So it begins

We're only four games into the season and I think we've got an idea of how it's going to go already.

So far there were two good games: the first and last against Texas; and two painful games: the middle game in Texas and last night's 14-8 blow out in Baltimore. It's clear that trading Arroyo is going to cost this team by mid-season (and Theo, if you're reading this, I hope you're working on the bullpen because we could be in deep if you're not) because once again, it's going to be all about the bull pen.

I have not lost faith in Foulke. Do not lump me into that group of fatalists who, when Papelbon came on to close the other night, started hearing the bell tolling for Johnny at Burger King. I believe that, if he is still with the team in July, will be the bandwagon guy - you know, the one guy who, when doing well, is the person everyone says, "See, I knew he could do it..." even though they were calling for his head in May. I just think Papelbon is younger, stronger and the person they don't want to rush so long as you've got him under Curt Schilling's wing... or have you forgotten how he taught Jonny on the spot how to throw an effective spliter last year?

At any rate, the other night's loss started for me when I couldn't get the "Hockey Monkey" song out of my head. ("One, two, three the kids love the monkey and four, five, six, the monkey's got a hockey stick, seven, eight, nine, they're all having a good time....") It's a bad sign when you sit down to watch a baseball game huddled under a fleece blanket singing about monkeys playing hockey. Unfortunately, the Sox did nothing to shake me from that scenario either. Last night's win started when I heard "Dirty Water" earlier in the day (it's on one of my mp3 player mixes) and wanted to keep screaming, "I love that dirty water, oh Boston you're my home." Of course we were playing in Fenway South... I mean Camden Yards, where displaced Sox fans and cheap fares to Baltimore make it easier to score a ticket to a Sox game than taking the T to Fenway thus giving the home field advantage to the Sox and not the Orioles.

I have to admit I was more than a bit ticked that the umps didn't call the game for rain when pitchers started slipping on the mound. Drying agent my sainted aunt, if a player had been injured last night, I'd be going after the umpire's union. I was on the edge of my seat the last three innings worried someone was going to be wheeled off the field. A 90+ mph fastball coming out of a wet hand is just an invitation for a tragedy.

I can't believe that I miss today's game because I have to take two kids to speed skating (remind me again why I think Apollo Anton Ohno is so cool - especially when I'm sitting in a freezing rink watching two of my guys learning how to push and glide). All I have to say is the game better be on instead of a hockey game. Let's get real, the Bruins bite this year no matter how much I'm loving our new goalie, and BC got enough attention during March Madness. They haven't closed the deal in over a decade and I don't need to be teased by their hockey team either - so just turn on the Sox and move on folks. If not, I'll be in the car listening to the game on my XM and hoping the boys don't notice where I am.