CARL YASTRZEMSKI

A POWERFUL CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM
An "Impossible Dream" kinda home opener

April 10, 2007 ... There were heaters in the dugout, Red Sox rookie second baseman Dustin Pedroia said. But even in 43-degree weather on a day when a brief appearance by the sun at Fenway Park drew one of the day's bigger ovations from the crowd of 35,847 pitcher Josh Beckett never gave the Sox a chance to feel the chill. Beckett did his own slicing and dicing of Ichiro and the rest of the Seattle Mariners in a 14-3 home opener so one-sided that Sox manager Terry Francona was pulling his regulars in the fifth inning.

While the Sox, who had 14 hits, scored in each of the first five innings to take a 13-1 lead against a Mariners team that looked as if it was still stuck in a snowdrift in Cleveland, Beckett pitched six 1-2-3 innings and retired 15 in a row after Kenji Johjima's single and Yuniesky Betancourt's double in the third. Those were Seattle's only hits in seven innings off the 26-year-old Texan, who stuck a K-K-K branding iron on Ichiro, whiffing him in all three of his at-bats.

That's a rarity for Ichiro. In 13 years of playing baseball on both sides of the Pacific, he has struck out in three consecutive at-bats only three times, the other two times in Japan, once in 1994, his first season as a pro, and again in 1999, against Matsuzaka.

But on a day devoted to honoring Yaz and the other Impossible Dreamers 40 years after their improbable pennant run (Reggie Smith briefly shared center field with Coco Crisp, who attended Reggie's baseball camp as a kid) Beckett was typically subdued in victory. He didn't say anything that will one day wind up on the side of a coffee cup (certainly not in Japanese, which is how Dunkin' Donuts now advertises its goods on a billboard in Fenway Park).

Mariners starter Jeff Weaver, who was pitching 10 days after his last start, was anything but the picture of control. He threw a whopping 47 pitches in Boston's four-run first, which began with a four-pitch walk to new leadoff man Julio Lugo, and left after a three-run second, capped by a home run by another Sox newcomer, J.D. Drew, that almost looked as if he hit it one-handed.

As hellos go, it would be hard to top the one by Drew, who also had a sacrifice fly, reached on an error, and extended his season-opening hitting streak to seven games. But Lugo gave him some competition by reaching base four times with a single, double, and two walks, while Brendan Donnelly entertained the hardy fans who stuck it out with an eighth-inning grudge match against Jose Guillen that nearly precipitated a rumble.

Over the years, Donnelly has had any number of issues with Guillen, who was suspended for insubordination at the end of one season in which he and Donnelly were Angels teammates, then a year later, in 2005, tipped off Washington manager Frank Robinson that Donnelly had pine tar in his glove. For that indiscretion, Donnelly was given a 10-day suspension (later reduced to eight), not to mention an incentive to harbor some ill will toward Guillen.

This was their first encounter since, and Donnelly struck him out. That tugging he did near his front pocket was unintentional, Donnelly said, and nothing like the vulgar farewell salute Derek Lowe gave the Athletics after the final out of the 2003 AL Division Series.

In any event, Guillen said something and pointed his bat in Donnelly's direction, Donnelly barked something back, and the benches emptied for some obligatory milling and posturing. Guillen was tossed, and when Donnelly hit the next batter, Kenji Johjima and Donnelly was gone, too.

Donnelly's ejection had the unintended consequence of giving one more newcomer, Hideki Okajima, the chance to make his Fenway debut. Okajima told Japanese reporters he was so worried about making the fans wait, he hurried through his warm-ups, even though the circumstances allowed him to take as many practice tosses as he needed.

No worry. The stale Mariners had long since turned this one into a training exercise, although they did touch Mike Timlin, fresh off the disabled list, for two runs in the ninth. As home openers go, this was not your father's Toyota. The media dining room featured sushi on the menu and a new trio of wall clocks - one set for Boston time, one fixed on Seattle time, and one set for Tokyo time. It looked like the lobby of a five-star hotel. Nice touch.

The Sox also unveiled new seats upstairs down the right-field line. The metallic bleacher section is dedicated to Tony Conigliaro, and ticket-holders reportedly each get a personal Sherpa guide. There were no boos for the locals during pregame introductions. Coco Crisp's reception was tepid, but none of the cold fans were in much of a mood to be harsh. The loudest ovations were awarded to David Ortiz, Dice-K, Jonathan Papelbon (he's been awarded the coveted Yaz locker), and Johnny Pesky. Manny got the usual Lindbergh treatment and Dice-K's interpreter, Masa Hoshino, also got a nice hand.

After Harry Connick Jr. sang "America The Beautiful," Robert Goulet came out to sing "The Impossible Dream" while Yaz walked to his position in left field. (Some Mariners were still doing wind sprints, diluting the nostalgic effect.) The rest of the legends of '67 followed, and we will say again that this is the most important set of ballplayers in the 107-year history of the Red Sox. We saw Reggie Smith, Ken Harrelson, Mike Andrews, Rico Petrocelli, Dalton Jones, Jose Santiago, and others all wearing vintage uniforms - nice heavy wool for this chilly day. The sun broke through when manager Dick Williams made his way to the mound.