Saturday Morning Baseball

The traditionalists generally don't like Interleague Play. They believe that AL and NL teams should only face each other in the All Star Game and the World Series. I disagree. Interleague Play has been great for the game. Fans get to see teams they normally don't and so do the players. I'd rather see the Red Sox play the Mets or America's Team (Braves), than watch a game vs. an AL East team. Considering the Red Sox feast on NL teams, I'm all for Interleague Play and would like to see more of it.

My only gripe about Interleague Play (and the World Series) is the silly insistence of the NL to not use the DH when they are the home team. Pitchers who normally don't hit or run bases puts the AL teams at a competitive disadvantage. The Yankees lost Chien Ming Wang to a foot injury for the season last year when Wang was running the bases in Interleague Play.

If any MLB scheduling tweak should be done, it is the unbalanced schedule. I do not care for the unbalanced schedule of Major League Baseball at all. Games vs. the Yankees lose their luster when the Sox have to play them 19 times a year. Same with the rest of the AL East teams.

Wow, I hadn't seen Johan Santana pitch in a while, and I forgot how good he is! That changeup of his, mixed with a moving, exploding fastball makes for some difficult hitting. He mostly had it going on last night vs. the Red Sox.

That's the second game this year where Julio Lugo's defense cost the Red Sox a game. He needed to turn that double play in the 4th inning. Instead of moving his feet and getting a good throw off, Julio left his foot on the second base bag and got nothing on the throw that would've gotten the Sox out of the inning. The Mets proceeded to get two hits, and took a 4-1 lead.

Julio's not alone. Nick Green's defense at SS has been shaky, too. Green's error late in a game last week was the main factor in a Sox loss. The defense at SS is killing this team. It's such a crucial defensive position. Isn't Omar Vizquel available? I don't care if he's 42, he'll make the plays.

Daisuke Matsuzaka looked okay vs. the Mets. His velocity was there and he was mostly throwing strikes. He'll be fine.

Count me as loving the addition of Dennis Eckersley to the Sox broadcast booth in place of Jerry Remy. Eck is FAR better than Remy. It's not even close. Eck's analysis, particularly about pitching, is very informative and I'm constantly learning new things when he speaks. Remy rarely tells me anything I don't already know. Also, Eck is hilarious. I love the slang he uses (cheese = fastball, boards = The Wall). His description of his batting skills during last night's game had me cracking up.