Oh-oh. Though, Coco Crisp says that he is ready to play, according to the Boston Globe, the injury to his finger may leave Crisp out of the Fenway opener.

With Josh Beckett on the mound and after seeing Adam Stern play Sunday, I'd error on the side of caution. Crisp is an essential part of the Red Sox season and as such shouldn't let pride get in the way of team success.

It seems that The Hat may have been right afterall. Painful for me. Tim Wakefield went up against the Baltimore's "ace," Rodrigo Lopez. I use the term "ace" a bit loosely, for on any other team, Lopez - as with any of the Oriole starters - would be a three. But regardless, the matchup was favorable for Wake.

More impressive was Keith Foulke's eighth. Foulke made the most of an opportunity, facing three batters and recording two Ks. He makes a great setup man. Even after saying that, I would not be surprised to see Foulke in the closer's role by week's end.

Tuesday's game will feature a battle of the Joshs. Josh Beckett will take the mound in the home opener and Josh Towers will pitch for the Blue Jays.

Towers has little experience against the Sox. He faced them once last year going eight innings, allowing three earned runs for a loss. The Red Sox starting line, well those still with the team, hit .300 against him, with seven home runs. But before anyone starts celebrating, a lot has changed on this Toronto team since they last met.

Toronto has added starter AJ Burnett (injured), catcher Bengie Molina (currently batting .438), 3B Troy Glaus (currently batting .364 with 2 HRs), 1B Lyle Overbay (currently batting .375), closer B.J. Ryan (2 saves, 4Ks, 0.38 WHIP) and former Fenway fav DH Shea Hillenbrand (currently struggling).

It will be fun. Game time is 2 p.m. Tuesday.

A couple of early surprises after the first week of regular season play:

1.) The Detroit Tigers are in first place with a 5-1 record. The young team is playing well and hasn't had the "benefit" of playing home yet. One Tiger fan (who remains anonymous) told me this could be the year...that the team finishes 81-81. That would be a 10 game improvement. Although it's early, I think it will happen. Poor Tiger fans, hoping for .500, ouch.

2.) Colorado is also in first place in a very weak NL West. The surprise to me is how they are winning. A.) Swept the Padres in pitcher-friendly San Diego, scoring double digits the three days. (10-4, 12-4, 10-4). B.) The first two games in Colorado they only allowed opponents to score seven runs. That of course was four less than they allowed the Diamondbacks in the third game however.

3.) The World Champion White Sox are struggling early. Only Jim Thome seems to be hitting for that club. And man is he hitting. His OPS is a whopping 1.444. Wow! I've always like Thome even if he does adjust his cup 3,000 times a plate appearance. So much in fact, rarely does a TV camera show his full body in the batter's box. The White Sox pitching is what brought them the championship; this year, it looks weaker. (Only a week and I'm thinking the Indians are the favorite in the AL Central)

Where are they now:
I have been casually watching the former-Red Sox players who exited Boston during the off-season.

Bill Mueller, now with LA, is batting a solid .391 with five rbis. I've always liked his style of play. On a side note: A friend of mine met him in LAX. Mueller says only someone from Boston would have recognized him there. Isn't that the truth. In LA, "fans" show up in the third and leave at the stretch (traffic don't you know). Mueller should indeed shine in that laid-back atmosphere.

Hanley Ramirez, Florida, yes I'm counting him, is batting .421 with a triple, 2 doubles, 2 sbs, 4 runs and 3 rbis. He'll also shine in the no-pressure environment. No one is expecting much from the Marlins, whose payroll is $15 million.

Kevin Millar, Baltimore. Until he met the Sox, Millar was batting an impressive .455. That of course was against Devil Rays pitchers. After the weekend series vs. the Sox, he's back to his old .250. Millar is Millar. His power numbers have dwindled. I'd be surprised if he reached 20 HRs this year.

Bronson Arroyo, Reds. Lots of people were surprised by the trade. Me, not so much. Then there was the outing against the Sox in the spring and people were even more surprised. Although, he recorded his first win of the season in a Reds uniform. He wasn't that impressive (6.2 IP, 5 R, 3 ER, 6 hits and 7 Ks.), well except for his home run. He doesn't walk a lot of batters and he'll face some weak-hitting pitchers, but all in all he'll be lucky to win 16.

Tony Graffanino has only 5 AB (one start) for the Royals, which is really too bad. I fully expect him to get more chances as the year progresses. I mean it is the Royals afterall.

Edgar Renteria, Atlanta. Back in the NL, Renteria is packing a big stick. He is currently hitting .387 with 10 rbis. Oh, by the way, he has 1 error in 30 chances - a huge improvement. I think he actually looks to be in better physical shape, than he did a year ago. I predict good things for Renteria. Atlanta afterall has 13 straight division titles, to their credit. Why should this year be any different?

Johnny Damon, Yankees. Talk about good things. Damon is still the best lead-off hitter in the game. He's batting .308, but surprisingly hasn't been much of an offensive threat (3 runs scored, 3 rbis). But he's Damon, so he'll still get his .300 and 110+ runs scored. Though I hate him in pinstripes he'll do quite well atop that order.

After seeing these impressive starts, I still like what the Red Sox have done and continue to do. Beckett and Coco could be as good as all of the departed combined.

E-mail this entry to a friend