March 26, 2008|By ROCH KUBATKO
The clubhouse television usually is turned off in the mornings, unless reliever Jamie Walker decides to crank up CMT and torture his teammates with the latest country hits. But players gathered around the set yesterday to catch a few innings of the Boston Red Sox-Oakland Athletics season opener from Tokyo.
By the time the media was allowed inside at 8 a.m., the game already had progressed to the sixth inning. Jeremy Guthrie and Jim Johnson pulled up chairs so they could watch in comfort. Others stood behind them or sat at their lockers.
"Where was that pitch, Steve?" someone asked Steve Trachsel, who gave the standard pitcher's response that it was a "right down the middle," even though he just arrived and had no idea. The 13-hour time difference was a popular topic, with players trying to imagine how it felt to show up for batting practice. "They had to get up pretty early," Walker said.
As more bodies crowded around the television, another player walked into the clubhouse, took a quick glance and jokingly asked, "Are you guys watching porn?"
