Dan:

If you're like me and enjoy travel as much as baseball, check out this photo gallery in today's Boston Globe. It has photos from Red Sox great Luis Tiant's 2007 journey to Cuba after his 47 years in exile. The photos were taken during the filming of the new documentary about Tiant's trip, Lost Son of Havana. Can't wait to see the flick.

Dan:

This isn't going to happen. There is absolutely, positively no chance of it.

BUT . . .

The Boston Globe's Eric Wilbur has an interesting piece today outlining a scenario in which the Sox might be able to get ace pitcher Roy Halladay from the Blue Jays. (http://www.boston.com/sports/columnists/wilbur/2009/07/07/the_roy_factor/)

Except for a couple of freak injuries - including a fractured leg from a line drive - Halladay has been the best pitcher in the game this decade. The only reason you don't know it is those injuries and that he has played on a mediocre team. If he had been on the Sox or Yanks, or even a franchise like the Twins that has made the playoffs a few times in recent years, fans would recognize his greatness.

Despite the weak squad around him for years, Halladay has dominated opponents and been amazingly durable; a pitcher who throws complete games like this is the 1950s. And he shows no signs of slowing down. He is signed til the end of 2010, and wants to pitch for a contender. He is the kind of talent it would be worth packaging Clay Bucholz with Michael Bowden or Josh Bard to get. That's a lot of potential talent to give up, but you always give up "potential" to get a sure thing when that sure thing is the best in the game.

Again, this won't happen. It's hard to envision the Jays dealing Halladay within the division. And they are a team that wants to win now, not in five years. Still, it's fun to think about . . .

Dan:

As we approach the All-Star Break, it's that time of year to take a look back to our predictions in April and see how things are shaking out. But, before I dive into that, I have to say one thing . . .

How stoked are you that Tim Wakefield is in the All-Star Game?!?!?! Hell yeah.

Okay, now back to the progress report. Right now, the AL East is exactly how I picked it, and I don't expect that to change too much over the rest of the season. Sure, the Yankees might get hot and take over the top spot in the division. But, regardless, the second-place team will be the AL Wildcard. Either way, Sox and Yanks are in the playoffs. Each time I get ready to say "Watch out, here come the Rays," they do something like drop four in a row. This is why I picked them third. They are young and talented, but I just don't see them keeping it together over the course of the whole season. (But what out next year.)

The Tigers are first in the AL Central, which is kind of like being the tallest guy at a midget convention. I picked them to win it, but I expected a close race from the resurgent Indians. Oops. Cleveland should be better, and someone there needs to pay with their job. Same with the AL West. Nobody there is impressive in the least bit. It's a Sox vs. Yanks kind of year in the AL . . . . just the way it should be.

I guess I kind of botched my NL picks. Honestly, the Diamondbacks looked great on paper . . . til the season started. Thank god we have the Nationals so Arizona isn't the game's WORST team. What a debacle. Don't be fooled by the Dodgers - they aren't that good. The surprising thing is the Giants and Rockies could both be contenders for the wildcard.

In the NL Central, I said it would take a curse for the Cubs not to win that division in a walk. Hmmm. Maybe there is something to curses. (Go Brewers!)

And who can figure out the Marlins? After starting the year 11-1, they nose-dived and looked like they were bound for mediocrity. Somehow, they've righted the ship again and are just a game behind the Phils. The longer Florida hangs around, the more dangerous they'll be. If they make it to October, they could make a run. The Mets and Phils must be ridiculously maddening for their fans. Both teams should be much better than they are.

Dan:

Count me as one of the ones who thought Big Papi was done. Given not just how he looked the first two months of this season, but also most of last season, Papi just looked like a guy whose career had fallen off the table. Like Jim Rice after his near-MVP season of 1986 suddenly losing his skills, it was as if someone had slipped kryptonite into Superman's tights.

It wasn't an easy conclusion to reach. Like much (if not most) of Red Sox Nation, Papi is my favorite player. Not just because of all the clutch hits, including Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS, which I was at (and you can see me and my low-life brother in the stands as the homer sails over the wall). But also because of his memorable team speeches prior to legendary Red Sox comebacks, like when he told his teammates before that Game 4 that as he'd driven to Fenway he'd seen all the signs and billboards from Sox fans who had suffered for so long, and he just wanted to do something to put smiles on their faces. Or how about his "you're a bad m#therf#cker" speech to teammates when they were down 3-1 to the Indians in 2007? Papi is just an easy guy to like.

So it was painful to watch him struggle. And while we all looked for signs of life, they just weren't there. It was obvious Papi was done, and those who didn't want to admit it were just in denial.

And then came June. Papi is suddenly Papi again. He's hitting bombs, and if he really is back to his old self (or even 85 percent of his old self), you can plan the parade now.

Still, I'm unconvinced. I'm cautiously optimistic, but he's just been down for so long it's hard to imagine he can return to Papi form for an extended period of time. It happens with all batters at some point. The decline is inevitable. It WILL happen eventually.

I just hope it's not yet.

Dan:

Five games up on the Yanks, Papi's starting to hit, and A-Rod now looks like Papi did in May. After the Sox wrap up with the terrible Nationals, they finish off the first-half against American League lowlies Oakland, Seattle and Kansas City. There's every reason to think the Sox should enter the break 8 games up . . . at least. And tonight we start a future Hall-of-Famer (Smoltz) who is a luxury - not a necessity - on the best rotation in baseball. You just have to like where things are going (that is, unless you're a Yanks fan).

Dan:

Let's just hold on and take a breath for a moment, Red Sox Nation. I know how much you despise the Yanks. I know how good it feels to be up 7 games to zero against the Yanks this season. You're excited. So am I.

But it doesn't mean anything.

If you've perused the papers and baseball websites this morning, you've noticed all the articles about Boston's dominance over the Yankees this season. Some articles talk about why the Sox are so much better, how they have a psychological edge, better pitching, etc. Unfortunately, it's all garbage.

Baseball is a funny, quirky game. A hitter can be hitting like garbage, but if a bloop falls in the outfield, or a check-swing hit dies in the infield grass before it can be fielded, said hitter suddenly has an impressive hit-streak. At the same time, a hitter can be mashing line drives, but if they are right at people, they're suddenly in a slump.

Same thing for teams. Sure, the Sox have had some dominant wins during this seven-game run against New York. But there's also been some close ones -- like last night's one-run game -- that, if Swisher fields a ball here, or someone gets a hit there, the Yanks gets some wins. And baseball karma is a funny thing, and things tend to even out over a long season. I remember a few years ago when the Sox started out something like 5 and 1 against the Yanks, but then proceeded to drop five of six games against them later in the year. That causes me to cringe when I think about later in the season.

Sure, I'm happy the Sox are getting wins. They need them, because despite their 7-0 record against New York, they are a mere one-game up on them. That doesn't bode well over the course of the season. The Sox could go 19-0 against New York this year, but if they don't win against other teams, they'll lose the division. And, like it or not, this New York squad is a very good, and very dangerous team.

I just hope the Sox save some of these wins for October.

-----------

Some other thoughts:

-I noticed the MLBlogs frontpage had something on Roy Halliday's dominance this season. He is amazingly underappreciated. If it weren't for some freak injuries -- like breaking his leg -- and playing in obscurity in Toronto, he'd be considered the best pitcher in the game and a future first-ballot Hall of Famer. Throughout his career, he has been a dominant pitcher, a workhorse who throws complete games and stifles opponents despite having an inferior team behind him for most of these years.

-The Arizona Diamondbacks are killing me. The team that I picked to win the National League this year would currently be the worst team in the NL by far, if it weren't for the Washington Nationals. The D-Backs are too talented for this. Heads should roll.

Dan:

Could we see Orlando Cabrera back in Boston? I just saw this from the Boston Globe:

ESPN.com's Buster Olney reports today that the Red Sox have "had conversations" with Oakland about former Sox shortstop Orlando Cabrera. Cabrera, who was with Boston for their World Series win in 2004, is hitting .235 with a .286 OBP this season for the A's. Olney also reports that the Sox have also talked to the Pirates about Jack Wilson, but a deal for Wilson is less likely because the shortstop is still owed almost $6 million this season.

Admit it. You'd love to see Cabrera back with the Sox. Who wouldn't? After watching Nomar lumber around the infield in 2004, Cabrera looked like a magician out there. He was exciting. He made plays shortstops shouldn't make. And he made offense-crazed Boston fans fall in love with the poetic beauty of great defense.

How we let Cabrera go in the first place has never really made sense to me. There have been rumors he had clubhouse issues, but nothing concrete has ever come out. It would make sense, because just letting him walk away after 2004 without that problem sure didn't. Maybe it was just a case of Theo falling in love with certain players because of stats (Renteria, Lugo, Drew). But chasing Renteria for bigger money and marginally better stats (that didn't pan out) never made sense when you already had a spectacular player who was a fan-favorite (and a cheaper paycheck) in Boston.

