More Baseball...

...Is on TV today! Don't you just love this time of year, when everyone is so excited about the baseball season starting that there are random games on TV all the time? I personally wish it was like that all the time; and with MLB Network in full swing, I don't see why it shouldn't be the case.

Today's evening broadcast featured the contest between the AL Champion Texas Rangers and the Boston Red Sox, the team that most pundits agree had the most productive off-season. It was 1-0, on the strength of an Ian Kinsler homer (his second to lead off the game in as many games), but Adrian Gonzalez and David Ortiz quickly made it 2-1 on the strength of a bloop and a blast, respectively.

Watching Colby Lewis throw his 87 MPH fastball and 80 MPH curve/slider combo, I'm wondering if he'll have any trouble repeating his very effective '010 comeback season. He came back to the states last year, fully rejuvenated by a full year of domination in Japan, and he must have brought some of that confidence with him to the mound. I know he just finished pitching in a grueling post-season, but will the pressures of playing back in the majors full-time balance out his competitive fire, and expose his weakish stuff? We'll see.

Oh, I also noticed that Mitch Moreland is up at first today for the Rangers. Ahh, maybe there's going to be a platoon setup going on here - Napoli will play 1B against lefties while Moreland will man first sack when a righty's on the mound. Factor in some extensive backup for Yorvit Torrealba behind the plate, and you've got a situation where Napoli gets some significant at-bats. Cuz, seeing as he's on your team, you might as well let him contribute all he can.

But, what's this!? We've switched over to the Orioles Rays game for Manny's at-bat. Wow, a pitcher's duel here, 0-0 in the 7th. Chris Tillman pitched a gem for the birds, but he surrendered the ball to a reliever after his 6 innings. Aaaand, now that B.J. Upton just singled up the middle, the Orioles are no longer pitching a team no-hitter. Can you believe it? That was the first Rays hit of the game, and it came with two outs in the 7th inning.

It's strange that manager Buck Showalter opted to make it a "team no-hitter" rather than give his youngster who just barely made the team a chance at history. Tillman is only 23, smack in the middle of those formative years I keep talking about, so his workload is being closely monitored. And although he had logged a very manageable amount of innings in his past career, they opted to pull him at 6 innings and 101 pitches - right at the exact point where Craig Wright says it's foolish to set a fixed pitch count limit.

Oh well, I hope Tillman rewards the Orioles' care by having his arm hold up for years and years without injury. Or rather I hope chance rewards the Orioles' care by not bestowing injuries on Chris Tillman's arm.

But what's this? The hitters at the top of the Rangers order are mounting a comeback with a double by Kinsler and a triple by new 2-place hitter Elvis Andrus. I like the Rangers' choice to go with power at the top of the order and speed/contact as number 2. Then the rest of the lineup can mash it with the best of them. Again, it all comes down to the pitching.

I'm going to try, this year, to write more about the games, live and televised, I happen to catch, with a special emphasis on the A's, Dodgers, and players on my fantasy team. I think this will make the whole blog thing more manageable than trying to cover everything that happens in the sport - I don't have the time or the manpower for that task. Knowing about everything that happens in the sport - my unstated goal - will hopefully give some more meaning to my coverage, limited though it may be.

But if the plan is to report on what you watch, than the road to moderation leads through knowing when to stop watching. So I'm going to give the blog and post length a rest before the Red Sox somehow manage to put a rally together and take back the lead...