Getting up early did me no good this morning, and I wound up sick in bed listening to the end of the game. So, in the interests of my health, I’ll be tuning in a bit late on this one. What ever made me think it would be exciting to wake up at 4 a.m.?
One win down, 161 to go. ;-)
Comment away!
45 comments… add one
back from the bar and ready for baseball.
Here we go again!!!
Today was a little harder than yesterday, not going to lie.
the fact that this is an awfully slow moving game ain’t helping anything either. i think every count thus far has run 3-2 with at least two visits to the mound per half inning.
lester pitch count at 40 pitches through 2. we’ll be lucky to get 5 from him tonite.
both crisp and lugo make harden go to a full count. crisp k’s looking and lugo walks.
lugo steals second. youk follows with a walk. ortiz up with ducks on the pond and 2 down.
in his first 7 at bats this season ortiz has popped up a mile high 5 times, walked once, and lined to first once. trying to do a little too much.
Just a question, but what would be the reaction at Fenway if some kid came out to throw the first ball dressed in the other team’s colors? Of course it’s not a `real’ home game for the A’s, but officially they are the home team.
I’ve got to say I’m a little bit shocked that the Sox would buy into such an insulting stunt. Francona struck me at press conferences here as having more class than that.
Huh Jim? I’m confused, do you really think these decisions were made by the Red Sox?
Apparently Gary Thorne kept confusing Giambi and Canseco. He was talking about *Giambi’s* new book and wondered how the Yankees were going to handle it, and how it would affect the throws across the diamond. Good job, Gary.
wow. that is pretty funny, andrew. why weren’t the production crew whispering into the guy’s ear?
i guess everybody’s still a little rusty, but that is a pretty big blunder.
Lockland, I don’t know who made the decision, but the kid walked out onto the field from the Sox dugout in a freshly autographed Matsuzaka uniform shirt. It’s difficult to understand why nobody in that dugout stopped it.
Anyway, 5-1 A’s; karma’s a bitch, ain’t it.
What the hell?
i blame alex rodriguez, myself.
I’ve been interested about the fact that this is an A’s home game, but they play “Sweet Caroline” and seemingly do the raucous crowd-pumping music whenever either team scores. I’d be pretty mad as an A’s fan, but “karma’s a bitch” seems like an extreme view of things.
Unless Rich Harden’s terrific performance was really just karma, and not the fact that he’s an excellent pitcher. An odd interpretation of events, in my opinion.
Rich Harden is a terrific pitcher, yes. However, the fact that his arm didn’t fly off or he didn’t pull something while throwing his first pitch – that’s karma, without a doubt.
I live amongst A’s fans (taking my son to the 4/1 Oakland opener) and I can guarantee you no one is upset about a kid wearing a Dice-K jersey to throw out the first ball. Whenever I go to an A’s game, half the crowd is wearing the other team’s jersey – sometimes folks are wearing jerseys for teams that aren’t even playing. I once apologized to a grizzled old guy wearing an A’s hat during a game against the Sox when I had been a tad enthusiastic and he said, “You bought your ticket, you can cheer for whoever you want to.”
I know I wasn’t on here during the game this morning, but I said a silent “God bless Coco!” when he doubled down the right-field line. Just wanted to let you know, RBF.
Rootbeerfloat, I have no trouble with anything fans want to wear, and by the way I saw people at the Dome in teams & tees for Yankees, Mets, Phillies, Rangers, Mariners, etc., and more power and joy to them all.
The first-pitch isn’t a fan deal (especially here, believe me), however; it’s part of the opening formalities of the game.
Again, I just wonder what the reaction would be in Fenway if the shoe was on the other foot, if let’s say some yet-to-show-any-real-accomplishment kid came out in an A-Rod jersey to toss the first pitch. Respectful applause? Yeah, fershure, fershure.
Paul, I thought playing Sweet Caroline was a little tacky myself, but that’s more a fan thing so it didn’t particularly grate. (And I’ve always been amused anyway that you guys went to a New Yorker to get your song.)
Still, you think `karma’ is harsh? OK, I’ll retract.
Payback’s a bitch. That work better for you?
Jim, do you seriously think the A’s players really cared much about who threw out the first pitch? I’m pretty sure they were busy getting ready for, you know, the game.
Still not sure that Rich Harden’s driving force in pitching today’s game was as payback for a kid wearing a Dice-K jersey, throwing out the first pitch.
And, yes, the A’s are technically the home team because a scheduled four-game series in Oakland was carved up for this trip, but the game was not played in Oakland’s home ballpark, where the A’s have sole control over who throws the first pitch, what songs are played, etc. If such a thing did take place in the A’s home ballpark, the only people the Oakland players and fans should be pissed off at would be the A’s front office. In this case, I’m sure it’s MLB organizers making these choices. I just don’t see why a kid wearing a Dice-K jersey in Japan when he throws out the first pitch is worth getting huffy over.
The important thing to remember is that while the A’s are technically the home team, it’s clear the Red Sox were in reality the home team, and certainly two of their big-name players were literally playing at home. It’s an understandable decision, to my mind, and certainly not one worth any sort of karma or payback.
Japan isn’t Boston though. In either case, don’t feed the troll!
Everyone, if I’m off-base here please let me know. If a first-pitch honoree ever showed up at Safeco in an Angeles jersey, or at Tropicana wearing a Cal Ripkin shirt, or at Wrigley in Dodger blue — well, then fine. I was stupid to think there was anything insulting about this, and I throw myself on the mercy of the court.
