Begin the Begin

Game 1 - Red Sox

Red Sox 7, Texas Rangers 3
W: Schilling (1-0)
L: Millwood (0-1)
Record: 1-0

Curt Schilling goes 7 strong - check. Papi delivers a tape measure bomb - check. Mike Lowell's much-maligned bat follows suit - check. Coco Crisp shines in the field - check. Jonathan Papelbon throws a scoreless setup frame - check. Keith Foulke slams the door - okay, we'll not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Outside of few quibbles (Schilling threw 117 (!) pitches on opening day, Kevin Youkilis didn't show much at the plate) the Nation couldn't have asked for a better opener.

Millwood kept the Sox quiet for the first 3 innings before Jason Varitek hammered a 2-out double to score 2 in the 4th. Papi rocked a 2-run blast in the 5th to give Schilling a 5-0 lead, and the result was never in doubt. With Whit's Metropolitans squeaking out a fortunate win over the Nationals this afternoon, baseball season dawned brightly indeed here at MLC.

And with tomorrow evening's tilt against the Rangers televised, I've got an excuse not to watch the debut of ESPN's Bonds on Bonds reality show. Worldwide Leader? Maybe if we're measuring the magnitude of ethical misjudgments. ESPN's credibility as a news organization, strained as it already was by Dick Vitale's bug-eyed histrionics, Digger Phelps' color-coded accoutrements, and Chris Berman's bloviation, shuffles off this mortal coil this week. Somewhere, Bob Ley is crying softly over a picture of Tom Mees.