Hardball Heaven

Putting a cherry on a jam-packed sports Sunday here in the Hub...

- Someone in MLB's corporate offices needs to take a look at the length of these damn ballgames. Last night's Sox-Yanks series finale was a four-hour affair, which, combined with Dice-K's maddening tendency to be too fine with mediocre hitters, made for a long, drawn-out night. Add to that the fact that we had to listen to Joe Morgan's "analysis" and it was downright excruciating. MLB needs to get at the root cause of these long games. Let the home plate ump call a ball if a pitcher's taking too long, or a strike if a batter is stepping out of the box repeatedly. Do something.

- At least the wait was worth it. The Sox took the series from the Spanks with an 8-5 win, despite having Big Papi on the bench for a mental health day, and a less-than-stellar Dice-K. We'll take it. The boys are on to Cleveland tonight for a three-game set.

- One last thing on Sox-Yanks. It didn't take very long for the Yankees braintrust (and I use that term lightly) to excavate the David Ortiz shirt that was buried underneath the new stadium. While I expected them to do this, it still blows me away that a) they believed it might lead to a curse, and b) they paid a construction crew overtime to dig it out of several feet of concrete. Here's hoping it's a reverse curse of sorts, and Big Papi starts swinging the lumber the way we've all become accustomed to.

- How 'bout those Bruins?? Struggling to get some good pub in this sports-crazed town, the Bruins came up big last night against the Canadiens in a must-win game at the Garden. For a while, it looked like a great effort was going to be wasted yet again. But the B's came through in overtime on a sweet feed from Dennis Wideman to Marc Savard, and they're right back in it. Say what you want about the state of the NHL, but it's become a more exciting game and there's nothing quite like playoff hockey.

- As much as I can't stand them, I have to give props to the Boston College men's hockey team. They were struggling at the mid-year point, but as usual, Jerry York had them flying when it matters most. All they did at the Frozen Four was outscore their opponents by a 10-2 margin. Makes me believe even more that the coach at my alma mater - UNH - needs to be scrutizined a bit. Someone else agrees with me.

- And of course, it was Masters weekend. Not the most riveting tournament, but still a treat to watch. South African Trevor Immelman took advantage of Tiger's putting woes to win.