Roll of the Dice (K)

It must be love when you can't help but flee to the computer after a Sox victory in lieu of watching 'Lost', which is steadily approaching being the only show worth watching on TV. (insert clause stating that '24' will eternally be on this list)

Daisuke Mania, long since the glitz and glamour of his flaunted insertion into the fold in Boston, has become a kind of soap opera by now, well after the 33rd game of this young season. The groundwork has been laid for a long and winding road for our newest lead character but the dramatic pageantry has faded. He's most definitely human; something that I was never sure of until I saw him battle for mediocrity against the likes of Seattle no more than a week ago. However, let it be dually noted that the air surrounding a Matsuzaka start 'round here has remained anxious and hopeful, no matter how many walked-in runs or bleacher souvenirs he's served up. I still have the feeling that, in any given game, he has the potential to be masterful. In any given start, he has the capability of being wickedly nasty, as we've all been lead to believe he has been and will be.

There were flashes tonight...flashes of brilliance, flashes of dominance. Also, there were flashes of the daydreamy loft balls that he has tossed up so frequently over the course of his first few starts in a Sox uniform. It's such that makes it even more difficult to gain any sort of confidence in him when he takes the mound. Again, I do feel as though he can dominate a game at any moment in time but to feel like he can do it for 7, 8 or 9 innings is not as certain. He can throw a pitch that causes my neck to angle towards my shoulder in disbelief of the path it took to the catcher's mitt. He can also throw a pitch that makes me throw my head back couch-bound and wonder how the hell he can leave a hanger on an 0-2 pitch. It has been a bumpy, yet smooth ride so far.

Aside from the wonder from asunder, there has been offense. Homeruns are coming by the bushel these days and guys mired in slumps are merely an ahem in the box score. So what if JD Drew has four or five hits in his last forty-four at-bats? So what if our leadoff guy is batting sub .230 right now? When the W's double the L's, things such as these can be overlooked and will be overlooked. In the same light, the positives seem to be super-positive. Pedro, aka Dustin Pedroia, has shined as of late. Maybe having the fan-favorite Cora on his heels has proved medicinal in his inauguration. It helps when you cut down your swing with two strikes and stay on the ball. Lowell's rogue play at third has been overshadowed by his bat. And even with our shortstop/leadoff man stuck in the mire, it was nice to see him go deep tonight and I do like his erratic and sometimes enigmatic play at short. So goes the life of a fan when watching his home team continue to win, but surely watching much of the new talent in town struggle through new beginnings.

Maybe that's the way of world that is the Red Sox right now. I guess it's only right that the mainstays like Ortiz, Varitek, Youk and Manny provide an everlasting lift for the new blood. Our core here is one of great stature and imposed fear. Our core can be enough to bolster a pitching staff and make it great, like the core of our rotation. Wakefield has been beyond words this season and Papelbon is his usual self. Schilling, aside from his verbal robbery, is still an ace in his old age. It's all there, but it's only a whimsical hope right now that the super polymer isn't broken down to that of an easily penetrable film that only looks good from the outside. After all, it's May 9th. We haven't even begun.