Of course, it's been five years. Maybe Cabrera's lost a step. But maybe he hasn't. Either way, he'd be an upgrade over what we have.

Dan:

Early in the season, when teams and players are very hot or very cold, I often say "Wait and see where they are come Memorial Day." Now here we are, at the end of May, and we can finally take a look at who are real players this year, and who are pretenders. So here are some of my thoughts on the year so far:

--Goodbye, Toronto. Thanks for playing.

--You have to be happy with where the Sox are considering Papi's woes and that their starting pitching has yet to click.

--I hate to say it, but Papi looks done. Consider that this slump extends well back into last season. This happens a lot in baseball. You just hoped it wouldn't happen to such a pivotal great in Sox history.

--I don't know what's more surprising: That the Devil Rays are four games under .500, or that the Orioles are only four games under .500. Actually, yeah I do. The more surprising one is the Orioles.

--The Tigers are winning the Central. But what's up with the Indians? They just can't put it together. Eric Wedge, meet the unemployment line.

--The Rangers are good, but not that good. They benefit from a weak division. And, yeah, I am saying the Angels are weak.

--Stick a fork in Matt Holliday. He's done.

--Florida Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria would own the title of Team Owner I'd Most Like To Hit With A Shovel . . . if Mark Cuban wasn't so damn annoying.

--The Cardinals won't be near the top of their division come September.

--Ha ha ha ha. The Cubs are .500 and more than 4 games out! Ha ha ha ha ha . . .

--The Dodgers own the game's best record by nearly 6 games . . . and they are probably only about the sixth best team in the game. They should send thank-you notes to all those Four-A teams that make up the rest of their division.

Dan:

The Boston Globe recently ran this little passage about Dodgers' owner Frank McCourt being miffed at Manny Ramirez:

If Dodgers owner Frank McCourt had his way, he'd kick Manny Ram'rez to the sidewalk, void his contract, and say, "See ya later." But McCourt doesn't have that luxury, so he has simply asked Ramirez to do some very basic things to make amends for his embarrassing 50-game suspension. He did address the team, so that's one off the checklist. But that's about all he's done. All Ramirez has to do is show remorse, take batting practice, be a presence in the clubhouse, and continue to help out the young hitters. So what is he doing? He's staying away. The Dodgers expected Ramirez to come to Los Angeles after he briefly addressed the team in Miami last week. But Ramirez didn't. It's another act of defiance - a slap in the face to McCourt, who has been more than generous to Ramirez. Don't forget, Ramirez had no other offers of substance before McCourt came in to pay him $25 million this season and tacked on an option year for $20 million. In the offseason, Ramirez worked at Athletes Performance Institute, but he did it at the one in Pensacola, Fla. Nobody could figure out why. All the Dodgers want Ramirez to do is come clean about what he did, be a good teammate, and prove to the management and fans that he's truly sorry. He told the Los Angeles Times sports columnist T.J. Simers, "I'm not ready."

Talk about justice being served. McCourt's ignorance and foolishness are to blame here; not Manny. These antics of Manny are no surprise to any Sox fans who have watched Manny being Manny since 2001. You mean to tell me McCourt, who risked $45 million on this man-child, paid no attention to any of this? And when he was throwing all of that money at Manny, who was he bidding against? The answer: Nobody. McCourt and company didn't do their homework, botched their negotiations, and now are reaping what they've sewn. Just another example of why you should appreciate the good ownerships we have at Fenway and Foxboro.

Dan:

A year ago at this time, the idea the Sox would someday retire Number 24 wasn't even up for discussion. It was a certainty.

When Manny retired, and was voted into the Hall of Fame, the Sox would hang his Number 24 up next to the all-time Sox greats. It would be a ceremony that included Dwight Evans. We'd all reminisce about the great teams of 2004 and 2007. Good times.

Since then, Manny quit on his team (again), got traded to the Dodgers, and got caught using PEDs. Of course, how the Sox brass thought about Manny's place in Sox history was evident even before he got busted for 'roids: They gave his number to set-up man Tagashi (sp?) Saito right out of Spring Training. While the bad feelings for Manny were obvious, giving his number to a reliever right away was a surprise. I still thought the Sox would someday recognize Manny by retiring his number. He is, after all, one of the greatest right-handed hitters of all time, and along with Papi made up the greatest 3-4 tandem not named Ruth/Gehrig in baseball history. But, the PED bust has removed any notion of that.

Ah well. Hopefully six years from now we'll be hanging up Number 45.