Starting off eccentrically

Jamie Moyer had a dominant start last night, but like most of his spring starts, it was against weak competition. (OK, the Yankees are a little bit tougher than the Blue Jays B squad.) The Phillies haven't announced it, but everyone expects the 47-year-old to open the season in the rotation despite Kyle Kendrick's fantastic spring.

You can argue either option, but it's clear that J-Moy will start a game this year, and Rob Neyer notes what a remarkable feat that will be:

Moyer turned 47 last fall. There have been exactly three men in major league history who started a game after turning 47.

Phil Niekro, a knuckleballer, started 32 games in 1987, when he was 47 (and he started 26 more the next season). Jack Quinn, a spitballer, started one game in 1931, when he was 47. Satchel Paige, a Methuselah, started one game in 1965, when he was 58. And that's it, friends: 60 starts, with one knuckleball pitcher accounting for 58 of them.

The word "remarkable" is thrown around a lot, but I think it's not overblown to use it here. As Neyer also said, there isn't much suggesting a good season from the old timer, but there's no doubt he will be one of the most interesting pitchers we will ever see.

Red Sox staff: They've also thrown things for a loop, using a five-man rotation, but throwing Josh Beckett twice before Clay Buchholz, who I guess was demoted to fifth starter, appears:

After Beckett, Lester, and Lackey pitch the opening series against the Yankees, Wakefield will start in Kansas City. Beckett will pitch the next game, followed by Buchholz. From there, the rotation will be Lester, Lackey, Wakefield, Beckett, and Buchholz.

I am glad for Wakefield and hope that Buchholz's poor spring was just a minor blip.

Scott Schoeneweis story: I was familiar with some of Scoeneweis' life story, but didn't realize how complicated it was until reading Nick Cafardo's account. I wonder whether I'm going soft because I didn't feel like shouting out roider when reminded he was in the Mitchell Report. I'm still rooting for Scott Atchison though.

We're going to Baltimore

I know, not really exotic.

Let me explain: We made the choice to include the Phillies home finale instead of a Red Sox game in our six pack of tickets. We later learned we could have bought the six pack with a Red Sox game and then bought the finale separately.

Because we're not going to get to see the Red Sox locally, Christine found out there were still plenty of seats available when they play in Baltimore in May. So we bought tickets, booked a hotel room and we're all set. The tickets arrived in the mail yesterday.

Walking in style: We saw the design for the first-ever T-shirts for our MS walk team, dubbed the Red Sox. We're not ready to unveil the design yet, but it rocks. It's got a baseball feel and reminds me a little of my Ramones shirt. We'll be walking in style next month thanks to Kim and Rishi.

More power from a little guy: A day after I noted Rays manager Joe Maddon had predicted more power from Jacoby Ellsbury, there's speculation that the Phillies diminutive outfielder, Shane Victorino, may hit more homers this year because he'll be hitting lower in the order.

Surprise acquisitions: There were reports this morning that both of our teams would be scrounging to add some more depth as spring training ends. The Red Sox picked up infielder Kevin Frandsen and Jersey-native relief pitcher Scott Schoeneweis. The Phillies are still looking for pitching depth.