The walking wounded

Just before the season started, the cynics predicted the Red Sox would miss the playoffs. They claimed that Theo Epstein's roster, as assembled, couldn't compete in the American League East. They scoffed at the signings of Bill Hall, Scott Atchison, and Jeremy Hermida, and insisted that the likes of Adrian Beltre and Mike Cameron couldn't possibly contribute enough.

Three months and change later, and those doomsayers look even more foolish than usual, as key contributions have come from, of all people, Daniel Nava, Darnell McDonald, and Atchison, among others.

Even Kevin Youkilis appreciates McDonald.

Somehow, the Sox are just two games out of first place in their division, while the Rays, who were the fashionable favorites early on to run away with it, are in third place. All this despite a rash of injuries, including many to key players, including Josh Beckett, Jacoby Ellsbury, and now Dustin Pedroia.

According to the Boston Globe's Extra Bases blog, the injury bug isn't about to abate, as most of the key players are weeks away from rejoining the team. Beckett, though feeling better, still needs to complete a rehab assignment, and the Globe's Pete Abraham puts his return around the last week in July. Ellsbury is a mystery. The outfielder is still in Arizona, and no one seems to know how long the recovery will take, so don't hold your breath on seeing him before the All-Star break.

As for the more recent injuries, Pedroia will be out approximately six weeks with his left-foot fracture (I'm dying already), while Victor Martinez is a rare bright spot, who might - MIGHT - be able to play in a few days if his swelling goes down, even with a fractured left thumb.

The heart and soul of the Red Sox... and me.

This team has showed uncommon pluck in 2010, and if they can just weather the storm for a few weeks more and stay in contention until after the All-Star Game, help should be returning in droves. I for one think they can do it, especially if Pedroia hangs around the clubhouse in the meantime. What he means to that team in terms of spirit and drive absolutely cannot be overstated, and if he can be around to encourage and talk trash at the appropriate times, I think they'll pull through.

Baseball gods willing.

Say it ain't so, Pedey!

I was away from Red Sox baseball for two days - two days! - and the worst possible thing has happened. I'm never taking a weekend out in the woods again, since the world has obviously been punishing me for my irreverence for the Sox schedule by taking my favorite player out of commission.

Dustin Pedroia fractured his left foot on Friday when he fouled a pitch off of himself, and he'll be out for possibly six weeks or more, though the team doesn't have a timetable yet.


Selfishly, this is a huge blow, as Pedroia is my all-time FAVORITE player to watch: the way he puts everything on the line, every play, accompanied by his good-as-gold postgame comments make him my can't-miss player.

Of all the injuries this season (Ellsbury, Cameron, Beckett, Hermida, and now Buchholz), Pedey's will hurt this team the most, as he's not only a Gold Glove caliber defender and MVP type hitter, but he's the heart and soul of that team.

Since the "idiots" of 2004 disbanded, many fans have complained that the team lacked personality, and Pedroia certainly supplied his fair share of that. He's the undisputed spark plug of the team, and was coming off a "laser show" performance Thursday with three homers when his reality shattered.

Now that's personality...

“I’m just going to try to be positive for all the guys,’’ Pedroia said. “They know how I play the game, and they know I’ll be in the dugout watching the game and trying to see things on the field to help us win. I don’t know. I’ve never really done this before, so it’s not real fun.’’

His manager and teammates are almost as dissappointed as Pedey himself:

“He means a lot," said Bill Hall (who will be starting in Pedroi'a stead), "To me, he’s our second captain. Obviously, [Jason Varitek’s] No. 1. Pedey with his emotion and how hard he plays and the big hits he gets, he means a lot to this team emotionally. We’re going to miss him a lot. If he’s in the dugout, I know he’s going to be rooting for us and giving us that same energy and we’re going to need that.’’

I would take that even further and suggest that Pedroia is the de facto captain. I know Varitek is the one who wears that "C" on his chest, but with a diminished role this season he isn't as visible as he once was, while Pedroia is out there every play, putting his body on the line, and running his infamous mouth in the clubhouse.

This could easily be the straw that breaks the camel's back - there's no replacing Dustin Pedroia:

Said Tito, “You can’t replace Pedey. That’s why he’s Pedey. But we’ll do what we always do — look at the lineup, see who’s pitching, and tell guys the night before who’s going to play.’’

Of course, Francona has performed admirably this season, mixing and matching his way to the third best record in the majors, but he's right about Pedroia. You can scoff all you want at the notion of "intangibles," but Pedey's got them in abundance, in addition to his resume loaded with very real and measurable accomplishments, and the Red Sox are going to miss him.

As for me? I miss him already. I'll continue watching the Sox no matter what, but it just won't be the same without Pedroia on the job every day. Here's hoping Pedey's recovery time is as quick as his wit, because I'm already having withdrawal.

[All quotes in this post are from the Boston Globe online.]

Sunny side up

I know it's tempting to look at last night's loss and focus on the negative: Papelbon blew a save, and in the most painful way possible, by giving up two home runs, including the game winner to former Yankee Jason Giambi.

I (for once) am choosing to look at the positive... the bats came back with a vengeance last night, and against one of the best young pitchers in the game. Before last night, Ubaldo Jimenez had a 1.15 ERA. The Sox singlehandedly raised that to 1.6o. They scored six runs off of the right hander, more than any other team this season, and they were just the second team to score more than three runs off him.


Darnell McDonald had a two-run homerun of Colorado's ace, while Daniel Nava notched three RBIs. Not bad for two guys that weren't supposed to see any big league action this season.

Google search "daniel nava red sox" and this is the best you get... Sad but true.

So I'm pretty optimistic about tonight: the Sox have Daisuke Matsuzaka back on the hill after a brief absence, and the red-hot bats get to try their stuff against Jason Hammel, a righthander with a 5-3 record, 4.03 ERA.