Ok, I know I said-oops, I mean wrote- I’d blog more often and keep things updated more but hte wonderful world of MiLB.com is just keeping me so busy.

But seriously, I’ve still been watching the Sox regularly and still been forming opinions, just not sharing them with you all. So here goes, it’s the All-Star break and we’re 3 games up. It’s not the same as being 13 games up, but it’s no surprise and we Sox fans know all too well what it’s like to be strong in the first-half and fall flat on our faces post-All-Star break.

As for the Manny controversy, here’s the deal. Yes, I know it’s a big deal to the fans to see him play because it’s such an honor to be selected, but and here’s a big BUT, who say’s it’s mandatory?! No one, there is no rule that says players must play in the Classic if chosen, so quit the whining and just be glad the Sox didn’t let MLB know the night before the game, causing some other player to mess his three-days-off plans.

Seriously, Selig needs to stop complaining about Manny’s choice not to play and concentrate on cleaning up the sport. You’ve got bigger problems Bud, so leave Manny alone and go after the juicers for a bit.

Besides with all the cable advancements these days, it’s not like people all over the country don’t get a chance to watch players outside their areas play. It’s called the internet folks! So stop with the "But the All-Star game is my only chance to see the best players from other teams," excuse because it’s not anymore!

Ok, I have more thoughts on other things so I’ll just start a new post….

Here’s the thing that most bothers me about Keith Foulke. Not that he ****** last year. Not even that he’s been pitching arguably well-numbers wise-this year and still somehow manages to give fans an uneasy feeling. I say, arguably well because his stats show he’s been pretty decent with 24-plus innings pitched, 19 ks and 3 walks. But my gut tells me otherwise.

Two years ago, I used to have this calm, soothing feeling when Foulkie took the mound. This year: not so much. Evidenced by him giving back-to-back home runs last night in the ninth inning. And everyone says it’s okay b/c we had a 9-1 lead going into the inning anyways, but that’s not the point. That doesn’t mean you slack off just because you’re ahead. You play every night, every batter as if you were in the bottom of the ninth with the tying run on third.

That’s how you pitch regardless what the scoreboard says. So, no, it’s NOT okay he pitched that way just b/c we won anyways.

But I digress, and I still have to tell you what really irks me about Foulke. It’s his annoying habit of getting so angry after giving up a bomb late in the game. That camera shot where you see him dropping F-bombs and getting all huffy and puffy.

Don’t do that Keith, it’s your own fault for throwing a meatball down the center of the plate! And don’t give me this "it’s all mental thing," either b/c with $7 million dollars a year, I’m sure you could afford to get that head of yours straitened out.

So, let’s just wait and watch as Kieth Foulke keeps pounding his fist every time someone takes him deep and we DON’T have the luxury of an eight-run lead!

There’s a reason managers use pitch counts. When Curt Schilling threw 133 pitches, he went over his pitch count and I don’t think he’s been the same since. It hasn’t been night and day such as Josh Beckett pre-Cleveland Indians and Josh Becket post-Cleveland Indians, but he certainly threw some meatballs in Yankee Stadium last night.

I don’t care how well you’re pitching, that’s what we have a bullpen for. Why risk a multitude of possible shaky starts for the sake of one win. Besides, if the starter’s doing so well, you should be leading and can depend on a combo of relievers to close the deal if need be.

So that’s just it, Francona should have never let Schilling start the last inning, we were leading, Cleveland’s offense had been shut down and the momentum wasn’t going to return in the final innings. Now you have Curt coming out and he doesn’t look the same, he’s hanging balls right over the plate, getting behind hitters early, and American League hitters will make him-and the Sox-pay.

It’s called pacing yourself…it’s only May and I’d like our pitchers ready to go come October, thank you very much!

Oh yeah…at the same time Bronson Arroyo was earning his fifth win, WIlly Mo Pena hit an inning-ending fly ball to left field with the bases loaded.

Enuff said…

Welcome home Doug, needless yo say we missed you. Call me cold but I don’t feel bad for Josh Bard, he did his best, he tried his hardest, blah blah. Just get him out of here and let him lose games for the Padres.

Last night’s game vs. the Yankees was no doubt the best of the season thus far, with all the melodrama of Damon coming back, Mirabelli coming here and getting naked in a state trooper’s backseat during a 12-minute ride from Logan to Fenway.

