Tokyo Trip Summary

photo by REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao

So what have we learned, boys and girls, from the Red Sox trip to Japan?

1. David Ortiz is still the king of cool. From appearing in a happi at the sake ceremony to appearing at a Japanese couples' wedding, he makes every appearance that much cooler. I can't get enough Big Papi in the uniform or in street clothes.

2. Anytime can be baseball time. 2 days of waking up at 6am for the games was not all that difficult for me since my normal wakeup time is usually a half hour later. Not all that much of a stretch for me. However it's the 14 F / -10 C outside with 2 foot snowbanks that fool me into believing that baseball can't be played. Maybe not around here, the great white north, but somewhere in the world baseball is being played.

3. The Sox can beat Japanese teams, easily. Winning both games with such thunderous, ravenous Japanese fans in the stands gives the Sox some cred to overcoming the jetlag and away team environments.

4. The Sox still struggle against the A's. Thankfully these 2 games, considered A's home games, were played here and not Oakland Coliseum or whatever .com has claimed the rights to the naming of the stadium there. Reports say Sox fans outnumbered A's fans 20 to one.

5. Manny Ramirez is off to a hot start. Batting .333 with 2 doubles, a HR and 5 RBIs. I know, small sample size, but still this is nothing that should be ignored, he's had plenty of slow starts.

6. Brandon Moss appeared for 2 games in lieu of perenially hurt JD Drew, and got his first Major League home run.

7. Lastly, for Dawn, a charming picture of Lugo. That's a face a mother could love.

photo by AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi