Lost weekend?

So the Red Sox dropped 2 of 3 to the Yankees and, for all intents and purposes, said goodbye to any chance of taking the AL East division title this season.

And with 39 games to go in the regular season, it's all about the following numbers -- 1, 6, 20, 22.

1 - The Wild Card standings currently have the Sawx sporting a one-game lead over the Rangers. The Sawx currently have a 2-7 record against the Rangers, who just dropped 2 of 3 against the Rays, the other serious Wild card contender. Which brings us to...

6 - That's the number of games the Sawx have remaining against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Sawx have posted a 4-8 mark against the Rays this season, looking old and slow against the youthful Rays. The six games are split evenly - 3 in Boston, 3 in Tampa - and that bears watching, as the Sawx have gone 3-3 vs. the Rays at home, but 1-5 at the Trop. At the very least, they need to hold serve against the Rays at Fenway and try and steal two games at Tampa. FYI - the Rays are 3 games back of the Sawx in the Wild Card standings.

20 - At 70-53, the Sawx have 39 games left, of which 20 (slightly more than half for you math majors out there) are against teams with winning records. Eleven of those games are at Fenway, where the Sawx are 39-20 (vs. 31-33 on the road).

22 - Of those 39 remaining games, 22 are at home. The Sawx need to take advantage of this advantage and win these home games, especially since they finish the season with 7 games at home vs. the under-achieving Blue Jays and Indians, both of whom should be well into "playing for next year" mode by the end of September.

Before I sign off, a quick note on last night's 8-4 homer-happy loss to the Yankees last night. After both Derek Jeter and Hideki Matsui hit Josh Beckett's first-pitch fastball home runs to start the first and second innings, respectively, I turned to Mrs. Wikked Hahd and said "I guess the Yanks plan is look first-pitch fastball for tonight"...

Come to find out that indeed was the case, as almost all of the Yankees homers on Sunday came on first-pitch fastballs and two-strike curveballs - Buster Olney on ESPN.com pointed that out here (scroll down to the "Sunday's Games" segment). So why could I see that but Beckett, Jason Varitek, Terry Francona and John Farrell couldn't? Is it because of Beckett's legendary stubborness? Or is he due for some pounding after being so brilliant for so long? He insists he's healthy and has no physical issues, so it could just be a blip.

Either way, it's never a good sign when I can see what's going on from my couch better than the Sawx from the field.

Hope springs eternal... even though it's still winter

Hello and welcome back to the blog. It's been a while, I know... been a little distracted with what's happening in the economy and such. Apparently we - i.e., America - are having a little problem with loans and credit and such. Probably nothing to worry about, right?

But I digress...

Spring Training is here , and all Red Sox fans thoughts turn to... umm, how frickin' cold it is in Boston right now!

Seriously, though, the Sox are down in Fort Myers getting ready to kick off the 2009 campaign, and I couldn't be happier. Not because it means lots of stories about who will be the shortstop (Lugo... duh) and who will pick up the "Manny Slack" (it will be the Bay/Lowell/Drew combo), but because it means warmer weather is on the way and with it, the promise of another good season of Sox baseball.

Moreso than even the 2007 season - when the arrival of J.D. Drew & Dice-K and Jacoby Ellsbury's planned ascendance had Sox fans expecting big things - there is a quiet confidence oozing from the pores of everyone associated with the Sox that good things will come this season. The continued growth of the Sox young guns - Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia, Jonathan Papelbon and (most of all) Jon Lester - and the expected "bounce-back" campaigns from Josh Beckett and Big Papi have everyone thinking this team will be dominant.

For me, though, the real excitement and reason(s) for great expectations lie with the new faces on the roster who will most assuredly be difference-makers down the stretch. Faces like:

- John Smoltz - personally, this was the "holy s**t" moment of the off-season for me. Smoltz's stats and awards are known, but it's the so-called intangibles that have me giddy. He is - arguably - one of the two most successful big-game pitcher of his era (the other being Curt "WEEI Speed Dialer" Schilling) and a bulldog competitor to boot. The fact that he signed with the Sox for short money and is expected to be at full-strength by May/June (just in time to start the "shut-it-down" process for the rotation) has me positively giddy. I can't wait to see him pitch at Fenway.

