Most of you know me from my unbelievably fantastic fantasy insight. But for the remainder of the 2008 baseball season, I’ll be doing a series wrap-up for our beloved Red Sox as well.

It will be a nice little tidbit dedicated to my personal views and critique. In some cases, I might even congratulate Red Sox outfielder J.D. Drew on a good performance. I might even give shortstop Julio Lugo props! How are you doing Orlando Cabrera and Edgar Renteria? Jed Lowrie anyone?

For those that are wondering. Yes, I am totally skipping over the two-game series against the Athletics in Japan. That was a week ago and was in another country.

Game 1
Boston 2
Oakland 1

Here’s your box score link: Yahoo! Sports

Winning Pitcher: Daisuke Matsuzaka (1-0) 6.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K

Offensive Prime Producer: Kevin Youkilis (1B) 4 AB, 2 R, 3 H (including a 3B)

Although the bats were a bit quiet in regards to power, the Sox still managed to produce nine hits in the cool Oakland air, seven of which came off of Oakland starter Joe Blanton who departed after six innings of work.

It goes without saying that fans of other teams don’t care about the trials and tribulations of Red Sox Nation, but it’s going to be strange when the reigning World Champions finish their two-game set with Oakland on Wednesday afternoon and many Boston fans still won’t have seen the team play much (if at all) this season. Considering all the press the team has received in traveling to Japan to open the season and then to Los Angeles to play an exhibition with the Dodgers before a record-setting crowd on Saturday night, it’d be easy to assume that Sox fans have been spoiled in the early going; that we’ve seen our team play as much (if not much more) than fans of other teams. That’s simply not true. With two 6:05 a.m. starts in Japan, then a 10:05 p.m. start on Tuesday night in Oakland, followed by a 3:35 p.m. start on Wednesday afternoon, only school-age kids or die-hard Sox fans will have seen the team play for any length of time before Friday night’s game in Toronto, which is scheduled for 7:05. Mind you, I’m not complaining, because the start times haven’t really affected me personally. After all, I work from home (read: I’m unemployed), so waking up at 5:45 in the morning or staying up late is not a hardship. The same, however, cannot be said of your average working guy.

A Few things I Learned This Week

It’s annoying and elitist to refer to a player as an “All-America.” And yes, Jim Nantz, I’m talking to you. “Ahhh, Tyler Hansbrough, the Tarheel All-America… It’s been a tough first half thus far for the junior All America… Tyler Hansbrough… All-America… Tyler Hansbrough… All-America.” Just say All-American, professor. No one’s impressed by you.

When people talk about Dwight Howard as the eventual greatest big man of the next 15 years, they need to start including Amare Stoudemire in the discussion.

Sam Cassell’s career stats are significantly more impressive than Doc Rivers’. I always assumed they’re numbers were a lot more even, although Doc does have a distinct advantage in the Daisy Duke column.

It is impossible to get that excited about the NFL Draft when there’s a 90% chance your team is trading its first pick. (Add an extra degree of difficulty if it’s been two months since the Super Bowl and the mere thought of your team still give you heart palpations.)

Everyone talks about how thin and inexperienced the Yankees starting rotation is, but until Dice-K starts showing a little life (more on that below), the Red Sox staff isn’t much better

If Josh Beckett and Dice-K Matsuzaka are unable to make the opening-series trip to Tokyo to face the Oakland A’s, Boston should simply forfeit the two contests, since it’s becoming increasingly obvious the Red Sox have no chance of beating Jack Cust and Co. in the two-game set scheduled for March 25-26 at the Tokyo Dome.

Without the presence of Beckett, MLB’s lone 20-game winner last year, and Matsuzaka, whom the team was relying on for restaurant and bar suggestions while in Tokyo, the reigning World Champions are apt to get steamrolled by the A’s, a team whose opening-day lineup will likely include such notorious Red Sox killers as Jack Hannahan, Donnie Murphy, Kurt Suzuki and Ryan Sweeney. Even if Jon Lester and Tim Wakefield (the proposed replacements for Beckett and Dice K) can manage to work around these accomplished vets, they’ll still need to get past the likes of Bobby Crosby, Mike Sweeney and Mark Ellis. Lester and Wakefield are respectable pitchers, but that’s a tall order. And considering the Red Sox have to fly 18 hours to Japan, while the A’s only have to fly 13, Oakland has a nearly insurmountable advantage.