G-Day

Garnett and Gagne in the same day? In Boston? No way...

Though I'm in the midst of packing (read: SHOULD BE in the midst of packing) to make the move to Crystal City, Virginia this weekend, I felt I needed to take some time out to pass on my thoughts about yesterday in Boston sports. I mean, seriously, the day I decide to leave Boston, the Red Sox acquire the dominant bullpen arm they need for security down the stretch and the Celtics acquire a first ballot hall-of-famer and complete the new big three. Just my luck.

Gagne will hopefully always be remembered as the final piece of the puzzle that brought the Red Sox their second World Series title in four years. Garnett should become a legend in Celtics history as the cornerstone of the new Big Three. I mean, can you even conceive of the fact that this town is now host to the odds-on favorites to win their respective championships in three sports? We haven't even spoken about the Patriots, and all they did in the offseason was go out and get Adalius Thomas, Donte Stallworth and Randy Moss, three of the best players in the NFL. They just opened training camp being picked by everybody and anybody with an opinion on the National Football League to win Super Bowl XLII, and they are a distant third on the sports pages this morning.

First, we have to talk about the Garnett trade. With Pierce and Allen, the Celtics can afford to throw out Rajon Rondo (who looked overmatched during last year's tanking debacle) and Kendrick Perkins to round out the starting five. And as much as I hate Brian Scalabrine, he just became a very important piece. Now that he can be a sixth man and not a starter, he can help shoulder the load when KG and/or Perkins needs a rest. Now, the Celtics still need to go out and sign a veteran defensive presence because not one of this new Big Three plays a whole lot of defense (I'm looking at you, Ray Allen) before they can truly be labeled as Championship contenders. But since the Eastern Conference has gone from bad to worse in the last three years, they have become the immediate favorites to go to the NBA Finals. This from a team that was more focused on lottery balls than winning games last year. Still, bleeding green just came back into fashion in Beantown.

And now, Gagne. My father put it in the best perspective last night as we discussed the trade, "So, essentially, the starter has to go about three innings and we'll have a fighting chance every night?" Exactly. Now when Lester starts losing steam after six, we can go to this combo in the bullpen: Delcarmen/Timlin in the 7th, Okajima/Gagne in the 8th, Papelbon in the 9th. With pitching like that, this team can hit .245 the rest of the way and win more than they lose. Everyone will be rested when they need to be. Everyone will be able to shoulder - no pun intended - the load. Let's also put this in perspective. The Yankees traded the ONLY semi-reliable arm in their bullpen, Scott Proctor, yesterday for Wilson Betemit, knowing they will need a third baseman when A-Rod skips town in about 60 days. That's the best you could do, Brian Cashman? I never honestly thought the Yankees would lie down and play dead. But they have to understand that they cannot keep winning games by 13 runs like last night. Eventually, they are going to start playing real competition, not the White Sox and Devil Rays, and they will need pitching. That, not bats, wins championships.

That said, the Red Sox desperately needed to move Wily Mo Pena before yesterday and they didn't do it. They also need a more reliable bat off the bench and glove in the outfield. Jermaine Dye was not the answer. Bobby Kielty might be, and I can't for the life of me figure out why they didn't take a flyer on him. But Wily Mo Pena does not fit on this team. Despite Big Papi's assurances that Pena works very hard, and I have no doubt that he does, this team does not need a guy who can't hit curve balls. They need a singles guy, with a little pop off the bench, someone who will get on base so we can score runs in the late innings to give our uber-bullpen some breathing room. But who knows, maybe Theo has something else up his sleeve.

In any case, this time in history has been great for Boston sports, and yesterday's G-Day helped solidify those good feelings for times to come.