4 more days!

[Jarlaxle]

...until opening day for the Red Sox.

This announcement void where prohibited by law. All rights reserved.

[BoSoxGal]

[Lord Jim]

Sure, give me an excuse to repost this:

[Bicycle Bill]

March 29th ... nine days after the first day of spring.  Which means that the term "spring training" is a misnomer, and Grapefruit and Cactus League games are officially "Winter Ball".

And what with all the 'post-season' rigamarole, they won't wrap up until after Hallowe'en.  I thought baseball players were called "The Boys of Summer".

-"BB"-

[Jarlaxle]

8 more hours

[Long Run]

By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston

BOSTON (CBS) — There’s this odd thought that tends to permeate the baseball world, and it pushes a belief that games late in the season are more important than games at the beginning of the season. Sure, it helps for a team to know where it stands and what’s at stake when they take the field, and games in September in the midst of a pennant race do take on a different feel than those in early April. Or March.

But the fact remains that the bean counters who monitor the league standings count those victories in April equally with the wins in September. One win is one win, and each contributes to a team’s ultimate playoff position.

And in the effort to pick up some of those early-season victories, the Boston Red Sox and rookie manager Alex Cora could not have asked for a better road.

The schedule makers can’t and don’t account for quality of opponent when drawing up a team’s schedule, but in the case of the Red Sox, they basically rolled out a red carpet to start the 2018 season.

Here’s a look at the Red Sox’ opponents for the month of April. The number of games in each series is in parentheses.

@ Tampa Bay Rays (4)
@ Miami Marlins (2)
Tampa Bay Rays (3)
New York Yankees (3)
Baltimore Orioles (4)
@ Los Angeles Angels (3)
@ Oakland A’s (3)
@ Toronto Blue Jays (3)
Tampa Bay Rays (3)
Kansas City Royals (3)

* * *

Anyway, the sum result of that exercise is that in the Red Sox’ first 31 games, they will play 10 games against the 20th-best team in baseball. They’ll get a pair of games against the very worst team in baseball, three games against the sixth-worst team in MLB, and seven more games against two teams that rank in the bottom third of the league. That’s (counting fingers … ) 22 games against very bad competition right out of the chute.

This all comes with the usual caveats. Nothing is ever guaranteed. You can’t predict baseball. Bad teams beat good teams every day. Yada yada yada. You know all that. But the bottom line is this: It’s a pretty soft landing for the Red Sox in April.

If the Red Sox can handle their business against the bad teams — call it a .700 winning percentage, which is aggressive but doable — and play .500 against the Yankees and Angels, they can emerge from their first 31 games with something like a 20-11 record. There will be a long way to go after that, but for a team that could really use a fast start, the road has been paved.

The corollary being that if they don't get off to a good start in April, it will be a long, long season.

[Big RR]

Running from March to late October, it's always a long, long season.

[MajGenl.Meade]

You realize this is just a cheap diversion from a real sport - The World Cup, starting June 14!

[Lord Jim]

The World Cup, starting June 14!

The US isn't even in it, so

[Big RR]

Jim--I believe the US Women's Team is.

Strike that; I just googled it to be sure and found it was the under 20 world cup; I am not even sure a women's world cup is being played this year.

That being said, US in it or not, the World cup is the time I am most likely to watch soccer; having a chance to watch the best teams in the world compete is a treat.

[rubato]

Games late in the season are a more valuable predictor of fitness in the playoff, so they are more important.


yrs,
rubato

[Jarlaxle]

WALKOFF! Won the home opener in 12!

[BoSoxGal]

[Jarlaxle]

Swept Anaheim, on to Oakland. Wish I could catch the games.

I hate west coast road trips...

[BoSoxGal]

Got a smart phone? Download the MLB app; for $19.95 you can listen to all the games for the whole season, no blackouts. They also have video clips of major plays. I’ve had it every season for the past 5 years and love it!

[BoSoxGal]

I’d really like to crow about our early season record, but I’m too superstitious to comment.

[Jarlaxle]

Got a smart phone? Download the MLB app; for $19.95 you can listen to all the games for the whole season, no blackouts. They also have video clips of major plays. I’ve had it every season for the past 5 years and love it!

Nothing to do with blackouts-I can get them on WEEI easily enough. West coast games are just too damn late!

[RayThom]

How 'bout dem Phillies?

[Lord Jim]

I’d really like to crow about our early season record, but I’m too superstitious to comment.

But you just did...