The Ohka Effect

Ol' man Wakefield & co. dropped one to the Blue Jays last night, ending the Sox' five-game win streak. An unfortunate game, but it's just a tiny little L. The Sox right now are sporting a gorgeous 66.7 winning percentage, good for first place in the AL East by a game and a half. Now, believe me, I know it's April 24th, and I know this is a familiar situation, but nevertheless it feels good to say, especially when the MFNYY are playing footsie with Tampa Bay down in the basement of the division (nice win last night by the AA's!). I've got that feeling I haven't had since last summer, before the Sox shat away the division as if it were the previous night's cheese enchiladas.

Again, the caveat that it's early in the season is implied here, but there are a lot of bright spots on this team. The pitching looks solid from the starters to the pen (for the most part). Some of the weaker offensive guys have been swinging the bat well, and we're putting up runs (and winning come-from-behind games, always a big morale boost). You know what else is great? This: .400/.438/.800 Do you know what that is? That's Doug Mirabelli's AVG/OBP/SLG, and I refuse to believe he will be the victim of small sample size. Every fifth game you're gonna see the Gloveless Wonder do his utmost to ensure that Wake gets proper run support.

Tonight we face the ace: "Doc" Halladay. We've got Julian Tavarez going to the mound in opposition. One of them has a shotgun under his trenchcoat; one of them is mentally unhinged.

Should be entertaining.