Ok, members of Red Sox Nation aren't exactly dancing in the streets right now as the hometown nine have opened the season with a pretty miserable 5-10 record.  But there are plenty of reasons that Red Sox fans can cheer.  In fact here are my favorite ten.

10 - Jacoby Ellsbury is back and healthy, the speed game is back, and the runs scored will follow.

 

The Josh Beckett of old is back! 
One more reason for Red Sox fans to rejoice

Photo by Keith Allison, used under  creative commons license.

 

8 - Similar stories for Kevin Youkilis, Adrian Gonzalez and JD Drew.  All starting slow, with warmer weather these guys will mash.

7 - You've locked Adrian Gonzalez into a multi-year deal; he's not a single-year rental.

6 - The Yankees rotation is literally pieced together with duct tape and bailing wire.  After Sabathia, we're talking A.J. Burnett, Ivan Nova, Phil Hughes (on the DL) and then Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon.

5 - More on that one: Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon?  I seem to recall those two were really good -- back around 1995.

4 - Even more on that one.  Guess who's going to pull an A-Rod and opt out of his contract at the end of the season?  CC will.  In a market with no other premium pitchers to be had, CC is sure to become a free agent and test the open market.  They'll be some interested suitors, but the Yanks can't afford to let themselves be outbid, so they'll spend even more money to resign CC.  That should make any Red Sox fan smile, the Yankees forced to outbid themselves. And if CC doesn't re-sign as a Yankee, it's worth at least a good laugh.

3 - Josh Beckett has rediscovered his fastball and isn't looking like the batting practice pitcher he seemed to be last year.  Call it rest, call it health, call it the on year/off year theory.  He looks like an ace again.

2 - The Yankees, even with their winning record certainly haven't built much of a lead.  In fact, just one four-game sweep and things are dead even again.

1 - Manny Ramirez wasn't the centerpiece of your offense but the Rays'.  Boston wisely walked away from him several years back and built a brand new offense.  While Gonzalez and Crawford are smacking the ball around in Boston for years to come, the poor Rays will be struggling for runs the whole way and are now unlikely to contend in 2011.  That's one challenger already down for the count.

Yep, being a Sox fan in 2011 sure isn't bad.

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