The AL East is going to be one of the hardest divisions this year. Of course, we have our great Red Sox ready to play. But we also have our normal rivals, the Yankees, who have been trying to improve their team this year. They can’t improve their fans, but they can improve the team. And then there are the runners-up for the World Series last year. The Tampa Bay Rays are very threatening this year too. This is going to be an exciting year. Too exciting, really, but we’re going to have a lot of fun watching these teams this year. Last year, they were neck-in-neck, though New York wasn’t nearly as good as usual. I certainly preferred it that way, but that’s the way it goes in this division. Keep an eye on those teams!

The Red Sox fans must be pretty pleased with  the way their team rallied from behind to seal a 5-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks last Tuesday night to equal the series at one a piece. It was the batting prowess of Jason Varitek in the eighth inning that saved the face for the Red Sox team in front of thee capacity home ground. A total of six runs were scored by the Red Sox in the eighth inning. The rain delayed match provided some enterprising baseball play from both the teams and the fans who had bought tickets to witness this game would feel that they have really got their money’s worth.

A costly base error from the Orioles in the 13^th inning of their Friday night’s game not only provided three runs for the Boston Red Sox but also a boast to the Sox to win the game convincingly by 5-2. Lowell and Josh Beckett played their part to perfection in this win and the Red Sox team finally had something to cheer about on tour as they had lost five of their last six games on West Coast road trip. All the players were excited about winning this road game and the Red Sox fans will be rushing for more tickets, if the team sticks on to this winning mode for the games to follow. 

It was not a very productive weekend for the Red Sox. Au contraire, the Boston Red Sox had their pride severely wounded after losing to Tampa Bay throughout the tumultuous weekend. Tampa Bay was never a threat to them but apparently they were a force to be reckoned with during last weekend. And that’s not all, things are not looking too sunny for most of the team members in terms of their wellbeing.

First, it was David Ortiz who was benched and barred from the last two battles against Tampa Bay. Ortiz was considered one of the greatest sluggers but that changed after he bruised his knee from sliding into first base last Friday. Misfortune continued to dog the Red Sox when during the same game, Sean Casey was afflicted with a right hip flexor strain as he was running the bases. He too, skipped the game the following day and was put to rest. Mike Lowell, third baseman for the Red Sox, has been put to the disabled list due to a sprained digit. Infielder Alex Cora was also missing in action due to a bad elbow. Will the Red Sox ever break the injury streak soon?

Red Sox fans feared the worst when they saw how the team’s best hitter Manny Ramirez was shown the door during the second inning. He was ejected after his first at-bat because he dared question a called third strike by plate umpire Paul Emmel. A heated exchange of words took place right before his ejection. Fans started praying for a miracle and sure enough, the Red Sox wrestled the game back from the Texas Rangers to beat them with a final score of 6-5.

They first kept fans at the edge of their seats with a 5-0 deficit but finally managed to overcome all odds to win for the eighth time out of nine games that they played. First baseman Sean Casey was quick to comment that they can still win the game because they have ample talents. He also added that he is proud of the team’s overall perseverance and never-say-die attitude. He could be referring to Joe Thurston who came into the field as Ramirez’s replacement. To date, the Red Sox kept a great game momentum this season to secure five or more runs in the last eight games they played in.

A construction worker, who was also a Red Sox fan, decided to use his vast superstitious know-how to jinx the Yanks when he was found burying a Red Sox shirt deep in the recesses of the concrete foundation of the new $1.3 billion Yankee Stadium. The news was revealed when two construction workers at the new visitors’ clubhouse told the public regarding the stint on the condition that they were to remain anonymous.

In his exact words, one of the construction workers said: “In August, a Red Sox shirt was poured in a slab in the visitors’ clubhouse. It’s the curse of the Yankee. Nobody knows about it. It’s in the floors, it’s buried.”

The second worker revealed his fear that the Yankees would be jinxed and that he did not want to be held responsible for causing the downfall of the franchise. However, the Red Sox team declined to confirm the allegations and instead told the public that this was just a mere April Fool’s joke!

Craig Shipley, the Red Sox Vice president for international scouting and Jon Deeble the Pacific Rim coordinator together announced that the team has signed Terumasa Matsuo, a free agent from Shikoku Island league in Japan. Matsuo is aright handed pitcher and was the most valuable player of Shikoku Island league in 2007. He made 15 wins and 159 strike outs in the league. He has earned a run average of 1.72 and has permitted only 85 hits from 152.0 innings with 30 starts.

In Shikoku Islands Best Nine team he was selected as the pitcher. The Red Sox fans can expect that their team is getting a good pitcher and it will strengthen the team. Matsuo is anticipated by the team officials at the Fort Meyers spring training camp by early this week. He has made a good record with 11-2 in 2006. He made 134 strike outs and 98 hits from 138.0 innings.

The Red Sox players and families took a ride in the Black Hawk helicopter to Zama, an U.S army base as part of their field trip. The members in the group included Tim Wakefield along with his wife, Mike Timlin with his son Jake, Curt Schilling and Bryan Corey. They were provided with two 12- seat choppers and they flew over Tokyo at an altitude of 1,000 feet. They were able to get a clear vision of the sky scrapers of Tokyo and other sights like the golf courses, baseball fields, mountains etc.

It was Timlin’s second ride in a helicopter and he had a video camera with him. The players attended a public event at a gymnasium in the Camp Zama. They were taken to the venue in a small bus from the helipad. The soldiers were very happy and thrilled to see the Red Sox players. All the players were gifted with coins which are given for the excellence, by the soldiers. The players gave autographed jersey to the army officials.

Coco Crisp has not been able to don the Red Sox colors for the past 12 days as he is sidelined by the groin strain that he is feeling in both his legs. The Red Sox team is to board a plane to Japan next Wednesday and Crisp is praying for his groin problems to be sorted out by then. The Red Sox manager Franco feels that it is becoming more and more difficult for Crisp to join the team and will take the right decision at the correct time. Crisp is interested to make his trip to Japan, but he has no clue if his injury will be alright by Wednesday.

Coco Crisp says that he is prepared to wait and not rush things as he had bitter experiences playing with injuries in the past. The center fielder says that he is feeling a bit better and the groin is making slow but solid progress. He has been able to jog for the past three days, take a few in-cage batting practice and has had a full day workout as well. Crisp is aware that even though he can run or jog, sprinting is out of question right now and a batter has to have good sprinting skills along with his batting skills to perform better for the team. So, a wait and watch policy is right now in Crisp’s mind.

The Red Sox has signed Papelbon for one year for an amount worth $775,000 along with an additional benefit of $25,000 for being the part of All-Star team. Papelbon, being given a top position in the team feels that, it is his responsibility to keep the standard of the team. Papelbon is not entitled for arbitration and even then was able to get highest rate as a pitcher. Theo Epstein, the general manager of the Red Sox said that, Papelbon was expecting a much higher rate but was convinced of fairness of the deal after giving all the information about the deal. Epstein added that Papelbon is happy with the deal.

The 27 year old Papelbon made 37 saves in 40 attempts last year. He was paid a salary of $421,500 last year. Many speculated that Papelbon will be only given a small hike in his salary. The deal is projected as an indication of good pay structure available to hardworking and dedicated players from Red Sox. Epstein says that, the players always get a fair and generous deal from Red Sox, whether qualified for arbitration or not. The Red Sox and Jonathan Papelbon share a good relationship and he can expect for a better deal next year when he will be eligible for arbitration.