You're still on MLB.com, but I'm going to let a basketball blog break out here for a bit.

Forget about the seven-game series with Atlanta, which was a strange event in which the Celtics blew out the Hawks in all four games at home and looked like a lost bunch on the road.

For all intents and purposes, the NBA Playoffs for the Celtics began Tuesday night at the Garden in one of those rock em, sock em defensive tilts that marks true playoff basketball.

This was a battle of will on both sides and the difference was simply the two superstars. Kevin Garnett made all of his big shots. The King missed all of his -- including a layup in which he had Kendrick Perkins backwards -- that could have sent the game into Overtime.

It's doubtful that you'll ever see Paul Pierce and Ray Allen combine for four points in a basketball game ever again. And if it does somehow happen again, you can be sure the Celtics won't win. Just as you can be sure the Cavs won't win if LeBron goes 2-for-19 or whatever it was he shot last night yet they almost did anyway in this case. Strange, strange game. I'm not sure about you, but I'm feeling pretty good about Wally Szcerbiak (sp?) being on the other side of this matchup. Then again, I'd take Delonte West on my team any day.

One thing that drives me crazy is all the people that somehow think Doc Rivers is the reason whenever this team loses a basketball game or doesn't play up to its capability. This is a veteran team that shouldn't need a coach to put them over the top. I think Doc has had these guys prepared to play all year. The critics of Doc remind me a lot of the critics of Tito in post-October 2004. Francoma anyone? All those people who came up with that silly nickname must feel pretty idiotic if they are man or woman enough to own up to it. Those same people will be filling pretty silly if the Celtics win No. 17 this June.

While I think we'd all rather watch a more artistic game when the two teams are actually making shots, I did find last night's game to be a thoroughly entertaining watch. Just two teams grinding and fighting and desperate to win.

I'm sure Game 2 will have a different personality. That's just the way playoff basketball is.

Oh, by the way Manny belted No. 497 last night. Can anyone else in baseball besides Manny hit a lazy flyball that goes 420 feet? And it was the first time he had ever seen this kid pitcher and he rakes at the first pitch and puts it over the wall. I'll say it again. What an unbelievable hitter this guy is.

Later,

 Ian.

Mike Lowell celebrated tomorrow's release of his book by hitting, yes, his first deep drive of 2008. I'm sure plenty more are on the way. And by the way, everyone should check out his work as an author.

Lowell's book -- co-authored by the blogtastic Rob Bradford of the Boston Herald -- is a terrific read. I haven't read the whole thing yet. I've gotten through 100 pages in about three days and loving it so far. The book will be available in stores tomorrow.

There is great insight from Lowell about his childhood, and how connected he was to his father, and how baseball was something they truly bonded over. I love the part about how on every Wednesday afternoon, Lowell and his dad and his brothers would go to a local ballfield with a bucket of balls and Papa Lowell would throw them BP. Carl Lowell was a very accomplished pitcher in his own day, representing Puerto Rico with some memorable performances, particularly when he beat Cuba.

Anyway, after BP and shagging and taking grounders, the boys would fetch all the balls and put them back in the bucket. The reward? Slurpies at 7/11. Lowell says in the book, "Wednesday is still my favorite day of the week."

There's also detailed information about the root of the Lowell family's utter hatred for Fidel Castro.

There is in-depth stuff about how Lowell snapped out of the funk he was in during 2005 by enlisting his old hitting coach Gary Denbo, who was in Japan at the time. Lowell was so desperate for an answer that he talked to Denbo through some video device on the computer.

A few months later, Lowell met up with Denbo in Florida for some 1-on-1 work. But soon thereafter, Denbo was hired by the Yankees and therefore, could no longer help Lowell. By this time, Lowell had already gotten a good foundation again and was on his way to regaining his All-Star stroke.

Each chapter leads with an unfiltered journal entry -- Bradford obviously didn't touch these. Lowell talks a lot about his kids and his family life and it becomes clear how much he loves being a father.

