Up To Date in Kansas City

First series down, here are my early thoughts...

1. What's the matter with you people in KC? Only ten thousand of you show up for the major league debut of the next Cy Young? Man, if you had the chance to go today and passed it up, you are going to so regret it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon, and for the rest of your life.

2. I like the new Josh Beckett. He threw a lot of pitches, gave up too many walks for my liking (four in five innings) but he wasn't trying to blow everybody away and wasn't afraid to go to something other than a fastball. Same intensity, too.

3. Daisuke Matsuzaka is worth every penny. Great debut.

4. Putting Paps back in the closer role is going to pay dividends, I guarantee it. IMO the biggest difference betwenn the Red Sox and Yankees of the past decade has been Mariano Rivera, and Papelbon is rapidly proving he can close that gap. Nice job today.

5. Coco Crisp got a hit and an RBI today. That's good, because I was about getting ready to jump off his bandwagon. Keep up the good work, Coco.

6. Who'd've thought the guy with the hottest bat after the first series would be...Dustin Pedroia?

7. Will Jason Varitek ever have a good swing again?

8. It seems funny to have a right handed leadoff guy. Yes, I know Coco was a switch hitter last year, so did start off some games right handed, and I know Youk led off a fair amount of games too, but still, it just seems odd. (Am I still hoping to see Johnny Damon leading off, and just in denial about it? Nah...)

9. I'm so far liking what I see from J.D. Drew, but seeing another left handed hitting right fielder wearing #7 still makes me sad (Trot, by the way, is hitting .556 for the Tribe right now).

10. Hope J.C. Romero doesn't die of exhaustion before Memorial Day!

As the iconic musician Meatloaf once declared, two out of three ain't bad. Now on to Texas.