Cap it off with a great pitching effort by Wake and seeing Big Papi’s 3-run shot sail over the clean-cut head of Johnny Damon in the bottom of the eighth.

Little tidbit that made me laugh: Knowing Doug Mirabelli caught the first inning with no cup on. To quote the big Schill "He’s either the bravest guy out there or the dumbest one."

So tonight we see Wonderboy Josh Beckett take the mound after being spanked by Cleveland just a week ago. I’ll be at the game tonight, confident Wonderboy will bounce back and it’ll be a clean sweep of the first series in the ’06 saga.

Check back in after tonight’s festivities….

As I listed to Curt Schilling on WEEI yesterday, something dawned on me. Schilling was talking to Michael Holly and telling him that sportswriters really don’t know as much as they think they do.

They just have a media forum in which to express their thoughts about sports, which doesn’t mean they know any more or less than fans out there.

An old boss once told me "Sap, remember, sports reporters are just glorified fans with a press pass."

That stuck with me and it was reinforced by Schilling saying the same thing. Sometimes I get carried away thinking "oh, I’m a sportswriter for MLB.com and one day I’ll make it to the big time!"

But really, every day is a learning experience. I learn something new, mostly about sports history since I am only 23 and there’s a lot of old school players I just wasn’t around to watch.

Well just had to get that off my chest…more to come later!!

Oh, I know it’s cliche, but my creative juices just aren’t flowing yet so I couldn’t come up with a more creative title.

Anyways, let’s talk about this wonderful weekend and how good we looked (I know, it’s faux pas to refer to the Red Sox as "we," or "us," but I really think I’m part of the team!).

Friday night, a 14-8 win was indicative of our explosive lineup.

Saturday, Schilling looked like the old Curt but then again it’s only been two starts so let’s not jump the gun..but then again, we’re Sox fans and we love jumping on the "if the playoffs started today…" bandwagon.

Sunday, Josh Bard redeemed himself, at least until his next start that is. But Wake bounced back as we knew he would and now we wait wait wait for the 95th consecutive Opening Day at Fenway!!

I told you I’d be blogging more this season…more to come soon!!

Ok, tonight’s the night we get to see Josh Beckett, or as I like to call him, Wonder Boy.

He looked good in Spring Training, but really, that means nothing so let’s not even go there. Let’s wait and see how his first start goes and if he can shut down what has always been a troubling Texas offense.

PS- For the record, Bronson Arroyo: 1 HR, Willy Mo Pena: 0 HR…enuf said!!

Ok, let’s not hash into whether or not Doug Mirabelli is relishing Josh Bard’s poor excuse of a game last night. Three passed balls in just four plus innings, two in the first inning, it was sad watching Bard try to adjust to a knuckler, which, let’s face it, was just not dancing.

So let’s throw out all the hype about how Bard and Wakefield were meant to be after their strong Spring Training debut and think about how many games this type of catching will have to go on.

When all else fails, we can always chaulk it up to Wake’s troubling starts at Ameriquest Field, who now moves to 4-10 in the stadium with a 5.95 ERA.

Don’t really know how confident I feel about Alex Cora starting at shortstop, well not that I’m all too confident about Alex Gonzalez either.

Tonight we see the debut of wonder-boy Josh Beckett. It should be interesting how this youngster fairs the relentless booing of Red Sox Nation the minute he has a bad night…oh, the joys of being a Sox pitcher.

But hey, we just boo them because we love ‘em

Here we go, after a 9-20 spring training season, we’re all buckled up and ready for the 2006 Red Sox roller coaster.

Spring training this year was pretty uneventful really, unless you want to consider a couple tantrum-filled days from David Wells and the Julian Tavarez mixup eventful.

12 new faces that I’m pretty confident about are here and we saw a little taste of defensive improvements during yesterday’s season opener in Texas. Comparing Coco Crisp and Johnny Damon is, for lack of a better term, apples and oranges. One swings a better bat, arguably, and the other doesn’t have an arm the size of a peashooter…I’ll let you figure out who’s who.

There’s nothing nicer than Big Papi picking up right where he left off, and watching newest Gold Glover Jason Varitek have a solid day at the plate. Crisp’s defensive play in the final inning was a plus for shadowing Foulke’s somewhat shaky return to Ameriquest.

I’ll be checking in more often and trying to post every day when I’m not writing for MLB.com, so keep the comments coming!!