Tim Wakefield, the Wind Beneath My Wings

Tim Wakefield gave the Sox a much needed boost on their way out of Oakland today, throwing a two run, four hit complete game. First pitch strike after first pitch strike, Wake flashed a bit of the old brilliance and made the ball dance at will. And boy did the bullpen need that day of fun in the sun.

Not only was Wake individually in the zone, he inspired others, too. A leader of men, finally waking up the Sox bats. (Speaking of waking up, did anyone else foresee that JD Drew bomb? It just felt like a rope a dope. Three strike outs, a slow start to the at-bat, then Blevins leans with his right, as it were, breezes by the chin, and pow, JD comes back with a haymaker. All right, I didn't actually foresee that, but I was kind of silently pushing for it.) Mike Lowell put one out of the park himself and went 2 for 3. And then there's Jason Bay, the Radgin' Canadgin', with another big night. Even Nick Green (flashing some amazing leather) and George Kottaras (who looks exactly like the father-catcher (spoiler alert) from Field of Dreams) got on base.

All that can't hide the complete lack of production the Sox are currently getting from the 1, 2, 3 spots, or the fact that Daisuke went on the DL, Lowrie could be done for the season, Lester's struggling with some demons, and Papi looks about as nimble as Greg Oden. But it will make the plane ride home a bit better (think JD Drew, tossing c-notes, yelling 'make it rain').

All in all, not an encouraging start to the season, but it could have been worse. Let's just put the left coast behind us, watch an episode of The Wire, and get ready for Baltimore.

[ed. - I have to say, though, losing 2 out of 3 aside, I really was getting to like Oakland. Okay, not the whole time, but today I was getting a good vibe. A nice quick game in the California sun. And listen to some of the deals they have there: Fridays, family of four gets tickets, hot dogs, peanuts, and Pepsis for $50 total ; Sunday's game against the Rays, the first 10,000 fans get a Matt Holiday jersey (not a t-shirt, a jersey) ; and they've got an all-you-can-eat ticket! All that, and you've got a quality young baseball team. I have to say, I'm feeling pretty good about my pick for the AL West. Until we see them again in July, I'm gonna be pulling for them and those elephant sleeve patches.]