BIG WHINY PAPI

When asked about his 0 for 7 start of the 2009 season, David Ortiz threw a hissy fit:

"(Expletive) happens. Then you guys talk (expletive). Two (expletive) games already. (Expletive) are going crazy. What’s up with that, man? (Expletive). There’s (expletive) 160 games left. Y’all (expletive) go ahead and hit for me."

The guy hit .238 last year, despite his 28 homeruns. He can't play the field and is paid $13 million to hit. Which he hasn't done this season, and barely did last season.

Screw David Ortiz. Get paid millions of dollars, get worshiped by millions of fans, get caught cheating, get away with it, then get pissed when reporters interrogate you about sucking. Now go get some Midol, Papi.

And even now, he'll be coddled by the fan base and most reporters. In John Tomase's Ortiz column, he refers to Papi as "embattled." Everyone seems worried that Ortiz is putting himself under stress to excel, as if his hitting struggles are just mental.

To be blunt, maybe he just sucks when he's not cheating. His bat seems slow and erratic, almost out of control, as if he lacked the strength to quickly punch it through the zone, precisely striking the ball with the sweet spot.

SEIDENBERG OUT 8 WEEKS

Dennis Seidenberg, who had been averaging 23 minutes of ice time with the Bruins, needed surgery to repair torn ligaments in his wrist. He'll be out for 8 weeks, which means he'll miss the opening round of the playoffs. If the Bruins are fortunate enough to advance beyond that, they'll still have to wait several weeks for Seidenberg.

Mark Stuart also had surgery over the weekend, but will only miss 2 weeks.

Zdeno Chara broke his nose in Saturday's overtime loss, but won't miss any time. Hockey.

Source:
ESPN

SCOREBOARD WATCHING

It was a good night for the Bruins, and they didn't even have to play. That's probably what made it so good. The Sabres throttled the Rangers 5-2, the Thrashers lost (eliminating them from the playoffs), and the Canadiens lost in overtime. Here's what the standings look like:

Team - Games Remaining - Points
6. Montreal - 2 - 87 points
7. Philadelphia - 2 - 86 points
8. BOSTON - 3 - 85 points
-------------------------
9. NY Rangers - 3 - 82 points

The Rangers host the Maple Leafs tonight, and I think everyone in Boston is hoping Phil Kessel scores 4 or 5 goals. If the Rangers lose in regulation, the Bruins can clinch a playoff spot with just 1 point on Thursday.

BACK TO REALITY

Apart from Victor Martinez's heroics, not much went right for the Sox last night. All off-season, we've heard the mantra of "run prevention" from the Red Sox Front Office. And quite simply, the Sox failed to prevent runs last night.

It started with Lester, who had unbelievably strong then unbelievably weak innings. I'm not going to worry too much about him, though. He had a forgettable start to his '09 season (4-5, 5.65 ERA in April and May).

But it continued, with Okajima, Atchison, and Scutaro.

As important as the Sox' Front Office has publicly declared "run prevention" to be, they seem to have forgotten that a deep bullpen can prevent many more runs than a fleet-footed center-fielder, or a Gold Glove 3rd baseman. Red Sox Nation, prepare yourselves for many more games blown by middle relievers.

And when the Sox signed Scutaro, for some reason everyone in Boston thought he was a Gold Glove winner or something. He's a decent defensive short-stop, but he's no Alex Gonzalez or Pokey Reese. He's not even Rey Sanchez.

I know it's early, but how long should the Sox stick with Ortiz? I think it's unwise to hit him 5th in the order, and at the very least he should be moved down a few spots. He was 0 for 4 last night, 0 for 2 with runners in scoring position. As a team, the Sox went 1 for 12 with RISP.

Rubber game tonight, Andy Pettitte vs. John Lackey.

Source:
ESPN

Photo Credit:
Elsa/Getty Images

SCOREBOARD WATCHING

The Bruins aren't playing tonight, but there four important games for them tonight. All of them are at 7. Rangers @ Sabres, Canadiens @ Islanders, Flyers @ Maple Leafs, Devils @ Thrashers.

In theory, the Bruins could still be in 7th and in a great position to make the playoffs. They'd only need 3 points to clinch a postseason berth. But that's only if the Rangers lose in regulation.

Also in theory, the Bruins could fall to 8th, and have only a 1 point cushion over those same Rangers.

