See the image above? Manny held that pose for a good two minutes before he realized that his shot was not going to be exiting the confines of the playing field. Watching Manny slide desperately into second base after crushing a ball to dead centerfield confirmed to me that this is not going to be a repeat of 2005. This team is full of energy and entertainment.
Before this game, did anyone outside the Boston area know who Brandon Moss was? Doubt it. It was the strangest way to open a season that I have ever witnessed. A day after J.D. Drew says he wants to prove to Boston fans that he's a gamer and he's not fragile, he pulls himself from opening day. Didn't he just hit a pair of homers a few days earlier? As far as I'm concerned, Drew is stuck in fan purgatory right now, with a decision to be determined with time.
Some may be disconcerted with the way that Matsuzaka pitched to begin the game, but you have to consider the enormous amount of pressure he had on his back. His first return to Japan since leaving there with a complete game and 14 Ks in his final start. Expectations from his native country were likely unrealistic and inflated. Matsuzaka is easily Japan's proudest son and prodigy. He somehow surpassed Ichiro in popularity, despite the lack of Cy Youngs or MVP awards ... then again, Ichiro didn't win a World Series in his first year of American ball and hasn't won one yet. Dice-K recovered well from his first two innings of erratic play and went on to strike out 6 in 5 innings, keeping it close enough that the bullpen could take over.
This game also saw the return of Keith Foulke to the Majors from his short retirement. I can only hope that should Foulke pitch in front of a Fenway crowd this season that he receive a standing ovation. Lest Red Sox fans forget that Foulke pretty much sacrificed his arm and remainder of his career for that 2004 World Series ring. He pitched 97 innings in 2004, including 14 of those in the postseason alone. During that memorable postseason, he put up a microscopic 0.64 ERA, allowing one run and striking out 19 batters. Show some respect Dirt Dog fans.
So back to Manny Ramirez. The guy picked up 4 RBIs on opening day. I'm sure in his office on the corner of Hell Street and Demon Way, recently hired Scott Boras had a gigantic sneer on his face. So the A's decided to walk Ortiz, who went 0-4 and looked uncomfortable all day, for the man who struck with a 2 RBI double a few innings earlier. This is not the same Manny as last season. This is contract year Manny, and if the Sox are smart, they'll exercise those two options for 2009 and 2010. After that, Manny will be 37 and likely on the decline and the Red Sox can either sign him to a one or two year contract, or he'll just hang it up. He never seemed all that interested in baseball anyways. He did win 1,000,000 yen (about $10,000) for his efforts in today's game though.
And as for why Manny may have been confused as to why his double wasn't a homer?:
“Maybe if I used my American bat that ball maybe would have gone,” he said. “I thought I hit it good. I couldn’t use my bat because it wasn’t legal. Thank God I got some Japanese wood that I could use.”
They must make wood different over in Japan. I think I'm going to like Contract-Year Manny.
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