Opening Day Win!

[Mike D.]

7-3 over the Rangers. The team looked really solid, although Foulke looked a bit shaky in the 9th.

Nice to get an Opening Day win after 5 straight years of Opening Day losses!

[RedSoxVT92]

Schilling had a good game besides that two run home run. Also nice to see Lowell go deep. Sign of good things to come. I hope Foulke does better on his next outing but it is only opening day.

[Jager]

Schilling had a good game besides that two run home run. Also nice to see Lowell go deep. Sign of good things to come. I hope Foulke does better on his next outing but it is only opening day.

Definetely. Hopefully that will instill some confidence in Lowell and he can have a productive year. Foulke wasn't very good. They were hammering everything. Papelbon's pitches looked great for his inning. His splitter was dropping off the map. I have to say I already like Crisps Defense. He's definetely a hustler. He sprints to every ball, and he made a couple of very good catches one running and leaping to catch it before the wall, and one earlier in the game where he slid to make the catch. He'll have to figure out the corners at Fenway, but I'm glad we have him.

[Red Sox Rule]

i was only lookin at the scores on the mlb gameday thing on the website but from that it looked like they were doin well. we seemed to get a fair number of hits back to back.

[pesky6]

Looks like our boys are off to a good start. Other than that crappy inning by Foulke (in some ways it's like extended spring training for him), a good showing all around.

[FlashGordon]

Reports suggest that Schilling was sharp, but I think the big story was Big Papi. If he does get that fat extension, he'll be worth every penny.

[VTSoxFan]

Pretty nice game. Schilling was indeed sharp, and should Foulke continue shaky, Papelbon looked fit to step in as closer. Everyone except Youk had at least one hit, and man, can Coco fly around those bases! He scored from first two times, and made a couple af impressive plays in the field. Even Trot got a hit off a lefty, so, yes, it was a good game. Even though the crowd was a little quieter than one at a golf match.

This game was a far cry from the past five dismal Opening Days. It's hard to believe that this was the first Opening Day win for the Sox since Pedro beat the Mariners in '00.

[YOUgodofwalks]

Definitvely a promising start to another exciting season of Red Sox baseball.

[D-No]

I like this team:

Granted, there are a few question marks, chemistry, Lowell's return to form, Schilling's return to form, Foulke's return to form, Coco Crisp replacing Damon, and our bullpen. Give me 3 of these "question marks" and I like our chances to win 90-95 games, give me 5 and we win 105+.
1) Chemistry remains to be seen, but Tito is a genius at player relations, he redirects media focus onto himself, and that reduces the pressure on the players. If the Sox would ban Dan Sahughnessy from the clubhouse, we'd all be better off not having to listen to his continued tales of woe and imminent doom. To say the guy is a pessimist is a colossal understatement.
2) I'd been hearing reports of Lowell's bat being a bit slower than in the past, but he'd rock solid defensively, and the opening day Home Run was pulled. If his bat is slow, it's not critical. Seconly, if he DOESN'T return to form, Kevin Youkilis can play everyday, and we'd be stuck with a .997 fielding firstbaseman in JT Snow. Snow is more than willing to go the opposite way, which is a boon to a lefty batting in Fenway.
3) Curt Schilling looked fine opening day. The splitter wasn't there, but his fastball was. He had location and better velocity than I'd hoped. He also got over to cover first (showing his ankle is OK) on a ball that Youkilis will learn to let go through to the second baseman. What I saw (and it's early, but an encouraging sign...) makes me less apprehensive than I was last year.
4) Foulke concerns me. Pure and simple. His fastball was never overpowering, but he was fine with his location. The changeup was up. Not good. BUT...it's early in the season, and the change is a feel pitch. His velocity was around where it was in 2004. Should he return to form, great. If not, we've got Papelbon and Hansen as potential closers. At least we've got a reserve parachute...
5) Coco Crisp. I'm excited about this kid. His speed, particularly acceleration, is explosive. He scored from first twice, and both times was rounding third when the outfielders were returning the ball to the infield. His defense is a notch below Damon (just a notch, mind you...we saw his catch in center...), but his power is better. He'll score 120 runs. No worries...Johnny Who?
6) Our bullpen...Tavares has the tendency to melt down from time to time. Generally, he's fairly solid. Riske was good last year, but Fenway has a closer wall in left. Papelbon looked sharp, Timlin looked GREAT in the WBC, and DiNardo is our sole lefty (a bit of a concern...) On the other hand, we've got some good live arms in the minors, Hansen and Delcarmen notably.
The game of baseball is won on defense and pitching. We dramatically improved both during the off season. Our offense? No worries! Our defense? Much better, our starting pitching? I like it! Our relief corps? An improvement. The Yankees may have a mighty offense, but their pitching is old, broken, or both. They'll win a lot of games, but it's more likely to be 9-7 than 15-2 in the long run. Kyle Farnsworth is going to see 80+ appearances, and it remains to be seen whether or not he can stand up to that workload. Mo'vera will be just fine... Beyond that, their pitching staff is suspect. I like our chances.

Peace.

[D-No]

So the bullpen is still a question mark...

Didn't take too long to answer THAT question...

[VTSoxFan]

Games are lost on pitching and defense as well -- or rather, the lack thereof.

Of course Bard must have been nervous last night. I give him some wiggle room because of that, and he did make some nice plays. But I wonder if he was wishing he was somewhere else, and I also wonder if Wake was wishing he had his old catcher there.

Texas has never been friendly to Wake.