It’s Never Too Early For a Battle of Good vs. Evil

The game won’t mean a whole lot in terms of the standings, but neither the Red Sox or Yankees will let off on the gas pedal when the first installment of the greatest rivalry in all of sports gets underway tonight in Florida.  Yes, it is the first meeting of good versus evil and although the lineups won’t resemble what we’ll see in April it still brings a lot of hype and intrigue to it.  Just ask Bobby Valentine.

“I won’t be able to sleep tonight. This will be a big one, ” – courtesy of Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.

Surely Valentine’s energy will resonate with his players, not that they need any reason to get up for a game against the Bronx Bombers.  But if they do, Valentine will give it to them.

“Yeah, we want to set the tone. We really want to let them know how we are. Send a message.”

Okay, so Valentine was laughing when he said that and with only four regulars penciled in the lineup (Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Mike Aviles) he may have been joking about it.  But you know deep down he wants to win this game more than any other spring training game this far.  After all, what better feeling than beating the Yankees, even if it is only March.

Taking the mound for the Red Sox will be Felix Doubront as he continues to try and make the rotation.  He’ll be followed by Michael Bowden, Vicente Padilla, Junichi Tazawa, Brandon Duckworth and Will Inman.  Not exactly a list of Cy Young caliber pitchers, proving that at least for now, this may be just another game for Bobby V.  We’ll see.

For a complete listing of the Red Sox lineup for tonight, check out the link on The Hub.

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