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I was told the last post I had featured a lame title (thanks Peter).  How does this one sound?

News:  Tim Wakefield has been left off the roster due to injury.  Sad because he is a long time Red Sox and no one is more deserving of this opportunity than Wakefield.

Taking Wakefield's place?  Kyle Snyder.  Not a huge surprise, he pitched fairly well this year and can give you move than a few innings at a time.  Julian Tavarez was also a candidate and I think most would have expected him, but he threw a ton of innings this year and really wasn't sharp for the 2nd half of the season (5.48/1.59) and very bad in September (7.27/1.50).  Snyder probably fills the long relief/spot start role.  Let's hope we don't see him pitch an inning.

Surprise retention:  Eric Gagne.  Despite being, well, terrible thus far in a Red Sox uni, he made the cut.  Perhaps his game 6 outing, a "clean" inning, did the trick to convince management and Francona.

Keys to the World Series match-up against Colorado:

Ellsbury stays in the line-up.  This was actually confirmed by Francona today, so no worries there.

Jon Lester has to step up in his game 4 start.  He pitched well in his 2nd post-season appearance (game 4) shutting out the Indians over 3 innings, but he also imploded in game 2 with 2 earned runs in 0.2 IP including a HR allowed.  So he was certainly a mixed bag in the playoffs and this being his first postseason start, he needs to submit a solid outing.

Terry Francona has to figure out a way to best maximize the offense for the Colorado games.  With no DH, he has to figure out a rotation for Kevin Youkilis, Mike Lowell and David Ortiz.  I would give each one of them a night off and forget trying to figure out a way to get all 3 in.  I heard one suggestion on the radio today to bench Lugo, have Ortiz at 1b, Youkilis at 2b (yes, you read that right) and Pedroia at ss.  Please, let's not play that game.  Why would you move 2 very good fielders out of their position just to get Lowell, Youk and Ortiz all in the same game?  Bad Idea Jeans.

Game 1 Wednesday night at Fenway.  Josh Beckett vs. Jeff Francis.  8:23pm first pitch on, yes, you guessed it, Fox.