Tokyo Bound!

It seems that Spring Training has passed quickly this year. After the Toronto game in Florida today (Wednesday), the Red Sox will begin their seventeen hour trip to the Far East. I wish them a safe flight...the Sox players will try to stay awake the entire trip to help with their sleep cycles in a completely different time zone. What a difference a twelve (or is it thirteen?) hour time difference can and will make. This is from the Boston Globe...

"The last thing we need is us complaining about this," Francona said. "I hope you never hear an excuse about [not playing well] because of this trip.
"It is not a competitive advantage. Hopefully we'll be going as a very good representative of major league baseball, and we'll win some games."
It will not and cannot be a win-at-all-costs mentality, however. For instance, Coco Crisp and Bobby Kielty, who have been battling injuries, learned yesterday they would make the trip, but most likely would see action only in the two exhibition contests.
Epstein said the Sox will be prudent about how they use their personnel. "We're not going to ask our starting pitchers to go deep into games," Epstein said. "We're not going to ask our bullpen guys to go multiple innings, or pitch back to back.
"These two games count, but it's still March, and we're not going to ask more of our guys than we normally do at this time of year."

Peter here, and Tito and Theo are a little concerned that the trip will affect the player's inner time cycle and maybe make them feel disorientatedly odd for up to a week after they return to, thankfully, the west coast. The shock will be a LITTLE lessened because the left coast is three hours closer in time to that of Japan. The most important thing, as we all know, is that the plane trip will be a good one, and when you talk about flying at 37,000 feet, any flight is a good flight when the plane lands successfully. They'll be fine, and there will be enough down time to let their bodies get adjusted to the immense time differential. Buena suerte, Sox Rojos. We love you. (P.S. That means good luck Red Sox, I think.)

Everyone, have a wonderful Wednesday, yet another Hump Day, as we start the slide towards the weekend. And click on the title for an article from the Boston Herald, all about Tito Francona, our manager supreme. This trip will, in many ways, disrupt his health regiman. I know all about the daily maintainance of one's health because with Type 1 Diabetes, I have to take my blood sugar level five or six times a day plus take shots of insulin after every meal or snack and a shot of long-lasting insulin before bedtime. By now it's second nature, a part of life for me. But if you told me five years ago that needles would be an everyday thing, I would have recoiled in horror. PSST, it ain't that bad, but I wish this disease on NOBODY!

As always, be safe, be happy and BE WELL. And please leave a comment or two. Do you think this Far East trip will disrupt and derail the Red Sox much like the Yankees were affected in 2004? I'd love to know your thoughts. Hey, thanks for being here. I so appreciate it. Every day in every way.