This is a nice follow-up to a Masters implosion. Not everyone could pull this off, but from what I’ve seen of the kid, I think he’s going to be alright.

Why is the Masters a spectacle? Because it does certain things that very few institutions – yes, the Masters is as much a sports institution as any others you could think of – it reveres the past, honors those who have achieved that symbol of greatness appropriately, and, more than anything else, come Sunday afternoon on Augusta National’s back nine, it rewards those who risk it all and penalizes those who play conservatively or are just a hair off. You look at the way it starts on a chilly Thursday morning and how it ends on a glorious Sunday afternoon. In between, legends are born, memories are captured, and, for a single athlete, greatness is achieved. It’s the epitome of sport.

And, speaking of implosions, like most Red Sox fans I’m over pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka. Dice-K? How about No Dice? Actually, I think ESPN”s Bobby Valentine is onto to something about Matsuzaka’s inability to truly excel at the major league level in the U.S. after all his success in Japan. The other day he was saying that maybe the Sox would have been better off just letting Matsuzaka do what he did best in Japan – throwing six kinds of pitches at every possible speed, nibbling at the corners and running up 3-2 counts incessantly, and throwing 160 pitches every five days. Clearly, trying to assimilate Matsuzaka to the “American” way of pitching has not paid off; maybe the time has come to send him down to AAA Pawtucket and return to pitching and throwing the way he’s accustomed to and bring him back when he’s ready. It’s certainly a better idea than just keeping things as is, ’cause it ain’t working.

If the Sox remain below .500 a month from now manager Terry Francona will be out of a job. Look, the Red Sox played lousy and pitched lousy in spring training, and they came into the season clearly underperforming in every way possible. You can’t fire the whole team, so if they continue to underperform as they’ve been doing a change at the top will be in order.

The Jarrod Saltalmacchia experiment seems to me to be heading towards failure. He’s not ready to be a day in-day out catcher. Perhaps some time in the minors to get his confidence back is in order, as he’s clearly overmatched in the bigs right now.

I hate Francona’s current lineup. Here is what it should be…

Against lefties: Ellsbury (CF), Pedroia (2B), Ortiz (DH), Youkilis (3B), Gonzalez (1B), Crawford (LF), Saltalmacchia (C), Drew (RF), Scutaro (SS).

Against righties: Ellsbury (CF), Pedroia (2B), Ortiz (DH), Youkilis (3B), Gonzalez (1B), Crawford (LF), Varitek (C), Drew (RF), Lowrie (SS).

…and keep platooning the catcher and shortstop as the in-game situation changes. And, for God’s sake, stick with it!