So, the vaunted "Mayor's Cup" between the Sox and Twins gets underway this evening with the Sox's first Spring Training game of the year. The "Mayor's Cup" is a best-of-five series; however, with the first three games of Spring training all coming against the Twins, we might have a winner soon. As for the "prize," the Cup isn't all that spectacular; however, the bragging rights are noteworthy, as the Sox have won four years running.
Lineups under the break.
For the Red Sox:
McDonald LF; Lowrie 2B; Ortiz DH; Youkilis 3B; Cameron CF; Saltalamacchia C; Kalish RF; Anderson 1B; Iglesias SS
SP: Josh Beckett
Scheduled RPs: Clay Buchholz, Brandon Duckworth, Hideki Okajima, Scott Atchison, Dan Wheeler
For the Twins:
A bunch of guys
SP: Carl Pavano (!?!)
RPs: Another bunch of guys
And, finally, in the running tally of vitally important statistics for the offseason:
Number of Laser Show appearances: 1 (sort of, kinda; he was there, but blink and you missed him)
Number of positions played by Jed Lowrie: 2 (I'd be tempted to put an over/under on 4.5)
Amount of payroll expected to be in starting lineup not playing today: Approximately $340 million