All Star Tuesday 2007

San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge gleaming in the background, streetcars and baseball fans mingling with everyday passersby. That is the setting for the 2007 All Star game. The Red Sox are well represented, with Big Papi starting and batting third in the AL line-up. Red Sox reserves are Manny, once again, a deserving Mike Lowell, and pitchers Josh Beckett, Jonathon Papelbon and the Darkman himself, our Okie Doke, Hideki Okajima. Who's missing? Kevin Youkilis, but with the game being in an NL park, there is no DH, hence David Ortiz was elected by the fans to start at first base. Fair enough, I guess, until the American and National Leagues agree on the matter. Believe me, within 5 years there will once again be one, and one only, standard. At least that's my opinion. It's all I have to give you.

There was a very interesting Q & A session with our closer Paps in today's Herald, and I linked it when you click on the title of this post. Here's a taste........

Q: "If Delcarmen continues to emerge, and Okajima continues along his same path, will you have that seventh-, eighth-, ninth-inning bullpen invincibility that so many teams crave, like the Yankees once had?

A: “I think so. I think our goal is to get there, and be that bullpen that when the starter leaves, it’s our game, and the game should be over. I think that’s what we all envision and would love to have. I think we’re close. But we’re not there yet. We still have work to do, and we all have to keep doing what we’re supposed to do.”

Peter here, and the bullpen has certainly been a huge reason for our first place first half. However, the club has been shown to be fallible lately, lately meaning the last five weeks, and we all have to hope things will be corrected. We also need a healthy Curt Schilling back in the rotation and more consistant hitting throughout the lineup. If not, and the club continues their "win one lose one" pace, someone is going to catch us. Is it time for the panic button? NOT BY A LONG SHOT. No hair pulling, no fingernail gnashing.......you see, they're not needed. A three week hot streak could make the other AL East teams choke on our dust, coughing and sputtering, nearly helpless. But it will take a few things for such a streak to take place. And number one on that list is a little more lumber. Bunches of base hits can cure so many ills, and as you'll read when you click on this post's title, the bullpen is confident and full of talented pitchers ready to take over from inning seven on. So from starters to the 'pen, we're good and going to get better with Schill's return. As for the hitting, we'll have to wait and see.

So enjoy the All Star game tonight, and remember, the winning league will be the home team in the World Series. And that's big. Thanks for reading, and click on that title.