Eagle-Tribune Blogs: Burt Talks Sports

Here are some rambling thoughts about the opener:
1. It appears the players are having a great time, especially during the pregame, which Jerry Remy called one of the best “pregame” experiences he has ever seen.
2. While it was only one game, Dice-K looked as bad and as good as he looked a year ago.
Here’s a look at his two personalities:
The bad Dice K: He still has problems locating pitches. Most of his problems are not related to him being whacked around, but the fact he “nibbles” too much. Homeplate umpire Rick Reed did not give Dice-K many close pitches, especially with two strikes in his 5-walk outing.
The good Dice K: When he settled down, he was a Cy Young Award candidate. His changeup was awesome, bailing him out a few times. He retired 10 of the last 11 batters he faced. He finished with six K’s and allowed only two hits.
3. Manny Ramirez appears to be in a groove, which is not normal for him this early in the season.
While his homerun trot wasn’t a pretty sight, his calm in his two pressure at bats were a thing of beauty. Walking David Ortiz to face Manny might not happen as much as it has happened in recent years if this continues.
4. Brandon Moss is supposed to be here taking up space and time while injuries take care of themselves. But a game-tying, really game-saving ninth inning homer coupled with his RBI double to give the Sox their first lead in sixth inning may hold some water around here.
Moss got only 18 at bats last September in a fill-in role. The guess here is J.D. Drew’s back will feel a lot better tonight.
5. The Red Sox bullpen was by no means perfect, but it did the job. Kyle Snyder gave up the 2-run homer in the sixth, which ended any hopes of Dice-K stealing the win, but Javier Lopez, Bryan Corey and Hideki Okajima were admirable in holding the fort before Jonathan Papelbon’s shaky finish. Papelbon was around 93 mph on his fastball, which isn’t near his unhittable area of 96 mph, but with a two-run lead he was able to do some testing.
6. A’s Emil Brown will probably hear about his being caught in a rundown after his double scored the fifth run in the 10th inning. As for people wondering what he was thinking, the guess here is he thought the Sox were trying to throw out the runner at home and him getting to third with one out would greatly increase the chances of tying the game. The fact that a single immediately followed his being tagged out in a rundown makes it an even bigger issue.
7. Every Red Sox starter reached base except Jason Varitek, who struck out three times. The only other starter not to have a hit was David Ortiz, who didn’t look comfortable today.
8. The Red Sox leadoff spot will be an interesting topic. Dustin Pedroia led off with Kevin Youkilis at the second spot. Is that the way the Red Sox will go for an extended stretch? That probably depends on Ellsbury, who is more suited for the leadoff spot. The only question would be where does Youkilis go because Pedroia would probably go to second spot.
9. The run allowed by Papelbon was the first run he has allowed in the first month of any season he has been the closer.
10. Jack Cust’s four Ks yesterday are not necessarily the exception. Cust had two four strikeout games last September and led the majors in strikeouts per at bats (164 in 395 at bats). Dice-K struck him out with the bases loaded in the second inning, getting out of that jam without allowing a run.

If you have more thoughts send them my way …

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