The Green Uniform Game: Takeaways
If you came to this spring training ritual game hoping to get a glimpse of some of Boston’s new and expensive toys, you really couldn’t ask for a better day. The offseason front-office strategy centered around pitching and defense, and that certainly manifested itself in the annual St. Patty’s Day extravaganza.
- The guy on center stage was the newly acquired right-hander, John Lackey. Lackey has a certain goofball “Baby Huey” demeanor about him when he’s giving interviews and such. But when he steps onto the mound, that image is flipped upside down. He appears to be a very intelligent, surgical type of pitcher. Despite having the body of an NFL tight end, Lackey does not rely on gas to overpower hitters. Instead, he uses pinpoint command and benefits greatly from having a good defense behind him. He’s not the type of guy who will walk someone in a key spot (in fact, he has not walked anyone this spring). To beat him, a hitter will need to be aggressive.
- Adrian Beltre demonstrated the reason why the Sox acquired him, by throwing out old friend Alex Cora on an awkward ball that ricocheted off of Lackey’s ankle (he’s fine). Beltre swooped in, barehanded the ball, and submarined a perfect throw to Youkilis for the out.
- New SS Marco Scutaro, a guy from whom the Sox hope to get steady defensive play along with some decent offensive contributions (something they have not had from a shortstop since 2004), turned a nice double play with Dustin Pedroia in the first inning, earning an appreciative fist-pump from Lackey.
Other notes:
- Fans hoping to wish farewell to (or heckle?) Jason Bay were disappointed, as the All-Star outfielder was held out of action. I was especially bummed-out, since I had my soapbox all ready for the fans in attendance who planned on booing him. It’s a rare occasion where I get to display righteous indignation. How dare the Mets take that away from me.
- Lots of Mets fans in attendance in Fort Myers yesterday, and they were definitely enjoying their team’s “victory”. Might as well savor those wins now. Once April arrives, the fun is over in Queens.
- I caught a foul ball off of the bat of Gary Matthews Jr., and immediately I start getting yelled at from the surrounding blue-hairs: “Give it to a kiiiiiid! Give it to a kiiiiid!” What assholes. Listen you miserable geezers, I am a kid. I will appreciate this ball 100x more than some drooling toddler. Regardless, not wanting to be descended upon by an army of melanoma zombies, I gave the ball to the nearest 3-year-old. Fortunately, his mom (a MILF) gave it back.
- My one thought regarding Ron Washington’s cocaine use: so what? A) He’s not a player, and B) It isn’t a performance enhancing drug. I don’t remember anywhere near this type of backlash when the news of Tony LaRussa’s DUI broke. Washington’s “crime” is victimless. If the Rangers are cool with it, let’s all move on. Besides, Washington was a player in the early 80’s. Those guys were pretty much contractually obligated to snort as much blow as their nostrils could handle.
- Daisuke Matsuzaka could see some game action on Sunday.
Apology Accepted, Admiral Piett – During the flight down here, I managed to snap a photo of a cloud that looked suspeciously like an Imperial Star Destroyer. Luckily, it did not open fire on our aircraft (an Airbus a320, severely outgunned).
A New First Baseman – Mike Lowell, having recently returned from an injury, was playing a position he has not one played in a MLB regular season game: 1B. From what I could tell, there didn’t seem to be very much awkwardness for him at the position.
We’ve all heard the rumors regarding his imminent transition from the field into the TV studio, and the writing has been on the wall for the injury-plagued player for quite some time. But, the words still pack a bit of a punch when you actually see them in print.