I've already been impressed with the read, and I haven't even gotten to the in-depth stuff yet on his successful fight against cancer or the championship rides of 2003 and 2007.

I highly recommend this book.

Ian.

With Curt Schilling on a completely different program than the rest of the players -- he gets here extremely early for his rehab work and leaves early also -- we don't see him that much in the clubhouse. Today was an exception, and the rehabbing right-hander was insightful -- as he usually is when he speaks -- on how things are going.

Here is a complete transcript of what was said:
 

Schilling, "I'm closer to throwing. I don't know. We're getting close. I would argue that we're close to throwing in the next week to 10 days probably. It's a big day. I feel great. I feel strong. I feel everything I'm supposed to feel."

Compared to January, "There's no comparison where I am, physically, strength wise, any of it."

Pleasantly surprised? "I'm past that part. I got past that early and just kind of turned into the daily grind thing. Coming in and staying focused on what I had to get done that day to get my goals met that day and move on to the next thing."

"It's not hard. It never was. There's a certain challenge to it because I couldn't be farther from being a part of the team. But I never looked at it as hard. It was a necessary part of what was happening. I've done it before. It's not fun. But you don't think about those aspects of it. Just like when I'm pitching, I have a list of things I have on the day I pitch, I have a list of things I have to do when I come to the park. I'm doing those as hard as I can do them, as good as I can do them, is my daily thing."

Strength testing? "We've done a bunch of them and we continue to improve every single one and I think there's a couple of last things last things that Mike wants to see and be happy with to move to the next step."
 
Confident you'll be able to take the next step? "I've never thought otherwise. If I didn't believe, absolutely, that I would have the ball in a World Series game, I wouldn't be doing this. There's a lot of things that have to happen between now and then. There's an assumption, I think, for some people that don't really think about this, which most people probably don't, but, this is not about just me getting healthy and coming back. I have to be good. I'm not just going to get the ball because I'm a starting pitcher. I'm going to have to be good. Last I looked, this rotation didn't have a hole in it. There's a lot of different scenarios that might come about with an innings limit for guys but I've got to come back and be good. I can't just can't get healthy and expect to come back and get a spot. That's a challenge."

Once you do start throwing, what happens from there? "Nice try but no. I don't know. I really don't. I don't think we know. We have an idea of a time-table but once we start throwing, like anything else, everything goes out the window and you kind of go day by day on how you feel and what you're doing. "

Starting to feel more connected to team? "Well, no, until I'm on a schedule that keeps me at the ballpark out of necessity, I'm here and done most days, usually by like, 2. And, it's like, my day's done. I've never gone through this. It's weird. It's very odd, very uncomfortable. Like I said, I try and impact the guys on this team that I'm close with at times when we have time to talk away from everybody. Then I go do my thing. It's weird. But, you know, that's part of it."

 
Harder to leave, or would it be harder to stay once the game starts, "Oh, it would be a lot harder to hang around the ballpark from 2 to midnight every night with nothing to do. So there's no comparison there."

How close to picking up a ball? "I don't know. Soon. Very soon."
 
Work right now? "Today is a light day. We're alternating heavy and light days. The heavy day just got immensely heavy so the light days are much, much lighter, to allow ... We've come to realize the whole way through this that every time after I have like an off day, I'm immensely better the following day. The workload on my heavy day is excessive. There's no pain, no stamina issues, no strength loss, no lingering effects, which is a huge plus. I've said before and even through now, I haven't thrown yet. That's the big piece to this. I might go, I don't expect to, but there's a chance I could go out and throw next week and I'd just feel miserable and it would all be for naught. I don't envision with the amount of work that we've done and the things that we're doing that I'm going to come back and start throwing and be out. That's not going to work. I think that we're set now to go for an extended period of time with me throwing and getting more amped up on the throwing side of things to see how far we can take it."

