Happy Easter and Happy Opening Night

Apparently it's easier to shoot a 3 pointer when know one is guarding you, who knew (Duke beating West Virginia). Anyway, tonight Major League Baseball starts with the old fashion New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox. This season becomes more stressful for Red Sox Nation as the hated Yankees won the World Series in 2009. Theo Epstein decided the Red Sox couldn't beat the Yankees at offense, so he focused on pitching and defense. All of Red Sox Nation criticized Epstein, because he didn't try signing Matt Holliday or resign Jason Bay. However, the Red Sox had a great offseason. Marco Scutaro has been an underrated player in the MLB for five years and he is great defensively and has a good bat for the nine hole. Mike Cameron is older than Moses, but still has great range and has a killer arm. Adrian Beltre has already wowed Terry Francona in Spring Training with his glove. Now Beltre won't hit 47 Home Runs and drive in 120 RBI, but he can hit .270 with 25 Home Runs. Red Sox Nation loves Mike Lowell as do I, but he's getting old and doesn't have any range at 3rd Base. Lowell can become a 1st Base/ DH vs. Left Handed Pitching. Finally the signing of John Lackey was awesome. The Sox now have three aces (Beckett, Lester, and Lackey) and they can match the Yankees pitching. The Red Sox are only one big bat away from being a serious contender in the MLB. Sport Illustrated has picked the Sox to finish 3rd, however; they also picked the Rays to make to the World Series. Where has SI's good journalist gone? Do they only write about the NFL with boring repetitive stories about old quarterbacks, I'm talking about Peter King. Anyway, the Red Sox need their pitching to dominate and they need Pedroia to return to his 2008 self. Now, I know people will say Pedroia hit .297, but Pedroia can hit .330. David Ortiz is the X-Factor for Boston. If he can be the Ortiz from June to October they can win a World Series. He's still a feared hitter who led Boston to two World Series. What about JD Drew? If he can stay healthy, then he can be a Top 10 Right fielder. I know he's being paid $14 Million to walk a lot, but he's still better than Trot Nixon. So tonight when Don and Jerry call the first strike from Beckett, then the season has finally started. Let's play ball! Joe Turcotte