Memorial Coliseum Wrapup

I managed to stay awake long enough to watch about half the game. Here are my thoughts...

To open the game, they had the most boring flyover I ever saw. Three helicopters slowly passed overhead. Not Blackhawks or anything, just three basic helicopters like news copters.

It was a testament to how ridiculous the field dimensions were when the Dodgers took the field with NO left fielder. The left fielder played behind second base, and the shortstop took a step or two back to cover left field. Very entertaining. In the first inning, a Dodger player laced a shot down the left field line and off the wall in the corner, and Lugo fielded the ball off the wall. Very strange, but fun to watch. Big Papi, in his first at bat, toyed with the short left field wall going that way foul twice, and then changing strategy and ripping a single to right field. After Japan, it was good to see Papi have a good at bat. Another odd moment took place when Jacoby Ellsbury stole second base and the left fielder (Andruw Jones) fielded the throw from the catcher. I wonder if they worked on that one in practice.

Cash and Youk both took advantage of the short field dimensions and earned the Sox 5 runs with their two homers. Somewhat surprisingly, Wakefield kept the Dodgers in the park and did a nice job going 5 innings allowing only one run on 5 hits, two strikeouts, and a walk.

The worst news for Sox fans (other than Ellsbury actually being thrown out stealing) was that Papelbon again looked very human. He allowed 3 hits and 2 runs (thanks to a Dewitt home run with two outs) in the ninth inning. Not good. But, this is still spring training. Well sort of. Hopefully, Paps can bring out the good stuff Tuesday night.