A couple of observations on the Red Sox Opener

MCMLVTopps

I thought the team overall was a bit slow to get in gear, although they made a valiant attempt to win it in the 9th, but fell short. It would have been nice had Duval connected on his debut. They had a good shot a winning...not to be.

Verdugo needs to learn to dump the ego thing when on base, dump the "hey everybody, look at me", and focus more on where the ball in play is during action in relation to where he is. Thank God he's finally done with the rocking the baby thing...Annoying! He fell asleep while going to 2nd base, when in fact he should have advanced to 3rd. Could have made a difference. Lucky for him, the Orioles centerfielder misjudged the ball and it went over his head to the wall.

The new rules are a joke IMO. I think Devers got screwed by the umpire when he was called out for not being ready to bat, when in fact he was, and the pitcher was not. Devers, of course, a key hitter, he got denied an opportunity to bat and instead got called out. Too much subjectivity by the umpires, if there is no objectivity, then crazy things can and will happen. Imagine that happening in the 9th inning of a playoff game with the base loaded, 2 strikes on Devers and the umpire calls him out.

I think the expansion of the bases is a fools errand. For well over 100 years, the bases have been the same, now we see a lame attempt at more base stealing to appease the masses. Dumb! Rickey Henderson and Lou Brock did very well without this change!!

I'm also not a fan of those who wear (most now do) the oven mitt upon reaching 1st base. It's merely an extension of their "sliding hand". What happened to "hold onto your batting gloves when sliding?".

Fans go to enjoy the moment and get their money's worth after paying exhorbitant prices. The new rules are an attempt to speed up the game, from somewhere around 3hrs to 2.5. Does 30 minures really mean that much when you're paying hundreds of dollars for monster seats?? I will admit, the days of Garciappara, and Pedroia were annoying with the antics between each pitch with the undending batting glove adjustments among other things.

Masa in left field played well, and I was fairly impressed with his bat efforts, with 2 hits.

It is worthy to note the team has lost 8 of their last 10 games.. Although they were Spring Training games, they were late in the ST season and may be a tell for future efforts. Time will tell.

perkdog

Agreed on all points