I’m gonna ramble on a bit, sabermetrically and not.
1. The recap of this morning/tomorrow night/whatever-these-time-zones-are-screwing-me-up’s game on the Sox site says:
While New Englanders back home were either still sleeping or just arising for Easter Sunday*, the Sox were engaging in their final tune-up for Tuesday’s Opening Day against the Oakland Athletics, which will be played here under this same roof of Tokyo Dome.
I, personally, woke up to my alarm at 5:55 AM (to stare at the Gameday window from 6-9:30 AM because [insert lame excuse here] so I don’t have MLB.TV) and do not celebrate Easter. Sorry, Ian Browne. I usually like your writing but, hey, what can I say?
2. (Back to baseball, sorry.) The Red Sox have outscored Japanese teams 15-7.
3. JD Drew must either like the Tokyo Dome or the smaller balls… or is giving us a preview of a vastly-improved 2008 season. He has 2 home runs and 7 RBIs in 7 at-bats. That means he’s responsible for 9 runs. That means that, on average, each time he comes to the plate, at least one run will score.
4. Moving to just today, between David Ortiz and Dusty Brown, the DH spot was responsible for three Ks, a fly out, and a ground out.
5. Of today’s 13 hits for the Sox, 6 were to left field, 4 to right, and 3 to center. There were no infield hits.
6. Brandon Moss was 2-for-2 with a run and two RBIs after pinch running for Kevin Youkilis in the sixth (whereafter he scored his run). His two hits, though, were a single and a double.
7. The Sox collectively hit for the cycle today. Singles came off the bats of Kevin Youkilis (2), Alex Cora (2), Manny Ramirez, Brandon Moss, and Mike Lowell. Bobby Kielty, Kevin Cash, and Moss all had doubles. Coco Crisp hit a triple. JD Drew’s grand slam and Jed Lowrie’s solo homer capped it off.
8. Kevin Cash and Dustin Pedroia both walked twice today–including one from each in the eighth inning, which also boasted a BB from Bobby. (Kielty. Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)
9. At first glance, Pedroia’s line (0-for-3) isn’t impressive. But he showed his plate discipline by walking twice and not striking out once. He was also hit by a pitch in the first.
10. Red Sox batters struck out 13 times. 9 of those were swinging.
11. The Red Sox had 46 plate appearances, an average of 5.111 (etc) per inning.
12. The Red Sox covered 57 total bases. That means they get 1.239 bases per plate appearances.
13. By the way, Youk’s posting at his MLBlog again, which is fittingly titled Yooooouuuuukkkkk.
*Emphasis added.