Pain free? "Since the injection for the most part. I haven't had a day where I've had, on a scale of 1 to 10, pain in the two to three neighborhood and if I had been uncomfortable any day, it's never been carried out after I left. I've never had any issues up to this point."

The work of the rotation: "Obviously the last three or four days have been phenomenal. That, to me, the personality make-up, starting with John at the top as the pitching coach, is, it's huge. It's hard to convey this without it sounding wrong but you get a competition that is a good thing. The first piece of that is talented pitchers. You don't have competition if guys suck, unless you're having a competition to see who sucks worse. These guys are all very, very good to great. You get Josh setting a bar  ... Obviously Dice-K wants to be a bar setter. And then you have these kids who, you know, are kind of feeling their way. You've got one who's just a natural gifted kid and the other kid who is a grinder in Jonny. They start to do things that maybe they haven't done before. Then they start to expect those things. Now you've got a whole rotation. Then you have Wake, who every fifth day takes the ball and has a good chance to win. It's been fun to watch, really fun to watch."

In other matters ... Ellsbury is back in the lineup. Coco, sore left knee and sore right hamstring, is out. Drew still out. He'll be back in there tomorrow. Bartolo Colon will get back on the rehab trail on Monday in Sarasota against a lower minors Orioles affiliate.

Without further ado, today's lineup:

Ellsbury CF
Pedroia 2B
Ortiz DH
Ramirez LF
Lowell 3B
Youkilis 1B
Moss RF
Varitek C
Lugo SS

Buchholz SP

Nothing like 9:30 baseball on a Friday night. At least I got to watch the first half of the Celtics game during the rain delay. They need to play better interior defense in the second half.

Update: I also so most of the second half. What a choke job. Garnett made 2 or 3 turnovers in the fourth, Pierce fouled out -- admittedly a bad call -- with five minutes left. Nobody stepped up to do anything. I'm sure there will be speculation that Doc's job is on the line in Game 7.

Ian.

Aside from Patriots' Sundays, there have been very few times over the past few years that a Red Sox game at Fenway Park can be looked at as the second game in town. But let's face it, all the attention is on the team in Green, as it should be.

Big, big game over at the TD Bank tonight. I kind of wish I was there to be honest with you, but being here isn't so bad either.

Dice-K is taking the ball here on 11 days rest. Thus far, he's looked sharp, though as the esteemed colleague to my right said, this Toronto offense hasn't exactly been on their game lately.

Very quiet pre-game here at Fenway. Bryan Corey has elected to stay in the organization after clearing waivers. He'll report to Pawtucket. Drew and Ellsbury are both day-to-day, leaving Lugo as the only option should one of the starting outfielders get hurt.

How big a breakthrough did Lester make last night? We'll find out on Sunday, when he chucks again against Tampa Bay. Young, talented pitchers are always capable of the gems here and there, but it's when the consistency starts happening that you have a pitcher taking his game to the next level. He'll be facing Kazmir in the 2008 debut of the highly talented Tampa Bay lefty, who has been on the disabled list.

The Red Sox went into this game without an extra base hit in 33 consecutive innings. Is that really possible?

And I would love to hear from anyone who was at Boston's last 1-0 walkoff victory, won on a homer by Dave Stapleton in the bottom of the 10th on July 18, 1980.

Remember good old Stape? He did an above average job defensively at all four infield positions. That's impressive. While he's remembered as the guy who should have been inserted for Bill Buckner in the bottom of the 10th inning at Shea in Game 6 of '86, I remember how versatile he was. I also remember that completely upright batting stance he had. And I also remember how his batting average went down each season he was in the Majors:

Check it out:

1980: .321
1981: .285
1982: .264
1983: .247
1984: .231
1985: .227
1986: .128.

We haven't had this much good Dave Stapleton talk in a while. Tomorrow, we should break down Glenn Hoffman. Does anyone remember Ed Jurak?

On that note, I'll be back.