The Rangers also play Wednesday night, so it's possible that the Bruins could fall to 9th before they play again on Thursday night. But they'd also have a game in hand.

So, yeah, this will be a stressful week for the Bruins and their fans.

SOX EXTEND BECKETT TO 2014

Sox fans won't have to worry about the bulk of their rotation for a few years now, as the team and Beckett concluded a 4 year extension. The signing will keep Beckett in a Sox uniform until 2014. The Sox have John Lackey and Beckett under contract until 2014, Jon Lester until 2013 (with a $13M option for 2014), and Daisuke Matsuzaka until 2013.

Beckett's deal is worth about $68 million, which averages to $17 million a season. That's not cheap, but the length of the deal is excellent. If Beckett excels, then the Sox have gotten their money's worth. If not, the deal is short enough to be tolerated.

I still hesitate to call Beckett an "Ace." His career's been too up-and-down for that. But you're not going to find pitchers of his calibre for less money than this deal. And had the Sox, with a withered offense, not retained Beckett, they'd be screwed in 2011. There will be no free agent pitchers of his stature, and the free agent hitters won't be very impressive either. The Sox need to win with pitching.

Source:
NY Times

NEVER BEEN HAPPIER WITH AN OT LOSS

Very few teams have gone down to Washington and left with any points. Only 16 times this season have the Caps allowed a visitor to get any points. Their visiting opponents have tallied a grand total of 26 points in 39 games (10-23-6 record). What I'm trying to demonstrate is that an OT loss in Washington is a good result.

Holding Washington to 2 regulation goals and 3 total is also a noteworthy achievement. The Caps average 3.85 goals per game. And remember the Bruins did this without Seidenberg and Stuart.

Apart from a few miscues, the B's played an excellent game, especially in their defensive zone. Dennis Wideman had his best outing of the season, scoring a goal and kick-starting the play that resulted in another.

But the Bruins' deficiencies were also made apparent in this game. Michael Ryder had a golden opportunity to score against Spaz Theodore, who'd gone horizontal. But Ryder utterly failed to elevate the puck into the 12 foot square hole in front of him.

Brooks Laich's game-winning goal in OT made me think about the Bruins' forwards. The puck hit Laich's chest, fell at his feet, and he reacted to it in half a heartbeat. Apart from Recchi, none of the Bruins are capable of this kind of quickness and awareness.

The Bruins have a few days of scoreboard watching before they host Buffalo on Thursday. Here's what the standings look like today:

Team - Games Remaining - Points
6. Montreal - 3 - 86 points
7. BOSTON - 3 - 85 points
8. Philadelphia - 3 - 84 points
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9. NY Rangers - 4 - 82 points
10. Atlanta - 3 - 81 points

Source:
ESPN

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Nick Wass

162-0!

It's hard not to get excited about a win like last night's. With the unceremonious way the '09 season ended, with the long winter, with all the "bridge" talk, with the nice weather in Boston the past few days (after 40 days of rain), with Pedro throwing the first pitch, it was just an amazing night for baseball in Boston.

It was an excellent victory, worthy of celebration, but you have to come down to Earth when you realize that only 0.6% of the season is in the books, 99.4% to go.

Both Beckett and Sabathia struggled last April, so neither team should fret that their Ace is shaky. Becks had a 7.22 ERA last April, Sabathia's was 4.73. They're both slow starters. So it's not time to worry about Beckett, Sox fans. And it's not time to glorify the offense for wearing down Sabathia, or the hapless Yankee middle-relief. Chan Ho Park? Seriously?

The Sox middle-relief situation isn't much better.

But the middle of the lineup can be quite juicy. Pedroia, V-Mart, and Youk combined for half the Sox hits (6), scored 6 of the Sox runs, and knocked in 5 themselves.

Cameron and Scutaro's contributions were key, though. But don't expect that very often. There's something unnerving about the fate of this offense depending on Mike Cameron, Marco Scutaro, and Adrian Beltre.

The Man of the Game is Kevin Youkilis, who went 3 for 4 with a pair of doubles, a triple, 2 RBI, and 3 runs scored. He put the Sox ahead with his 2 run triple in the 6th, then scored the go-ahead run in the 7th.

Sox/Yanks Tuesday night, AJ Burnett vs. Jon Lester

Source:
ESPN