trade rumor front - looks like the price is too steep for Mark Teixeira, but the Sox are keeping an eye on Ty Wigginton - a classic member of the Reggie Cleveland All-Stars and a moonlighting obstetrician. From his Wikipedia page: "On December 20, 2006, Wigginton was forced to handle the delivery of his son Cannon at home when his wife Angela went into labor unexpectedly. Following the instructions of an operator on 9-1-1, he delivered the baby in a bedroom closet of their North Carolina home and tied off the umbilical cord with one of his shoelaces." I'm not sure what's more mind-numbing. The fact that he thought so clearly during a hectic time, or that he actually named his son Cannon Wigginton. Either way, something tells me he won't be in Boston anytime soon. It's a big-time seller's market right now, with GM's of teams that are out of it asking for a bit too much. May or may not change leading up to the July 31 deadline, but for now it looks like the team on the field is it. Based on the last week, that's feeling okay... for now.

- How'd you like to be commissioner of a major sports league right now? Bud Selig has to deal with the fact that his sport's most cherished record is about to be broken by a habitual cheater. Roger Goodell has to handle the indictment of one of the NFL's marquee stars, the details of which are horrific. And believe it or not, David Stern - the ambassador of calm and steady - may have the worst situation with the whole Tim Donaghy mess. I'm not condoning what Vick's allegedly done, believe me, but Donaghy's crime is far more damaging to the NBA as a sport.