Thoughts from the week

Today, for only the third time this season, both our teams won on the same day. Yay!

I haven't been avoiding posting because the Red Sox started out in a slump. I've been avoiding this blog because our adorable baby boy gets all my time, attention and interest.

But I noticed that yesterday a former SoxandPhils battery, Randy Wolf and George Kottaras, now on the Brewers, dismantled Roy Halladay and the Phillies.

Also, in team Red Sox news, Trent officially joined our charitable efforts on Sunday with our annual charity walk. He did well, except that he skipped his morning bottle right before we left for the walk. He realized he had done so about three-quarters of the way in, and we weren't prepared with a backup bottle. We're still learning, too.

Speculatin'

Baseball writers throughout the country again snubbed Charlie Manuel for Manager of the Year while our teams' scribes have been busy posturing potential player acquisitions.

Terry Francona spoke today (it seems like a long time since we've heard anything from the Red Sox) and discussed his wish list. It sounds like he wants Jason Bay back and additional pitching - but his comments about John Lackey convinced me that the Red Sox are not pursuing the free agent:

Every year, there's a couple guys that seem like they can sway the fortunes of an organization. I think he's that type of pitcher. Now, to get that type of pitcher, you're going to have to make quite a commitment. That's something that makes our organization a little bit uneasy. It doesn't mean a guy can't come in and help you win, but if there's an injury along the way, that can set your organization back quite a bit. So there's a lot to think about besides just the year 2010. You're possibly talking about 2015. That's a lot of years.

Funny, they weren't too uneasy about paying more than $100 million to acquire and retain Daisuke Matsuzaka.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, jettisoned George Kottaras and were linked to Braves free agents Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano.

The Phillies seem to be all over the place. Todd Zolecki says they're the front-runners for Mark DeRosa - I don't want him, but I didn't know he went to high school near where I grew up. Chan Ho Park's agent says despite the player's stated preference of starting, a role in The Pen II wouldn't preclude Chan Ho from returning to the Phillies. And David Murphy has a litany of bench options the Phillies may consider.

I have bad feelings about the offseasons for both our teams. I don't know why. {Let's hope Greg is wrong about this prediction, too.}

Sox don't ruin Nick Adenhart memorial

Even though the Red Sox fell to 1-3 and now have sole possession of last place, last night's 6-3 loss wasn't one I mind terribly because it was the first game for the Angels since Nick Adenhart was killed.

Jered Weaver, who probably figured on pitching alongside Adenhart for the next several years, paid tribute to his fallen comrade with a brilliant 6 2/3 innings, giving up an unearned run and striking out eight.

The new Red Sox battery of Tim Wakefield and George Kottaras struggled for a bit before settling down to keep it a 3-1 game until I turned in. I expected a comeback, but I gather the bats stayed dormant and Justin Masterson got shelled.

Today: The Sox are on Fox. Brad Penny makes his debut with hopes of turning around what has been a poor first week for the SoxandPhils. The Phillies play tonight in Colorado. They still haven't officially DL'd Carlos Ruiz, and it looks like we'll be wondering for awhile whether Cole Hamels arm is right. I have a feeling that unfortunately this could be a season-long debate.

[Photo credit: Associated Press]