Phils Best Red Sox as Halladay Outshines Lester
By Editorial Staff
I liked the Red Sox a lot more before they started winning. Wade Boggs ate chicken before every game, won a bunch of batting titles, had a sex addiction and had a chin that looked strikingly like a butt. They even had a pitcher with the most ridiculous name ever (Oil Can). What’s not to like?
In 2004 the “Red Sox Nation” became the official fan club for the team. There is a president and a business card letting the world know that you are a member of the Red Sox nation. It kind of sounds a lot like being a member of the Kiss army. In a previous post, I outlined that when I see a Red Sox hat, it makes me think of Oil Can Boyd. The majority of these jerk asses would have no idea who Oil Can Boyd is. The current incarnation of the Red Sox fan is very much like a universally despised fair weather Yankee fan; they are well versed in the language of following a team that wins consistently, but have little to no concept where the team was before it was at the top.
Today’s game at Bright House Field pitted the two best teams in baseball against one another, with their respective aces on the mound. The veteran who has honed his craft over years of facing the toughest division in baseball versus the cancer surviving newly minted ace, who has recently come into his own. Halladay versus Lester.
Halladay had been fantastic this spring going 2-0 with an ERA under one is his three starts. Today against the Red Sox, Halladay went 7 2/3 innings allowing one run and striking out five. It does not look like Doc has anything left to work on this spring. He did walk three batters, but he looks to be in control of all fifteen pitches that he throws.
The Phils offense managed to scratch four runs across against Lester, who struggled slightly with his control walking four in his 5 1/3 innings today. Lester gave up an RBI single to Raul Ibanez and a two run single to Josh Barfield. Hopefully Barfield can play well enough to make that whole signing of Luis Castillo thing go away.
There were some worrying aspects before an after today’s game. Jose Contreras was scratched today with a corneal abrasion and Shane Victorino was removed from the game after a collision with Raul Ibanez. All signs point to Shane being fine, luckily the collision looked worse than it actually was. Shane’s head injury makes me think of a great baseball quote from Dizzy Dean. Dean was hit in the head trying to break up a double play in the 1934 world series. He was carried off the field and rushed to a hospital to have his injury checked out. He arrived at the park the next day and said, “The doctors x-rayed my head an found nothing.”
Next up for the Phils, Cliff Lee starts against the Toronto Blue Jays tomorrow at 1:05.
Wade Boggs ended up winning a world series as a Yankee and getting his 3,000th hit as a Devil Ray. Cram it Boston.