- The Story: The Red Sox kept former Angel Paul Byrd on the roster instead of banged up Rocco Baldelli. The Monkey Says: This also means Manny Delcarmen was left off the roster as well, both of these are excellent developments for the Halos as it takes away a bit from the BoSox bullpen depth and weakens their line-up when they face left-handed starters Kazmir and Saunders.
- The Story: Josh Beckett says his supposedly ailing back is just fine. The Monkey Says: Of course he does, its the playoffs, he’s not really ever going to admit to being injured… not until he loses of course and needs a convenient excuse.
- The Story: Torii Hunter is a finalist for the Hutch Award. The Monkey Says: The award is given for the best example of honor, courage and dedication by a MLB player. I like Torii chances.
- The Story: Prior to Game 1, Mike Scioscia was talking about how dangerous David Ortiz can be. The Monkey Says: After seeing Big Papi whiff three times last night, I wonder how much he actually still believes that.
- The Story: The Angels will be careful about how the use Ervin Santana out of the pen. The Monkey Says: Since Ervin has little experience working in relief, the Angels are going to be very careful about the frequency in which they call upon him, basically ruling out the idea of him pitching on back-to-back nights.
- The Story: Terry Francona did not shake hands with Mike Scioscia before last night’s game because he was suffering from food poisoning. The Monkey Says: Excuse me while I wipe the tears out of my eyes.
- The Story: Neither team was happy with the performance of umpire CB Bucknor last night. The Monkey Says: Bucknor was involved in several controversial plays at first base and generally seemed to botch the calls. Hopefully the umpiring crew will stash him in the outfield for the rest of the series.
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