The Resurrection of Spring, 10th Inning, Tokyo, Japan

"Ramirez stood frozen in the batter's box, admiring his 10th-inning drive to center field off Huston Street, thinking it would be a three-run homer. Instead, the ball bounced off the wall for his second two-run double, good enough to lift the Red Sox over the Oakland Athletics 6-5 on Tuesday night."

♣

And why are the Red Sox playing the Oakland A's in Tokyo? Best to ask Bud Selig and the MLB bankers. Oh well. Manny's double (he had four of the six Sox rbis) gave the Bosox the first win of the 2008 baseball season, and it sealed the win for Japanese reliever Hideki Okajima and the save for Jonathan Papelbon. Such wonderful names—Ramirez, Okajima and Papelbon in the American Game. And Daisuke Matsuzaka (aka Dice-K) pitched five innings with no decision.

Thanks to the AP sports writer who wrote the sentence about Manny posing at the plate to watch the arc of the ball sail into the blue Japanese sky. It made me happy. Happy enough to write something to welcome back the baseball season. I can't help it. Baseball, especially the box scores and the characters like Manny Ramirez, are one of my many addictions. And Manny--much to the frustration of many sports writers--happily has good karma. Besides, he refuses to show up at the White House for the George Bush Show. That speaks well of Manny and his happy karma.