Hitmen

Clearly, I'm still a bit hungover from the jubilation of Sunday's record-setter at Fenway. I can't help but talk about another facet of this game that I have overlooked up until this point. Going into it, I thought that the storyline of the night would be Dice's performance (his first) against a team that he's going to get to know a lot better over the course of his tenure in Boston. I'd like to visit that now.

His pitching was suspect at best on Sunday. Truth be told, he got knocked around a fair bit and probably didn't deserve to pick up his 2nd victory of the season when all was said and done. But there was something that he did that no one else has done up to this point in this young season: go up and in on A-Rod.

This can be looked at a slew of different ways. Maybe he was trying to show the faithful that he understands how much this guy is despised in this town. Perhaps he just got a little overzealous in trying to outmatch the best player in the game. Or maybe, just maybe, he was sending a message to A-Rod that, hey, if you think I'm gonna let you take huge hacks against me and continue your torrid pace, you've got another thing coming. Here's a little chin-music for you. I'm inclined to go with the latter.

How has no other pitcher opted for this yet? Typically when guys are this hot, they're gonna get pitched around half of the time, especially in key situations in games. Still, the guy has only walked seven times on the year and only one of these was of the intentional variety. Of his thirty hits, fourteen are homers and he's averaging a homer every 5 at-bats. Thirty-four RBI's thus far put him on a pace that isn't even worth mentioning because it's so outrageously high. And finally, his slugging percentage is at oh-good-lord level. I don't get why guys are not brushing him back and trying to get him to think twice about crowding the plate and getting the most for his swings. At this point, you know he's going to beat you in at least half of his at-bats. Throw at him. Dice knew exactly what he was doing. Petey would be doing the same thing and he may have thrown at him in every at-bat just to make sure that Rodriguez doesn't get the opportunity to tee off. I fully expect to see more of this in the near future.

Another thought about Sunday's game: Did anyone else have flashbacks to Mo Vaughn when Papi stepped in wearing the number 42? There's something about seeing a hulking lefty with a giant head standing in at the left side that will always remind me of the Hit Dog in his glory days. Fittingly, no Sox player since Mo has given me the feeling that every time he gets up there, he might hit clear the Dunkin ' sign in right field...except Ortiz. Also, if you had told me that the Sox would hit four homers in a row and D.O. didn't account for one of them, I wouldn't have believed you.

I've been trying to find alternate topics to write about over the past week or so but it's nearly impossible. This baseball season had the implications of being one of most storied in history and it's living up to that billing so far, if not exceeding it. Whether we like it or not, Bonds is quickly approaching Hank's record and it looks as if he'll eclipse 755 by Independence Day. We've already seen a no-hitter, a four HR game, countless walk-offs, and the makings of what could be the most outstanding offensive year in the history of the game. I know it's not even May yet, but everything has to start somewhere.