Ian.

Could there be a better time for Mike Lowell to come back? The offense has been sputtering and the team --entering tonight -- had lost five in a row.

Timing is everything. Lowell isn't just a productive player, but he is a presence on this team.

Ortiz was back in there tonight after getting a couple of days off to rest the knee. I'm sure he had to be beating himself up over the dive into first on Friday night. I know the guy was trying to win but the pure fact is that the head first dive doesn't get you to first any faster than the straight-out sprint.

This is one of the few times in recent memory that the Red Sox could actually have a little bit of a slump and for it to be glossed over around town. All anyone was talking about today was the Celtics' loss last night. And it was a very bad loss. But I wouldn't jump off the bandwagon just yet.

All of a sudden,  a bunch of naysayers are talking about how Garnett never took his game to another level in Minnesota. I understand that, but he's not in Minnesota anymore. He is in Boston, playing for the best team he's ever been on. I wouldn't write this guy off after one game. I have a feeling he is still going to have a huge few weeks of playoff basketball. Also, I'd love to see Phoenix turn the tables and put a serious scare into the Spurs. Full confession here. Steve Nash is my favorite current NBA player. I absolutely love watching that guy. He plays with tremendous heart.

I'd be surprised if the Celtics don't take the next two and end this thing in six. If this thing does get to a Game 7, that would be frightening considering that just about everyone -- including yours truly -- expected this thing to be a sweep.

Anyway, you can expect plenty of Celtics talk from me over the next few weeks.

Ian.

I'm sitting this weekend at out, chilling at home rather than making the trip to Tropicana Field. Tough loss tonight, for sure. Let's face it, this week has been difficult with all the illness and injuries and it's starting to take its toll.

David Ortiz showed the kind of warrior he is when he went diving into first base to try and stay out of that double play. Unfortunately, he didn't quite get there. But mark my words. That man will hit, and will hit a lot this season.

At any rate, keep the game comments coming all weekend while I'm off. I enjoy reading them. And it's nice to see all of you building a nice Red Sox community on the blog for another season.

Talk to you later,

 Ian.

Here we go at Fenway, with Justin Masteron getting ready to make his anticipated debut at Fenway.

We've had a few of these the last few years. We all remember when Jonathan Papelbon -- then known as Jon -- made his first start against the Twins on July 31, 2005. He looked electric from the start.

And who could forget the foggy, rainy day when Jon Lester had to sit through about a five-hour delay before pitching his first game against the Rangers in June, 2006.

Of course, last year, we had the Buchholz debut in August against the Angels followed by the  second start no-hitter against the Orioles.

Now, it's Masteron's turn. By the way, great note by Kevin Thomas of the Portland Press-Herald about the seven pitchers who have made their first starts with the Red Sox after starting the season at Portland.

Abe Alvarez, July 22, 2004 (loss to Orioles)
Jonathan Papelbon, July 31, 2005 (no decision vs. Twins)
David Pauley, May 31, 2006 (no decision, vs. Blue Jays)
Kason Gabbard, July 22, 2006 (loss to Mariners)
Devern Hansack, Sept. 23, 2006 (loss to Blue Jays)
Clay Buchholz, Aug. 17, 2007 (win over Angels)

And as Kevin notes, only Buchholz got the win. Will Masterson join him today?

Crazy stuff. Now it's Dice-K's turn to call in sick at the last minute. This, just 24 hours after Beckett couldn't go. Lester will fill in for Matsuzaka. And he'll be on three days rest.

Who will pitch tomorrow? Masterson? Zink? Wakefield on three days rest? We have our answer, via the Portland Press Herald, fine news gathering organization that they are. And great job by FOBP -- Friend of Brownie Points -- Joe Haggerty for scouring through sonsofsamhorn and getting this link. Red Sox PR maven John Blake said, "We're still listing it as TBA". Take it for what it's worth. John, of course, isn't allowed to say anything until the official roster move is made.

