As I’ve been watching the
World Baseball Classic, which has been highly entertaining so far and
which I will discuss in a moment, I’ve begun to question a staple of
the sports world. The butt slap thing.

I’m a girl, we don’t do
the butt slap congratulations thing, and personally, I don’t get it. I
mean, isn’t a pat on the back much easier? Me, being an astounding 5′
1″ could easily reach these guys butts, but when you’re taller, you
have to reach down further, correct? So I was watching team USA’s
inning 6 route of Venezuela, due mostly to poor pitching choices on the
part of Venezuela, and when Youk came in with a run, when Dunn got his
homer, when Youk got his homer after the epic eleven pitch at-bat, as soon as he got around his teammates, butt slaps all around.

I’m
just going to put it out there as one of those guy things that we girls
will never understand, no matter how much we love sports.

Now that we’ve gotten the somewhat awkward question out of the way, lets get down to the business of baseball.

As
I said earlier, the World Baseball Classic has been vastly
entertaining. I’ve watched most of the games, I was shocked, like most
people, when the Netherlands upset the Dominican, and when Australia
came roaring back, down by four, to rout the heavily favored team
Mexico 17-7 in Mexico City. Speaking of upsets, as I am typing this,
Italy has just knocked team Canada out of the WBC. So now Italy and
Venezuela will face off again to see who makes it to round 2.

Korea
won Pool A in nail-biter fashion, beating Japan 1-0 after losing to
Japan 14-2 on Saturday. Australia’s win over Mexico was the country’s
first win in World Baseball Classic history, and it was an exciting
game to see. This weekend was good for hitters, bad for pitchers, as
most of the teams are using the long ball to put up huge scores, with
four games ending with the winning team in double digits.

And now for a few questions.

For
Kevin Youkilis: Is this offensive prowess going to continue throughout
the regular season? Here are Kevin’s WBC stats: 8 AB 3 H (2 HR) 7 R 3
RBI 9 TB 2 BB 2 SO.
If he kept that up for the season, he’d finish
with a .375 average and .500 OBP, and he’d finish much higher than 3rd
in the MVP race.

For Chipper Jones: What is going on? In seven at-bats he’s had one free pass and five strikeouts. This is not looking good for the man they thought might finish over .400 last year.

For
Dustin Pedroia: Does the poor performance at the WBC mean anything?
Remember in 2007 when Dustin hit under .200 the first month of the
season and then turned out a Rookie of the Year, World Series winning
finish? Besides, Dustin has still come up with two clutch hits and two
RBI, hitting from either the one or two spot,
which is two more than David Wright has hitting from the five hole.

For
Venezuela’s Manager: I question the pitching decisions you have made,
but after seeing Italy handle Canada, I reserve judgment until after
the rematch as to whether or not you made a mistake that first game.

For
Alex Rodriguez: Could you maybe not make any headlines for the next
week or two so that the sports media can talk about baseball and not
your hip surgery, or your marital problems, or your club-house manners,
or you having juiced, or your cousin who gave you drugs. Seriously,
that list is ridiculous. I’d much rather be kept up-to-date on
injuries, contract signings, and young guys making a splash at spring
training.

No offense to A-Rod here, I know the press blows these stories way out of proportion and beats them into the ground, but still

Finally,
on to my favorite Southpaw. Rumors have been flying around all weekend
about a five-year, multi-million dollar contract the Red Sox have on
the table for young lefty Jon Lester. This will be the third farm boy
the Sox will attempt to sign to a long-term deal this year, as both
Pedroia and Youkilis were locked up in the off season. The Sox
discussed a long-term offer with their eccentric closer Jonathan
Papelbon, but only managed a one-year deal avoiding arbitration.

Though
Lester has not yet signed the contract, the Sox will most likely come
to terms with him and Papelbon either this year or next.

Here’s one last thing to leave you with. Picture day always produces a few funny moments, and here are the Red Sox outtakes. Enjoy.