Getty ImagesBOSTON RED SOX- Well, if I'm going to pout and kvetch when the Sox get off to an 0-3 start, then I might as well savor their first win of the season.
After the disastrous sweep in Detroit that left many in Red Sox nation with the unshakable feeling that the sky is indeed falling, the Red Sox took their road trip across the river and some 200 miles up the MacDonald-Cartier highway to Toronto for what would be the Blue Jays home opener.
With the roof closed on the Rogers Centre during a rainy, windy Toronto evening and Felix Doubront on the mound for Boston, the Blue Jays got off to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the 3rd after Jays 2B Kelly Johnson was called safe on a close play at home and SS Yuniel Escobar was driven home on an Edwin Encarnacion RBI single. Those two runs notwithsanding, Doubront had a decent outing but was stymied by an apparent lack of offense until a solo home run in the top of the 6th by Red Sox 2B Dustin Pedroia to cut the Jays lead in half.
Doubront left after 5 innings of work- giving up 4 hits, 2 earned runs, 3 walks and striking out 6- and was replaced by Scott Atchison. Atchison would throw three shutout innings, allowing just one hit and striking out three.
In the top of the 9th, the Jays sent Sergio Santos to the mound to close out the game. Pedroia led off the inning with a double and advanced to 3rd base on a passed ball, tying up the game when he came home on an Adrian Gonzalez sac-fly. Santos would then strike out Youlikis for the 2nd out, but walked DH David Ortiz and OF Cody Ross. Ortiz was lifted for pinch-runner Darnell McDonald and after OF Ryan Sweeney singled to shallow center, it looked as though Jays outfielder Jose Bautista's throw to home plate would cut down McDonald, except it clanged off the glove of catcher J.P. Arencibia to give Boston the 3-2 lead.
After what happened in Detroit on Sunday, understandably not everybody was comfortable with a mere 1-run lead. But Cody Ross would come home on a wild pitch by Santos to make it 4-2 Red Sox before walking C Saltalamacchia. Santos then got the hook and was replaced by Luis Perez who promptly got SS Aviles to hit into a fielders choice.
Alfredo Aceves would then come on for Boston to close out the game with a 1-2-3 bottom of the 9th, getting Lawrie, Thames and Arencibia out in order. Red Sox get their first win of the Valentine era by a 4-2 final and more importantly win their first AL East contest of the 2012 season.
Tuesday night's starter are going to be Daniel Bard for Boston and Kyle Drabek for Toronto. Bard had been previously assigned to the Sox bullpen and hasn't started a gmae since 2007 with the South Atlantic League's Greenville Drive.
MIAMI MARLINS- Not even a full week into the MLB season, Marlins Manager Ozzy Guillen has earned the enmity of south Florida's considerable Cuban expat community after comments about Cuban dictator Fidel Castro in a TIME magazine interview. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Venezuelan-born Guillen said-
"I respect Fidel Castro," Mr. Guillen was quoted as saying. "You know why? A lot of people have wanted to kill Fidel Castro for the last 60 years, but that mother f— is still here."Miami is home to at least three generations of Cubans who have fled Castro's communist government which came to power after a lengthy civil war that toppled the Bautista regime. Immediately afterwards, Castro's government expropriated private property, arbitrarily executed 'counter-revolutionaries' and political opponents, jailed dissidents, outlawed opposition parties, took control of the press and heightened tensions in the Cold War by allowing Soviet bloc troops and armaments to be positioned in Cuba for a potential attack against the USA. Since Fidel and his brother Ramon took power, many Cubans have fled by boat to Florida, which is 90 miles to the north of Cuba's northern coast.
Although Guillen appeared with staunch Fidel Castro ally Hugo Chavez in 2005 and praised the socialist leader while returning to his native Venezuela after the Chicago White Sox 2005 World Series title, Guillen more recently was critical of Chavez's American allies such as actor Sean Penn.
Sean penn if you love venezuela please move to venezuela for a year
— Ozzie Guillen (@OzzieGuillen) June 8, 2011
If I may play devil's advocate for a moment, I'm guessing Guillen was inarticulately attempting to express admiration for Castro's longevity and durability, not a proclamation of 'Gee! His style of governing is so awesome- can't wait to hop on the next flight to Havana and experience the squelching of free speech and noticeable lack of basic consumer goods myself!'. After all, if Guillen is into that, he could return to Venezuela at any time and experience those things himself thanks to the way Chavez has been running Venezuela for the last decade.
Guillen will be suspended for five games with pay and Guillen apologized to the community during an hour-long press conference. Guillen has been known for polarizing comments about immigrants and gays before arriving in Miami, and some are already calling for him to be fired. Whether or not Miami's Cuban community will let bygones be bygones will be reflected in how many seats are filled at the Marlins Little Havana ballpark for the remainder of the season. The Marlins are currently 2-3 and 3rd in the NL East.
However, what I do find abhorrent regarding Cuba is the institutional and supposedly educated left in this country embracing mass murderers like Che Guevara and giving dictators like Castro and Chavez a pass for detaining and executing political opponents while taking away so many basic freedoms from people in those nations. While you could honestly make the argument that Ozzy took one too many fastballs to the noggin or needs to cut back on his alcohol intake, there is no ambiguity or lack of clarity in their words when our 'betters' on the left when they say they want to see more Castro and Chavez-style totalitarian rule in the USA and for her citizens.
ELSEWHERE IN MLB- This season has gotten off to a rough start for a pair of Hall Of Fame broadcasters.
The Milwaukee Brewer's longtime broadcaster Bob Uecker returned to the team over the weekend for the first time since the death of his 52 year old son Steve.
In a statement released by the Brewers, Uecker said his son had passed away at Milwaukee's Froedtert Hospital due to complications from San Joaquin Valley Fever- a fungus that infects the body after entering through the lungs.
Two years ago, Bob Uecker missed several weeks in the booth after undergoing heart surgery, returning later in the 2010 season. Also known as a pitchman for Miller Lite and appearances in sitcoms and the 1989 comedy Major League, Uecker was given the Ford C Frick by the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY and was enshrined as a broadcaster [while joking about how he never would've gotten in with his record as a catcher for the Braves during his Hall of Fame speech- NANESB!].
Meanwhile over in Los Angeles, the Dodgers announced that 84 year old Vin Scully would miss LA's home opener at Chavez Ravine due to a cold. The Dodger's statement said that doctors advised Scully to rest up, although he is expected to return soon.
Scully has been calling games for the Dodgers since 1950 when they were in Brooklyn and has been in the booth for such memorable baseball moments as Hank Aaron's 715th career home run, a battered Kirk Gibson hitting a walkoff home run in the 1988 World Series and four of Sandy Koufax's no-hitters.
In recent years, Scully has limited his travel with the team to away games in San Diego, Arizona and San Francisco, leaving the remainder of the play-by-play duties to former ESPN anchor Charlie Steiner.
Tuesday's home game would be the first home game that Vin Scully has missed since 1977 when he was in Augusta, GA calling the Masters golf tournament. It also marks the 50th anniversary of Dodgers Stadium.
NHL- No NHL hockey until Wednesday, but here are some TMZ pictures of Paulina Gretzky leaving a Los Angeles steakhouse while clad in what appears to be not much more than black lingerie and heels.
The Stanley Cup playoffs resume tomorrow with three games- none of them involving the Bruins, sadly. Philadelphia and Pittsburgh go at it in an intra-state matchup that gets underway at 7:30 ET on NBC Sports network. Detroit and Nashville will get underway at 8:00 ET on CNBC and the nightcap will consist of Los Angeles and Vancouver at 10:30- also on NBC Sports Network.
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