Red Sox v. Rays: A Deeper Look

By: Nathan Archambault

APRIL 7, 2009 - On Tuesday afternoon, the Red Sox welcomed the Tampa Bay (formerly Devil) Rays into Fenway to open the 2009 season. Here’s a detailed account of what went down.

4:06  The first pitch is at 4:06pm, a tribute to Ted Williams, the last player to hit over .400. But you knew that.

4:07 Beckett opens the game with his first strike out of the year. Beckett has a long history of following up a shitty season with a good one and vice versa, so I’m predicting big things from the Big Texan this year.

4:12  Shields, at 27, is the oldest member of the Rays rotation.they’re so young and deep, they traded 25-year-old SP Edwin Jackson away for OF Matt Joyce during the off-season.

4:15  Dustin Pedroia cranks a high fly ball into the Monster Seats. Shields obviously hasn’t seen that commercial for that video game MLB The Show ‘09 or else he’d know Dustin’s weakness is high inside heat.

4:22  Old Man Mike Lowell scoots his Rascal up to the plate. Mike Lowell is as old as all the Rays starting pitchers combined. He pops up to the catcher, something Sox fans will see about once a game this year.

4:27  Ex-Sox fan favorite Gabe Kapler is now a member of the Rays bench.

4:51  They cut to a shot of first pitch-thrower Ted Kennedy, who had two attempts to throw out the first pitch. Personally, I don’t think people his age should be throwing anything asides from angry fits.

4:53  The guy who threw his shoe at president bush will serve one year in jail. Only one year? Definitely worth it.

4:57  The ump adds a ball to the count because Shields was “going to his mouth.” I feel like there must be a less disgusting way to describe that.

4:59  Jason Bay gets fooled by a pitch out of the strike zone. I feel like Bay hasn’t been with the Sox very long, but I’ve seen him “fooled on a pitch out of the strike zone” at least once per at-bat. Just to spite me, he slaps a single into right. Youk scores and the Sox lead it 3-1.

5:01  Lowell does that weird leaning-back-at-the-waist thing he does sometimes after taking a pitch. As if he just rose out of the rocking chair and his back was sore. He’s probably just snapping a few vertebrae back into place.

5:01  On the next pitch, Lowell flails at the ball and the wind kindly carries it halfway up the Monster. Bay scores from first and it’s 4-1. Lowell stops at second to realign his vertebrae again.

5:02  Lowrie is jammed, but loops a single into left. They’re all falling for the Sox today. Lowell pulls his walker up to third, unable to score from 2nd.

5:04  Varitek hits one a hard as he can, and the ball softly falls into the hands of the right fielder to end the inning.

5:06  Tampa Bay was strong last year and they’re stronger this year. Garza should improve, as should Even Longoria. Crawford should jump back from a down season. Pat Burrell will do whatever it is Pat Burrell does. It’s hard to imagine them being worse than last year unless they don’t have the hunger they had last year.

5:07  Pena has had two strong seasons with the Rays but I still don’t trust him. I can’t picture him having another half-decent season. Too many Ks, too much emphasis on the home run.

5:09  Former Tiger Matt Joyce comes up to the plate. With Detroit involved, I can only assume Joyce is going to have a break-out season and Jackson will end up injured.

5:11 I don’t think I could watch that new Wolverine movie after seeing Hugh Jackman sing, dance and sweat his way through the Oscars. Jackman, Vaudeville died years ago, along with the cotton gin and the Model T. Move on.

5:12  Still disappointed that the NCAA Men’s Championship game last night. Aren’t the refs paid to keep it close?

5:14  NESN shows Pedroia’s numbers from last year and on paper they really don’t look very impressive. 17 homers and 83 RBI to go with a high .326 batting average. But he was the guy the Sox wanted up and he came through every time. He’s a pesky little line-drive hitting machine.

5:15  Don Orsillo reminds me that Pedroia, Youk and Lester all signed long-term extensions over the winter. I’m not worried that Papelbon didn’t. He has the perfect amount of screws loose to be a frightening closer.

5:30 This is weird and unfortunate. Youk gets thrown out at third base on a Bay liner to left. Granted, he has to hold up to see if the ball would be caught, and Crawford trapped. But the worst part? Bay doesn’t get credit for a hit. It’s just a force-out.

5:36  NESN goes over some Fenway changes. New right field roof deck area with it’s own drink rail. Some new concession stands and more standing room. Added 200 seats. New grandstand seats. Seats with cup-holders. At least drinking at the new and improved Fenway should be easier.

5:44 Pena strikes out for the third time today. He looks around nervously, wondering if any one else has noticed he’s not that good.

5:51 James Shields get his first strikeout since the first batter of the game, followed by Varitek curling a liner around the Pesky Pole. Varitek stands in the batter’s box until it lands in the stands, assuming there’s no way he just hit an opening day home run.

