It’s a weird place to start a scorecard tour, but look at the notes section in the lower left. It really tells you all you need to know about the game. “Home Opener/Ring Ceremony.” The rest of the game is secondary to the ceremony that took place beforehand. To the right of the notes section, it gets even better. The weather is listed as “Sunny, 60 degrees.” So, it was a beautiful day in the bleachers to watch a game and a ceremony.
Leading off the game is the Rookie of the Year, Dustin Pedroia. It was great to be able to cheer Pedey right away for all his accomplishments. It looks like he didn’t want to repeat his slow start of the year before. He was able to grab two quick hits in this game. It’s interesting, though, to see who wasn’t leading off. Not only wasn’t Jacoby Ellsbury in the lead-off spot, he wasn’t even in the starting line-up. Even after he almost won the World Series MVP, Coco Crisp had the starting role in the home opener.
Some other things that stand out? Manny Ramirez had a triple. Yes, he must have had his wheels going right from the start. He even managed to score on an error. Manny used his speed and hustle to create a run. Imagine that. Julio Lugo also had a heck of a game. Really. Julio Lugo. Right there at the bottom, two for four, with two runs scored. Might have been his best game in a Sox uniform. I also love Daisuke Matsuzaka’s line. Four his and four walks in almost seven innings. But, he struck out 7, and didn’t give up a run so he got the win. If that’s not classic Dice-K, I don’t know what it. Baserunners all over the place, but enough strikeouts to stay out of trouble. He had 17 more games just like that one in ’08.
To top it all off, the Sox won the game in shutout fashion. Delcarmen and Okajima pitched great to close out the win. Youkilis drove in two runs, and scored a third. It was pretty much the same line-up that won the championship only months before. They looked well on their way to another great season.
And the scorecard shows how it happened.
Weather-wise, it WAS a beautiful day IF you were in the sun. I know because I remember walking through the sunshine on my way up to the ARCTIC grandstand that day.....
ReplyDelete(hard to pick where you want to sit for Opening Day in general, let alone a ring ceremony one, as you know)
My video stills from that day: http://letsgosox.blogspot.com/2008/04/opening-day-ring-ceremony-2008.html
That's why you should always sit in...wait for it...Section 36!
ReplyDeleteI love watching the crowd leave after those early April games. the bleacher crowd is sunburnt in their shorts and t-shirts. The grandstand is dressed like they're ready for a snowball fight.