In the last-minute blockbuster deadline deal (and I mean “last-minute” quite literally, as in 3:59 PM) sending Jason Bay to Boston, we knew we were getting a more well-rounded player to take over for Manny Ramirez in left-field.  What we did not expect was a complete exhibition of Bay’s well-roundedness in one weekend.

Let’s ignore for a moment that the Red Sox were playing a floundering Oakland skeleton crew, and take Bay’s performance at face value.   He helped the team in just about every way possible during this three-game sweep.

• Towering extra-base hits.
• Patience at the plate.
• Running down short fly balls in left-field.
• Fluid and intelligent base running.
• Accurately throwing out a potential double at second base.

This is basically we hoped to see from Jason Bay, and we saw it all happen in one weekend.  The Sox now travel to Kansas City, where Bay will look to extend the honeymoon.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Manny Ramirez is the second coming of Zack Wheat, going 8 for 13 with 2 HRs in his opening weekend.  It’s good to see, and I’ll be pulling for the Manny and the Dodgers (also with Nomar Garciaparra and Derek Lowe) to make the playoffs this season.

On the wake of the most recent edition of the Lakers-Celtics NBA Finals and given the Dodgers’ personnel in LF, SS, and SP, a 2008 World Series featuring Boston and LA would be quite a story.