5:58 Beckett has 8 Ks to go with 2 hits and 3 walks through 6 innings on about 80 pitches. He’s throwing 96 regularly.

6:00  So Gary Sheffield is now a Met. Omar Minaya must have been looking at his team and thought: “You know what…we’ve got way too much team chemistry. Who can we bring in here to shake things up?”

6:01  Beckett isn’t wearing that huge beaded necklace that’s usually draping from his beck like some sort of hemp noose. Either it’s hidden under his shirt or he’s finally given up on the hippie lifestyle.

6:02  Beckett gets his 10th K to end the 7th, most likely his last pitch of the night.  He’s looking good after 93 pitches, still throwing 96. And the Rays are looking like it’s 2007 again.

6:03  7th inning stretch. Keith Lockhart, the conductor for God Bless America, is wearing a #10 Red Sox jersey with his name on it. Classical music just got a little dorkier.

6:11 A ball in the dirt bounces away from Rays C Dioner Navarro and Youk scurries towards second, making it only due to a bad throw. The man’s not fast, but he’s got hustle. That, and one thick-ass goatee.

6:12  Remy kindly explains to me why the Rays continue to employ the shift  for Drew. When he hits the ball on the ground, he pulls it, when he hits it in the air, he can spray it to all fields. So there is a reason.

6:13  A commercial for Bermuda Tourism comes on and I think “that’s the type of place a Bostonian would want to travel.” Kind of like a tropical Martha’s Vineyard.

6:14 Okajima begins the process of blowing Beckett’s awesome start by hitting Bartlett squarely in the back.

6:18 Okajima to Iwamura. I just wanted to write that to see what it looked like.

6:19  After hitting the first batter he’s faced, Okajima walks the next. What is it about Okajima that scares me? Other than the fact his fastest pitch struggles to reach the mid-80s.

6:20  One last 76mph fastball from Okajima to get Crawford. Tito makes the call for Masterson. Can’t wait to see his awkward arm motion in action again.

6:23  A double steal by the Rays. Shh. Vatirek still hasn’t noticed. He simply throws that ball back to the picture and rearranges his dentures.

6:24  Desperate Housewife Evan Longoria slaps a single to right center, scoring both runners. I’m suddenly not very interested in seeing Masterson’s awkward arm motion.

6:25  Rays coach Joe Maddon really looks like he should be a football coach in a movie. Definitely not in real life. But he’s got movie football coach written all over him.

6:25  Pena strikes out for the 4th time. He’s going to have one long season.

6:26  Pat Burrell strikes me as someone who really likes banging ‘em off the left field wall.

6:32  Interesting travel note. The Sox make their final trip to the west coast by mid May.

6:35  Paps takes the mound. Best glare in the game.

6:41 The Sox win it 5-3, victory to Beckett, save to Papelbon, homers for Varitek and Pedroia. Fenway seems to be warming up for another season. Let’s play another one tomorrow.

Share This

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Share This Article

6 Comments

  1. nice. it was just like being there. and by there, i mean on your couch watching tv.

    and do the girls really go for kapler? really?

    Comment by fengypants on April 7, 2009

  2. Jerry Remy would be proud! I especially like what happened at 6:18.

    Comment by Jake on April 8, 2009

  3. Since 1950, there have been only 8 times that a player who has played at least 50% of his games throughout the course of the season at 2B who have scored 110+ runs hit 15+ HRs driven in at least 80 and batted over .320. (with a Walter-like tone from “The Big Lebowski”) 8 dude, 8.
    That’s pretty impressive if you ask me.
    I wish I could supply you that list, but I refuse to pay baseball-reference.com $30 for a year subscription.

    Added note* I forgot he had 20 steals last year as well. There have only been 4 people to do that.
    1. Joe Morgan 1976
    2. Craig Biggio 1998
    3. Roberto Alomar 2000, 2001
    4. Dustin Pedroia 2008

    Comment by Jameson on April 8, 2009

  4. You have to question the validity to Jameson’s comment above as far as Craig Biggio and Roberto Alomar are concerned… they achieved their feats during the height of the steroid era.

    Comment by Jake on April 8, 2009

  5. That’s my boy Nate Arch ya heard? He’s mad tall yo. Don Orsillo is a tool.

    Comment by Paul Boulanger on April 8, 2009

  6. [...] | Baseball Reflections…My Gabe Kapler T-Shirt Collection Is Growing | …On Being a Sports Girl…Red Sox v. Rays: A Deeper Look | NationalSportsReview.com…Jessica Biel Practicing Stripping for Her Role in Powder Blue, We Look at the Jessica Biels of [...]

    Pingback by Hot News » Gabe Kapler on April 10, 2009

Comment On This Article