- Brad Penny - say what you want about his injury history, but remember two things: He is just two seasons removed from a dominant season, and he is now in a rotation with his old Marlins buddy Josh Beckett. Remember when the Marlins had a rotation of Beckett, Carl Pavano, Brad Penny and A.J. Burnett and won the 2003 World Series? Good to have 1/2 of that quartet with the Sox.

- Takashi Saito - if he stays healthy, this guy is an unbelievable reliever who has struck out 245 guys and walked just 52 (almost 5-1 ratio) in his 3-year major league career. He is yet another reason to LOVE the Sox bullpen.

- Rocco Baldelli - gotta love this story... superstar in the making loses 3-4 years in his prime to a debilitating illness and some freak injuries, keeps working and seeing the doctors, and now finds himself playing for his hometown team (he's a Rhode Island native) in a perfect role for him: 4th OF, part-time DH, and major force off the bench. Plus he's a great clubhouse guy, from all accounts.

- Ramon Ramirez - yet another shrewd pick-up for the bullpen. Power arm, doesn't allow homers (just 2 in 70+ innings in '08) and average 1 K per inning. He'll get plenty of chances to rack up K's as Pap's set-up guy.

Remember that this is a team that came within a game of the World Series last season despite being decimated by injuries. Considering the talent they have all over the diamond defensively and the depth of the pitching rotation and bullpen, it's hard not to like this team's chances at getting back to the playoffs and even the ALCS.

Go Sawx!

Sox Win! Sox Win!

The Sox (or "Sawx" if you're from around here) won this morning's season-opening tilt versus the mighty Oakland A's, thanks to a bomb from Brandon Moss in the ninth and a pair of run-scoring doubles by Manny "Bad Man" Ramirez.

I'm sure that the next 24 hours will see lots of wailing and gnashing of teeth about Dice-K and his so-so performance in the opener (5 IP, 3 R, 5 BB, 6 K, 1 HBP, Ten Zillion pitches) and how "We" overpaid for him and maybe he's just not "that good."

Umm... maybe he's human? Hello? He's pitching in Japan where he was born and raised and made his reputation, in front of thousands of screaming rabid fans, and where he is -- for lack of a better term -- a true ICON and baseball deity. How many of us have the intestinal fortitude, aka STONES, to be able to focus and be cool, calm and collected in that atmosphere with all that pressure?

Say what you want about Dice-K (and, judging from the nitwits who call into WEEI every day, you will), but the guy takes he ball every time and never gives up. Sure, I'd love to see him show that dominating streak he flashed in Japan and in the World Baseball Classic, but the guy won 15 games last season and was a key member of a World Series-winning pitching staff -- WHILE PITCHING IN A COMPLETELY FOREIGN COUNTRY AND LEARNING A WHOLE NEW CULTURE.

I think that if the situation were reversed and we sent Josh Beckett to Japan for a season with the expectations of an entire nation(s) on his back, he'd probably submit a similar resume for his first season as Dice-K. Don't get me wrong -- I love Josh Beckett and believe that his breakthrough last season was the beginning of a dominating career, one that I am excited and privileged enough to be able to see for the next few years.

But let's not forget that in his first year in Boston -- in the country of his birth, speaking the same language and watching the same TV and eating the same food -- he posted a worse overall season than Dice-K.

So lay off Matsuzaka. At best, he shakes off this morning's game and goes on to win 20 to become Randy Johnson to Beckett's Schilling... at worst, he's Ron Darling to Beckett's Doc Gooden.

Either way, the guy's good and is gonna win some games, and maybe even help the Sawx win another ring. I for one will keep watching, and keep cheering for Matsuzaka-san.