A Pretty Penny

There was some good news yesterday from the Red Sox spring training facilities in Fort Myers, Florida, and it came from newly acquired pitcher Brad Penny, who is an important part of the 2009 starting rotation. Here's some of what he had to say, edited a bit by me. My thanks to the Boston Globe...

"I felt great," said Penny. "Today, for me, answered a lot of questions, mentally and physically. I didn't know what to expect the first time going out there to face hitters, but everything felt great. It's been awhile since I've been out there to pitch, my command wasn't where it normally is, but it wasn't bad. I had life on my fastball, felt a good rotation on my breaking ball. The splitter was a little erratic, but that will come later in spring. I just want to go out there and pitch. Last year was a rough season being hurt, hopefully I'm on the right track. I feel 100 percent, but the schedule I'm on now, it's smart," said Penny. "If you listen to me, I'd want to go out every other day, but this is smarter. It gives me a chance to strengthen my shoulder."

And what does manager Terry "Tito" Francona have to say?

"...he's doing great," said Francona. "He's a good worker, done all that we've asked of him. This is just a program we came up with before he started here."

The Red Sox are being cautious with Brad, and that's a good thing. He still has more than a month before he will be scheduled to toe the rubber. He's our official number four starter, ahead of Wakefield (for now...Smoltz will be here by June), Matsuzaka, Lester and Beckett, in reverse order. As I have written in earlier posts, thats a rock solid six man rotation. The bullpen might even be better.

I received an email from NESN yesterday, a nice one. They informed me that the Boston spring training television schedule will not be telecast in high definition. The standard definition feed will be shown on both NESN channels here on Comcast. But remember this...every game during the regular season, the games that count, will be broadcast in SD and HD. Ya see...more good news. All in all, this was a "good news" post. And that's the way I like it. My thanks to NESN (the name of the gentleman who emailed me escapes me. I'm sorry for that). They're the best...they bring the Boston Red Sox into our homes with wonderful sounds and pictures. Long live the New England Sports Network, channels 28 and 200 here in north central Connecticut. Just check your cable, sat. or TV guides to find it where you live, although you probably already know where to go.

That's a wrap for this bitter cold Tuesday. The normal high temperature for this date is 40 degrees F. I wish we could get near that, but not today. Click on the title to be transfered to the NESN homepage. You'll find everything there, including the complete Red Sox spring training TV schedule. Thank you for stopping in once again and as always, BE WELL. See ya.