ITM in Ft Myers: Cloudy Recollections of Day Two

It's another beautiful day in Ft Myers....although here at the Courtyard Marriott, it's a bit of a slow and rough morning as the Red Sox, buzzer beaters in March Madness, and cheap beers may have gotten the best of us yesterday.  Anyways....

After spending an hour or so at the minor league facility, we hit the road, driving 90+ miles north to Bradenton to see Josh Beckett and the Sox take on those amazingly talented Pirates.  Despite only recognizing 3 names on the Pirate's team, Josh Beckett looked eerily similar to the pitcher we got saw in 2010.  He started out fairly strong, but eventually allowed 5 runs (only one earned) in 5 innings. 

Regardless of the runs to earned runs ratio (the Sox decided to throw the ball around a bit in the 5th), JB was far from sharp.  As we entered the small but appealing Pirates complex, we saw a Beckett fastball get bashed to left field....luckily for our number four starter, Daniel Nava pulled a Griffey-like home run-saving catch (no, Manny would not have caught it).  Without a public radar gun, it was difficult gauge Beckett's velocity, but overall, it was easy to see he was leaving pitches up and not hitting his spots.

Thus far, we've yet to see a Boston player really stand out, as offense has been tough to come by over the last two days, and starting pitching has been rocky at best.  We know it's just spring training, and we've been pretty quick to forget about the struggles when screaming at TV screens at the Ale House.....but still, it always makes me feel better inside when they perform well in March.

Random picture of the day....tough to see below, but it's the "Dos and Don'ts for Living with Alligators".  Found at the Red Sox minor league complex. 

In addition, check out some video of Lars Anderson taking BP at the minor league complex.  It's amazing to see just how "Californian" he is...

We're headed back to the minor league complex this morning, then running back to City of Palms park to see Pujols and the Cardinals take on Dice-K.  Odds are the game won't end until 6pm...