It’s just something that struck me as a needless insult.
You’re not off-base on that assumption. You’re off-base in equating the Tokyo Dome with McAfee Coliseum.
Paul, I agree entirely. The Sox were obviously the home team. So why not just make that formal? Then there’s no problem.
Atheose, so you won’t be commenting on team spirit, or motivation, or how “they really wanted this one” during the next 161 games, right?
But my thanks to you guys. I think you’ve certainly answered my original question.
Rich Harden fantasy basbeall owners, rejoice! Seriously, though, I grabbed him late in my draft this year, anticipating a bounceback, and thought he was a high-reward steal. Here’s hoping he has 25 or so more starts like that this year.
jim moved to Tokyo?
BTW, my earlier comment about karmic payback was tongue-in-cheek. Just in case that wasn’t completely clear…
Boy, it’s nice to have baseball back!
Yankeemonkey, I thought it was arm-in-stands.
Brad, I think I’m a different Jim.
And it is damn good to have baseball again!
Indeed it is, Jim. Indeed it is.
The Red Sox had some interest last season in trading for Harden. I think that would have been a decent move, but I think I remember that Beane was asking too much.
Atheose, so you won’t be commenting on team spirit, or motivation, or how “they really wanted this one” during the next 161 games, right?
Jim, I wasn’t saying that players don’t have any any emotion or team spirit, but for you to say that Rich Harden played well because the kid who threw out the first pitch was wearing a Red Sox jersey is just silly. I think you’re the only one putting any stock into the notion that it upset the Athletics at all.
But I do share your sentiment that it’s great to have baseball back again!
My objection to Jim is that he originally blamed the Red Sox organization and even Tito for some of these things. That’s absurd. There is no chance the Red Sox decided who would throw out the first pitch, or what they would be wearing, and they certainly didn’t have the power to stop it. My god.
In other news…
Harden pitched his ass off today.
I also got a huge kick out of the Japanese Manny-Love, my god, the fans were head over heels for Manny.
I’ve always been amused anyway that you guys went to a New Yorker to get your song
Then again, it was inspired by a Kennedy…
Lockland, the kid walked out of the Sox dugout; he’d been there for a while, plenty of time for someone to say “That’s not appropriate.”
I was surprised Francona didn’t stop it, seems out-of-character for someone who obviously respects the game.
I didn’t accuse the Sox of organizing it, I just asked how you fans would react if the same thing was done to the Sox at Fenway. And it was Paul who brought up the music, not me.
Manny’s been Big in Japan since he first came over on a post-season tour years ago.
Atheose, I don’t know if that inspired Harden or the rest of the A’s or not, but I’d say it’s kind of silly of you to declare flatly that it didn’t (unless you were in the dugout listening to them talking). I think it could have; I don’t claim it did.
He certainly pitched well.
So let me get this straight, you wanted the Red Sox to tell a little kid who is about to throw out the first pitch of a MLB game in the Tokyo Dome that he can’t because it might upset the A’s?
Lock – maybe they could have told the kid, “Well, you can throw the first pitch out but give us back that Dice-K jersey and stop talking to your heroes Oki and Dice-K. Get yourself over to the other dugout – I think there’s some catcher with a Japanese sounding name you could talk to.”
Ath – Good to hear… When Coco hit that double, I was thinking, “Where the hell is Atheose?”
Jim, you said that Harden pitched well today because of a kid wearing a Red Sox jersey. This is HUGELY dismissive of the amount of hard work and training that Harden has gone through to be ready for the regular season. You’re taking away a lot of credit which belongs to Harden, the trainers and the coaches and placing it somewhere it is not deserved.
To say that the guy who threw out the first pitch had anything to do with the outcome of the game is insulting to the players themselves. Under your logic the A’s would not have played well if he had been wearing an Oakland jersey, and that, frankly, is laughable.
Don’t feed the troll! Just ignore him.
The logic is just mind-boggling. I bet the Red Sox didn’t even think about whether it would ever be appropriate to have a kid with a Dice-K shirt throw out the first pitch. You know why? Because no one flippin’ cares, let alone Rich Harden, who was pretty busy warming up in the bullpen for his start and probably didn’t even notice what the kid was wearing.
This was Tokyo, not Oakland. It’s not even worth the discussion we’ve had, let alone continuing it any further.
i’m hearing some insider reports that the kid who threw out the first pitch was originally wearing a shirt that said “Capre Drinkin'” with two naked chicks on it. i guess dice-k found the shirt offensive and took off his on jersey to cover the kid up. so, not only should the sox be lauded, but the A’s should be embarrassed for not looking into the background of this surly little kid. karmas kinda funny sometimes.
If the A’s have anything to be mad about, how about this?
The Sox got the home dugout and clubhouse!
http://www.beloblog.com/ProJo_Blogs/SoxBlog/archives/2008/03/really_early_no_1.html
Oh man, that’s awful, what a kick in the nuts. I still maintain the the Japanese hosts (corporations) most likely made all these decisions and the teams, regardless of how they felt on either side, had no choice in the matter and no place as guests to complain.
Just for the record: My use of `kid’ was relative; this is an 18-year-old pro golfer who’s become one of Japan’s biggest media celebs in the past two years, during which you’d think he would’ve learned how to act.
But as you’ve all circled the wagons, I’ll surrender. It was a very classy act, showed true character. Be proud.
“But as you’ve all circled the wagons, I’ll surrender. It was a very classy act, showed true character. Be proud.”
Are you kidding? How can you possibly think that either team had any say in these proceedings?