Carl Yastrzemski, one of the best ballplayers to ever grace a Major League uniform, and last player to win the triple-crown award, was hospitalized today at Mass General for what his spokesman says is some chest pains. The following comes from the Boston Herald:

Last week, millions of households witnessed the Winchester, MA native and Olympian gymnast, Alicia Sacramone, and her struggles in Beijing.

After a horrific fall on the balance beam (which might have cost the U.S. a gold medal), she was inevitably robbed of a medal by the Olympic judges during the vault competition. Sacramone completed two clean attempts while China's Cheng Fei made a costly(?) error by landing on her knees while attempting her second vault jump.

Apparently a gymnast can now earn a bronze medal even with a fall, as Cheng Fei captured the bronze medal due to the "difficulty of her vaults."

Alicia, you were robbed, and that sucks.

a€"

So why am I writing about Sacramone and women's gymnastics? Well, for one, I was one who was caught up in the drama that is the Olympic judging. Also, Alicia is not your ordinary gymnast. What makes her different?

[...]

1967 was the year of the "Impossible Dream" pennant race in Major League Baseball. In 1967, Yaz won the triple-crown award, the Sox went from last-to-first and reached the World Series, the team consisted of names like Yaz, Williams, Tartabull, Petrocelli, and Scott.

On this day 41 years ago, a young phenom they called Tony C stepped up to the plate in Fenway Park.

Conigliaro was the future of the Boston Red Sox, the youngest player to reach 100 home runs, the man who clobbered 24 HR's as a 19-year-old rookie, a Revere, MA native, St. Mary's of Lynn graduate and true a Bostonian. Tony C encapsulated what it meant to be a true Red Sox icon.

It was this faithful day in which the Sox icon's career was in jeropardy.

[...]

Is Jason Varitek's personal life affecting his performance on the field? The answer is no.

If you haven't heard by now, 'Tek and his wife, Karen, recently split-up after 12 years of marriage. We're hearing the news now, but Varitek filed for divorce about 3 weeks ago.

One can make a case that Varitek's struggles at the plate may pertain to his off-the-field issues. It's surely a possibility. Last year we witnessed J.D. Drew struggle out of the gate due to a couple of reasons; one being the situation with his sick son, the other adjusting to the Boston sports scene.

With Varitek, his struggles haven't been solely based on this year. If we look at his splits from last year, the drop-off occured after last year's All Star break, in which The Captain hit a mere .225 in the second half.

Keeping the stats in mind, maybe we can assume that Varitek is simply losing his swagger at the plate. Indeed he calls the best game behind the plate as a catcher, but at 36-years-old, one might have to assume an offensive drop-off is expected.

We as a fan-base must face the facts: Varitek's offensive game is diminishing; but is it worth it to let Varitek walk as a free agent at the end of the year considering what is out on the market in terms of catchers? Who would the Sox bring in?

Exactly.

Let's hope 'Tek is willing to take a paycut to stay in 2009.

a€"

Now that we've indulged in the personal life of 'Tek, why not continue?

According to various inside Lansdowne 9 sources, it appears that Jason Varitek and Sox sideline reporter, Ms. Heidi Watney, are apparently working out in the bedroom. This may serve as a valid reason why the break-up between 'Tek and his wife is currently occuring. Watney started working for the Red Sox in May. If true, she didn't take long to jump all over Captain and become a home-wrecker.

As for her job, the Watney era may come to an end shall these rumors become valid.

That would be a shame; and shame on you people who are secretly congratulating Varitek for hooking up with the unbelievably good-looking, astounding sideline girl.

;)

Any type of baseball game's outcome in which the final tally compares to that of an NFL score is a thrilling game to watch a€" last night's Red Sox/Rangers game lived up to it as the Sox edged the Texas bombers, 19-17.

The Red Sox exploded with a 10-run first inning, capped off by David Ortiz' 2 HR's and 6 RBI's. I started to see remnants of the Red Sox/Marlins game back in '03 in Fenway. The Red Sox scored-- runs in the first inning of the game off Carl Pavano, and Mike Lowell was on the other side of the spectrum, playing third base for the soon-to-be World Champion Florida Marlins team.

Only this time the Red Sox managed to blow their massive lead. Here's an interesting fact from Yahoo Sports: The last time a team came back from a 10-run deficit was May 8, 2004, when the Rangers rallied from a---4 deficit to win 16-15 in 10 innings, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. I'm not sure what it is about Texas, but their teams have been notorious for being able to rake. We all remember this game from last year.

[...]

