I wanted to comment on the Red Sox Opening Day ceremonies before they faded too far into the past. I unfortunately wasn't at the game, but I was able to sneak into the office cafeteria to watch the event on TV.

I was so impressed with the job the Sox, led by Dr. Charles Steinberg, did with what was the most important Opening Day ceremony in team history. Every note was right (with one exception), from the inclusion of US soldiers delivering the World Series wins to the giant World Series pennant on the Green Monster. Highlights for me included the reception for Johnny Pesky, who was the last member of the team to get his ring, Yaz and Pesky raising the flag and the appearance of former Sox players from last year's team, especially Derek Lowe and Dave Roberts.

The only misstep was the painfully lame song performed by Terry Cashman during the flag raising. Cashman is best known for the song "Talkin' Baseball", which was a cute little baseball ditty he penned in the '80s. Well, he took a similar formula (stick as many players names in as you can think of, make them rhyme and set them to music) and cranked out this song. It was terrible. Even worse, it took the focus away from Yaz and Pesky raising the flag. A better choice would have been the Pops playing something or even just the crowd noise.

That's a minor quibble, though, as overall the ceremony was wonderful and memorable. I only wish I had been there!

Dontrelle Willis of the Florida Marlins is one of my favorite young players, and Wednesday night he pitched his second complete game shutout in a row. In this day of 6 inning "quality starts", how often do you see that happen?

Opening Night at McCoy tonight! A full report about another frigid April night at the Pawsox over the weekend.