Tampa, FL., March 29 — Fans of both the Red Sox and the Yankees could be forgiven for anticipating today’s game in Legends Field since back when the Spring schedule was announced. Just five days before the season opener in New York featuring the two teams with the best rivalry in sports, enthusiasts were all agog about a potential Schilling/Johnson matchup just days before a national audience would flock to their TVs to view the official opener.

Then as it became apparent that Boston’s ace would not make the dance card either this day or on April 3, expectations were still abuzz with former Yankee David Wells presumed to take Schilling’s place. Any chance that the weather gods would intrude on the fun were dispelled when the morning broke with rising temps and the scattered high clouds being ushered out of sight like embarrasssing cousins when the cameras start rolling at a Hollywood wedding. The National Anthem was delivered in charming fashion by a local news anchor and his wife, and Sox and Yankee fans took their seats to watch the lights-out pitching from the best that money can buy.

But then reality intruded into the picture. With Wells having pitched for the Sox the day before, and Johnson and his nasty stuff (apparently not) embarrassing minor-leaguers two blocks away, the game began with fans of both stripes turning to one another with puzzled expressions and the word “Who?” planted firmly on their lips. The Sox beat the Yanks this day, 7-2, but the only home-team pitchers to toe the mound for multiple innings were Aaron Small and Alex Graman. (They would allow six of the seven runs between them.)

Now lest you think that the front-line Sox were picking on AAA (and AA?) Yankees, be advised that the starting Boston outfield had the names “Lockwood,” “Hall,” and “Durbin” printed on their backs. The (largely intact) Yankee lineup jumped on Boston journeyman lefty John Halama for a run in the bottom of the first for a quick 1-0 lead, the only time the perhaps 70/30 Pinstriped crowd would be able to cheer all day. The hometown nine accrued just four hits and no runs over the next five.

But the Boston stars hardly impressive either. At the top of the Boston order, Mark Bellhorn, Bill Mueller, Kevin Millar, and David Ortiz (wearing a no-name number 79 shirt) produced three hits, no runs and and two rbi’s (back-to-back third-inning fielder’s choice grounders from Bellorn and Mueller) among them. Backup catcher Doug Mirabelli did have a good day, with two doubles, two runs and an rbi on three-for-four hitting, but he provided perhaps the most interesting moments too, as in the home fourth he caught Byung Hyun Kim, the Korean reliever whom he trashed in the press as a bad teammate little more than a week ago.

The Red Sox beat the Yankees largely because the Bombers failed to hit against less than front-line pitching, but also because the no-names Terry Francona sent into battle outperformed those Joe Torre utilized. The aforementioned Sox starting outfield had four big hits, scored two of the runs, and knocked in two more. Torre’s subs came up with two hits and an unearned run.

Tanyon Sturtze was smacked for two extra-base hits, a walk, and a run in the sixth, but both Mike Stanton and Paul Quantrill were OK, allowing a base hit apiece with no runs in their respective innings. But one-time prospect Graman gave the fans and the organization yet another reason not to worry that he has no options left, and will likely be a free agent in a week. He took a 4-1 deficit into the top of the seventh and 29 pitches, three hits, and two walks later, the Sox had themselves a 7-1 laugher.

But it was a gorgeous day for the grand old game, and after cooking under a bright blue sky with temps in low 80’s all afternoon, we made our way across the Bay to Clearwater where the home-standing Phillies hosted the Devil Rays. This was a crisper battle, and neither team concealed their strengths, as temps hovered in the 60s. In the end, Lou Piniella must have been ecstatic as the weak-hitting Jays cleared fences three times, the last with rookie Jorge Cantu providing the eighth-inning winner off Tim Worrell in a 5-4 Tampa Bay win.

Driving back to Tampa, we mused that we should hardly have been surprised that in the first game, we did not see a repeat of the quirky March 29 exhibition the Yanks and Sox played played back in 1948, going an unprecedented 17 innings in a 2-2 battle. But on a day when the crowd did not get twin aces, we could have hoped for perhaps a little more of the moundman’s art on the immortal Cy Young’s 138th birthday. Rather, thinking of the quality of the play and the nature of some of the invective hurled back and forth among bands of fans in Legends Field breeds thoughts of an entirely different kind. Game One was more the kind of contest one finds between the Knights of the Round Table and the French in Broadway’s laugh riot Spamalot on this, creator Eric Idle’s 62nd birthday.

YANKEE BASEBALL!!!