Normally I wouldn't ponder about the performance of Drew, especially one day after he hammered a go-ahead double in last night's 5-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox, but his comments after the game sent a friendly reminder of the type of player he's been a€" soft.

"It's almost like an off day, but it's not," Drew said. "It's a nice break for the legs, the stress of going after balls in the outfield, cutting balls off in the gap - it's nice to get a break from that."

Wait a minute, the "stress" of going after balls in the outfield? Sorry, J.D., we didn't mean to hinder your bliss of YOU. This serves as yet another case in which if J.D. Drew doesn't feel 100%, he won't mind having a day or two off. His career-high in games played during a single season is--6. Drew is certainly not one to grind out a game. Baseball Prospectus broke down a yearly overview of Drew's injuries since 2000. Below is the assertion from 2001.

[...]

Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald reported this morning:

"Wakefield was supposed to start tomorrow's homestand opener against the Texas Rangers, but instead will go on the disabled list. A replacement has yet to be named, but Michael Bowden, today's scheduled starter for Triple-A Pawtucket, is a top candidate with Devern Hansack a possibility as well."

The reports have apparently changed as the Providence Journal's Sean McAdam reports that budding minor-league knuckleball pitcher, Charlie Zink, is the favorite to finally jump ship to the big leagues. He also mentions that Devern Hansack is another option, but the Sox seem to be leaning towards the knuckleballer.

As for Bowden, it's a great idea that the Sox not rush the top-regarded prospect to the Majors. He was just called up to AAA and his arm needs more seasoning before he should be considered an option. Look for Bowden to get a chance sometime late next year if things go to plan.

As for Zink, he is certainly no Wakefield, but his 2008 minor league numbers have been spectacular for AAA Pawtucket. As we know with knuckleball pitchers, they can be streaky a€" the same goes for Zink. Although his 2.89 ERA helps his cause for a couple of spot-starts, the Sox are still considering Hansack. Hansack has some, although limited experience with the big club.

[...]

If you haven't heard the recent news by now, the Red Sox claimed Brian Giles off waivers yesterday and have 48 hours to work out a possible trade to bring the veteran outfielder to Boston. The real question we have to ask ourselves is, why?

Rumor has it that Theo placed in the claim simply to deny the Angles or Rays a shot at picking up the 37-year-old. In that case, this ordeal indeed makes sense, but lets play the role of Terry Francona and say Brian Giles were to agree to come to Boston.

Defensively, the Red Sox are set in the outfield. Coco Crisp and Jacoby Ellsbury's defense in the center field has been nothing short of superb. Jason Bay seems to have a knack for playing balls off the wall, sort of like the Sox' old left-fielder from Washington Heights. JD Drew certainly isn't a liability as your starting right fielder. He could be a quality bat off the bench, but do you think Brian Giles would be alright with that?

Beyond that, if we take a glance at the stat book, we see that Giles' numbers have irrevocably diminished with age. He' still a guy who can get on base and draw a fair share of walks, much like the Greek-God of walks, Kevin Youkilis, but the power isn't there anymore.

[...]

After last night's preponderance over the Kansas City Royals, you can bet Jacoby Ellsbury was flexing his muscles in the clubhouse mirror, aspiring to look like Arnold before his 6th run at Mr. Olympia in South Africa.

It was Ellsbury's towering 3-run blast that helped spur the 8-2 Red Sox victory.

For the past couple months, Ellsbury has been sleeping with the fishes. During the hiatus, from June 1 - August 2, we witnessed his batting average drop from .298 to .258. In that time-frame, he stole just 9 bases.

As the post-Manny era began last week, Ellsbury's resurgance could not have come at a better time. Two nights ago he stole his first base since July 1 and last night came a rare home run for the young Oregon native a€" his first off a southpaw in his career. Ellsbury's last home run came on June 15th during an interleague game with the Cincinatti Reds. He cracked that home run off Homer Bailey, the Bronson Arroyo, Jered Weaver, and Tim Lincescum look-a-like. (What is it with these pitchers and their stupid, little haircuts?)

[...]

Maybe it's just a coincidence that Joba Chamberlain was recently placed on the DL due to right shoulder tendinitis a€" maybe this was simply a foregone conclusion.

The fact of the matter is the Yankees ownership wanted the fireballer to be a starting pitcher, so they quickly tried to groom the reliever to try to handle a starting pitchers workload. The Steinbrenners raised eyebrows as many felt Joba's best role was the setup man in New York. We now know Joba's rush to the starting rotation was a foreshadowing of what was to come a€" a visit to Dr. James Andrews. Anybody in baseball knows that visiting with Dr. Andrews raises much concern for a pitchers future.

