Totally Fried

OK, it won't be a perfect season for the Red Sox.

The A's gained a split in the two-game series in Tokyo, winning 5-1. Unfortunately, Jon Lester reverted back to his old ways, namely nibbling, walking batters and getting burned on one swing. Manny Ramirez hit his 491st career home run, a titanic wallop that avoided a shutout. Rich Harden was terrific for Oakland, striking out nine and getting the win. (And I'm glad I took a chance on him in one of my fantasy leagues.)

I watched both games from Japan at Professor Thom's. Tuesday was a large crowd with the media present, but the bloom was off the rose on Wednesday. Maybe a dozen people turned out to see the Sox loss. The two days reminded of those old days when the Cleveland Indians played at Cleveland Stadium. They would draw 70,000 on Opening Day, but they would get less than a tenth of that the next day.

I'm glad this Japan experiment is now over. I watched both of these games on very little sleep the last two nights, and that's not a good thing. I was totally wiped out by noon today, and the rest of the day today I did nothing. I felt like I was hung over, but I had very little to drink last night after Trivia Night.

The Red Sox are now off to Los Angeles for three exhibition games with the Dodgers, including the Saturday game in the Los Angeles Coliseum that will draw over 115,000 fans. The A's series will resume Tuesday night back in Oakland at 10 PM, with Daisuke Matsuzaka going for the second time this season.