Scott Kazmir continues to show the ill-effects of Al Leiter’s voodoo wrath, the former’s comeback to the Rays lineup marked by control problems (3 walks, a pair of wild pitches) in Tampa’s 7-3 loss to Boston. Kazmir was pulled after 90 pitches and 4 innings of work, while counterpart Jon Lester made the most of a short outing (6 IP, 5 K’s, little damage besides a Carlos Pena solo HR). Kevin Garnett tees by far outnumbered Rich Garces replica jerseys during the cold Sunday afternoon, which really pokes holes in Buzz Bissinger’s theories about the coarsening of popular culture.

That said, the day’s sartorial highlight is provided above. I’m not sure which is more fantastic, that you can actually purchase a Good Rats denim jacket in 2008 (well, sometime this decade presumably) or that I had to travel to Kenmore Square to see one. Peppi Marchello > Neil Diamond?

Much has been made of the Werner/Lucchino/Henry Axis Of Greed and while I know some portion of the CSTB readership finds the relentless pandering to Pink Hat Nation difficult to abide, never let it be said Red Sox ownership don’t care about local tradition. Retiring Mr. Butch’s number was a very cool thing to do, and my only complaint is they didn’t manage to hold the ceremony on Opening Day.

Small grumblings aside, it was a fine day out at America’s Most Impressed With Itself Sporting Venue, and it compared favorably to Wojohowicz and yours truly’s visit to the Bronx Friday night, in which the Yankees began their weekend sweep of the Mariners by displaying the sort of strategic cunning that was sorely lacking during the Torre Administration.

That’s right, they hit several balls in the general vicinity of Adrian Beltre.