[...]

Zero.

That's the number of errors Jed Lowrie has made in a Red Sox uniform. That factoid alone should cement Lowrie at short stop for the rest of the season, but Julio Lugo (who still leads the AL with 16 errors despite not playing since July 11th) has been lurking in the training pool like a $36 million dollar shark looking to reclaim his territory.

Tito says Lugo still isn't ready to begin baseball activities, but Lowrie may be sensing that his roster spot is in jeopardya€¦ hence the sudden outburst at the plate this month.

While teammates Kevin Youkilis (12-game hit streak) and Dustin Pedroia (26-game hit streak on road) gobble up all the headlines, Jed Lowrie has quietly gone on a tear in August, compiling a 5-game hit streak of his own that includes a double, two triples and a staggering 9 RBI from the bottom of the line up.

Apparently the Boston Red Sox have an affinity for tinkering with road teams parks, more specifically, the walls.

It all started back in New York and it involved Kevin Youkilis and Johnny Damon. During a series against the Yankees, Youkilis smashed a deep fly to left. Johnny Damon went backed and the ball deflected off his glove and literally sat on top of the wall. It was a whacky night in the Bronx. I play like that is one of the most odd plays you will ever see in baseball. You would think a play like that happens once in a million, and granted, it should.

Not with these Red Sox.

[...]

While observing the 9th inning of last night's game against the Royals, I noticed something with David Ortiz' swing. The first pitch Ortiz saw in that at bat he looked like he was trying to smash the hell out of the ball, only 3/4 of the way through his swing it almost looked like he was trying to hold up.

I didn't think anything of it, but later on it happened again when Ortiz fouled off another Joakim Soria pitch. It all came together this morning while listening to Felger & Bradford discuss the apparent injury on WEEI. Further more, Tony Massarotti reported the injury earlier this morning in the Herald.

Ortiz says he felt a "click" in the same injured wrist from earlier this season, leaving Red Sox Nation very concerned.

"My last at-bat, it kind of pulled back a little bita€¦a€¦a€¦you feel that click and you get a little concerned about it."

[...]

Clay Buchholz almost managed to throw a quality start for the first time since the end of April, but a shaky third inning that lead to 3 runs was all that Gil Meche and the Kansas City Royals needed, as they defeated the Red Sox in a close-knit contest, 4-3.

Buchholz didn't help his own cause in the third inning, allowing 2 walks and a hit batsman with the bases loaded. Clay didn't have close to his best stuff, once again. The same reason he was sent to the minors (tinkering with the control of his fastball) was his ultimate downfall, as his fastball was erratic. He even surrendered a walk to Jose Guillen. Guillen has a grand total of-- walks in 406 at bats in 2008. After the walk of Guillen, Buchholz grazed the jersey of catcher John Buck, the same John Buck who hits at .244 in 2008 with a robust .238 lifetime average. Buck's HBP scored Alex Gordon and that's all the scoring the Royals needed to suffice.

The Sox tried to make it close in the 9th, but fell short, allowing Joakim Soria to notch his 32nd save of the season. The Red Sox managed to get the bases loaded with two-out, but David Dejesus tracked down a scorching line drive off the bat of Sean Casey to end the game. When Casey ripped it I thought for sure it was going to be a double down the line.

Analysis: Clay Buchholz is looking more like the fireballer straight out of the California Penal League, Ricky Vaughn. Buchholz doesn't have the same zip on the #1, but the wild ways with his heater isn't complementing his plus breaking stuff including a 12-6 curveball and nasty changeup. The kid has the stuff, he just needs to put it all together. It's a waiting game with the rookie, and we are all aboard for the ride.

[...]

It didn't take Manny Ramirez much long to become comfortable with his surroundings in L.A., as last night served as a prime example. Wherever Manny is, he will hit the ball, and he will do it well. Ramirez went 2-4 last night in his Dodger debut off left hander Randy Johnson. He did, however, ground into a double play in the 9th to just about seal the game for the Diamondbacks.

Contrast that with the show Jason Bay put on last night in Fenway, and maybe this move wasn't such "downgrade", if you want to call it that. Last night, all Jason Bay did was score the lone 2 Sox runs, hit a key triple in the 12th inning, and later scored on Lowrie's slow bouncer to win the game. Not to mention he made a key sliding catch in left field (a ball Manny never would have caught up to) and played the Green Monster wall pretty well.

It's only been a couple days, but Manny Ramirez feels he's where he wants to be.

"I like this city, the environment, the energy in the fans. I think that I'll play here for the remaining of my career."