Red Sox and Hanshin Tigers get a good start into the new season

And once again here's proof that a baseball game should be watched until the final out. I tuned into the coverage of Red Sox vs Rangers from Fenway yesterday and although the match itself was pretty close and interesting I somewhat lost interest and started doing other things while listening to the commentary and occasionally looking at the screen. Rangers went ahead 2-0 early and even extended that lead to a 5-0 advantage later in the game. The Red Sox left a lot of baserunners stranded over the first 6 innings and they weren't looking they they would be able to make a comeback this time. Now in football when a team is 0-5 down the final minutes of a match can become really boring because both sides know that nothing will change until the final whistle. When first watched the Japanese drama series "H2" which is about high school baseball in Japan the main character says one sentence while playing the first game for his new team. They are a few runs behind and the opposing pitcher is trash talking to him pointing out that restistance is futile, he's already lost the game. "Let me show you the benefits of a game with no time limit". There certainly are some. What happened in Boston was that the Sox scored two in the 7th and then rallied to score 4 more in the 8th, the final one being a bases-loaded walk. I guess that's something I really like about the sport. That you have to be aware until the very last out of the game. There's always the possibility that something happens which turns around the game in favour of the other team.

Meanwhile in Japan the Hanshin Tigers are on a run. They lead the Central League 15-4-0 while their fiercest rivals, the Yomiuri Giants are second to last with a 7-12-1 record. Seems like we are in for some surprises this year although it's still very early in the season. There is a great blog which keeps track of the Tigers games regularly.