Sox Opening Day Remarks

Ill start with the the number of things that I am happy about in this game. First off and most importantly SOX WIN. Great comeback in the late innings, and it was great to see the bullpen not only hold the deficit in place, but then Bobby comes in and nails it down.

I am also very happy with Thome's start. He was mashing the ball all day. If that continues the Sox will be incredibly dangerous through the middle of the lineup.

The next thing that I liked to see Getz used in a hit-and-run situation, and him being able to execute it to a tee (would have liked the ball on the ground, but we will take it).

Finally I was very happy with Getz and Fields on the defensive end. The play Fields made in the 5th with the bases loaded truely saved the game.

Now on to the things that I wasn't thrilled with. First off, we did not get a great Mark Buehrle. He was all over the srike zone and he was leaving a lot of pitches up. However to go 5 innings allowing just 2 runs without the good stuff is hopefully a sign of great things when he has his best stuff.

Next is getting runners in from 3rd with less than 2 outs. There were two key opportunities in the 2nd inning and then 1 more with Quentin in the 8th. Luckily Fields and Thome were there to save the day with some huge 2 out RBI. Can't rely on those to come through all year... guys on 3rd with less than 2 must score almost every time.

The next thing I was not thrilled about was the overall hitting performance by a number of guys in the lineup. Most importantly Carlos Quentin. Carlos had a number of pitches to hit today and he didn't make it happen. The most important situation for the Sox came in the 8th with Fields on 3rd with 1 out and Carlos at the plate. Last year this would have been a no brainer RBI and probably a big hit or even a HR, today, he struck out. Hopefully this is not something that will continue.

The other guys I was not thrilled with offensively were Wise, Pierzynski, and Alexei. All of them had some key AB's and were unable to come through. I'm not going to go crazy about this today because it's one game and it not a big deal at all because the Sox won. I trust Alexei and AJ to come around, but I'm a little concerned about Wise. He has got to get on base if this team wants to be successful. The top two hold the key to the Sox in 09. If Wise and Getz are hitting, the Sox lineup is a guantlet, those two at the top struggle suddenly it's not as hard to get through.