Even though Jason Varitek is out of the lineup for the fourth straight day as he recovers from his sickness, the Red Sox opted not to call up another catcher in place of the departed David Pauley. Instead, a familiar face has resurfaced in the form of Craig Hansen. The righty with all that promise has been lights out at Pawtucket. Manny Delcarmen is still recovering from his sickness so it's not surprising Hansen was the choice tonight.

However, if Varitek can't catch tomorrow's day game after the night game, it wouldn't surprise me if Hansen is sent right back after the game tonight and Dusty Brown comes in to catch tomorrow's game. They don't want to run Cash into the ground just yet.

So we'll see.

A plan is being outlined for Mike Lowell in terms of when he can go on a rehab assignment so I hope to have some info on that shortly.

Hasta La Vista,

Ian.

No Josh Beckett tonight. The ace has a combination of a stiff neck and a bad cold. David Pauley has arrived from Pawtucket.

Does anyone remember the time Pedro was scratched at the last minute in 2003 with a lat injury and Bruce Chen was summoned and beat the Yankees that night? And great call by BoSox Brian on Casey Fossum coming through in August of that same Cowboy Up season when Pedro got sick.

No Jason Varitek tonight. The captain is still sick. Dustin Pedroia -- yes, Dustin Pedroia -- is the emergency catcher. To make room on the roster for Pauley, the Sox had to designate Joe Thurston for assignment. By the way, Manny Delcarmen was also sent home sick.

Tonight's lineup:

Ellsbury CF
Pedroia 2B
Ortiz DH
Ramirez LF
Youkilis 3B
Drew RF
Casey 1B
Cash C
Lugo SS

Pauley SP

It is one of the truly unique days of the Red Sox season. Marathon Monday. It's the only time I truly have to set my alarm clock for a home game. But it also is a day that holds special meaning to me.

The first baseball game I ever went to when I was a kid? Marathon Monday, 1980. The date was April 21, which coincidentally enough, is today's date? So it was 28 years ago that this whole baseball thing started for me. I was eight years old and my mother still remembers the day as a life-changing event for me. I went to the game with my dad. When my mom saw me, she said I had a look on my face she had never seen before. Yes, I found out what baseball was all about that day.

Looking back on it, it was a hot, sunny day. It was literally about 80 degrees. I was sitting in the bleachers, which were $2 a ticket at that time. There was non-stop action in the game as a look back at Retrosheet shows.

The Red Sox won the game, 9-8, against the White Sox.

Bruce Hurst started for the Sox, getting knocked out with nobody out in the second inning and allowing four hits and four runs.

Check out the Red Sox lineup from that day:

Evans RF
Burleson SS
Lynn CF
Rice LF
Perez 1B
Fisk DH
Sizemore 2B
Hoffman 3B
Allenson C

It was one of those zany Fenway days. The White Sox had a 5-1 lead by the top of the third.
But back came the Sox with a five-spot in the bottom of the third, to take a 6-5 lead. In that inning, they hit no fewer than three home runs with two outs, as the men of honor were Burleson, Rice and Fisk. Then it was the White Sox scoring three in the top of the fourth to go up 8-6.

The last laugh, however, went to the Red Sox. They scored three in the bottom of the eighth. I wish I could remember how they scored those three runs in the eighth, but the memory was a little fuzzy. All I remember is that I was hooked, and that hasn't stopped. I also remember watching the runners go by in Kenmore Square. Bill Rodgers was the winner that day, and I remember the crowd roaring when he ran by.

Now, we're here again today. And on to to current events: Manny (scheduled day off), Varitek (flu) and Casey (lefty pitching) are all out of the lineup.

This is the lineup:

Ellsbury CF
Pedroia 2B
Ortiz DH
Youkilis 1B
Drew RF
Lowrie 3B
Lugo SS
Cash C
Thurston LF

Buchholz SP

That's all for now.

Ian.