Gil Meche (4.22 ERA) faces a tough, but perhaps less than vintage Red Sox lineup tonight, while the Royals will contest Clay Buchholz (5.94 ERA). In his last six starts, Bucky's ERA is 8.49.
Last week, it was remarked during an ESPN highlight that "the sophisticated Boston fans" had embraced Jason Bay and had given him numerous standing ovations. Isn't fawning all over the new guy the opposite of sophisticated? New managers, players, coaches, etc. almost always get much love at the beginning. I'm sure the fans at the K gave Curtis Leskanic and Rondell White huge ovations in '03. It's utterly typical, even cliched. Factor in that in this case said new guy is a white-skinned All-Star (albeit one who looks like an alien) and is replacing someone who the local media had spent a week labelling as radioactive and who had been demonized, rightly or wrongly, by many in the game. Yes, oh so sophisticated! Just like how the "best fans in baseball" to our east go nuts over sac bunts...