What Is Happening...

John Lackey is absolute garbage. Jon Lester just went down with a back injury following in the footsteps of Clay Buchholz a few weeks ago. Jonathan Papelbon may be the most overrated closer in recent memory. JD Drew seems like he forgot how to play baseball. Kevin Youkilis seems to have the most obscure injuries every 3rd game forcing him to miss a game or two in any given week.

Jon Lester had a no-hitter going into the 5th inning, but didn't take the mound. He left with a left lat strain, taking away any elbow room that was to be had on the disabled list.

In the ninth inning. Papelbon came in, gave up a moonshot to Jose Bautista, his 28th dinger of the season, and had to be bailed out by a Darnell McDonald cannon from left field to home plate to gun out Edwin Encarnacion for the final out. Very questionable call at the plate, as Varitek appeared to miss the tag high as Encarnacion swung his right leg around like a horseshoe around a stake.

Either way, Tim Wakefield and the Sox are taking on Ricky Romero and the Blue Jays, who the Sox have had success off of already this season, tonight at 7:10.

Go Sox.

Sox Finally Rid of Interleague

Taking 2 out of 3 from the Houston Astros, the Red Sox are rid of the dreaded Interleague Play for another season. No more Papi at first base, no more Gonzo in right, life with a DH will once again reign supreme.

Josh Beckett spun another gem today, going 8 innings, giving up 5 hits, one run and striking out a season-high 11.

The Sox are going back home for a 7-game homestand before the Mid-Summer Classic. The Bash Brothers, David Ortiz and Adrian Gonzalez will get the nod to start for the American League, with Josh Beckett and Jacoby Ellsbury rounding out representatives for Boston.

Birthday Shout-Out(s)

Happy 182nd day of the year, and some extra happy to these fine people born July 1st.

Carmella DeCesare(above)
Liv Tyler
Greg Pattillo
Jarome Iginla
Ruud van Nistelrooy
Sufjan Stevens
Missy Elliot
Princess Diana
Carl Lewis
Dan Aykroyd
Terrence Mann - but not James Earl Jones from 'Field of Dreams'
Sydney Pollack
Estee Lauder

Weekender's Top iPod Jams

It's happening. It's that type of day where I realize, "wow, I've done absolutely nothing lately, I should start blogging" then continue to go on a blogging rampage. I tend to be a bit streaky, but I keep my average around .300.

Anywho, here are some songs that I dig that I think you guys should dig to.

Lockout x2

First the NFL, now the NBA.

The NFL Lockout is currently in its 111th day of existence. Seems ridiculous, right? Since every day on Sportscenter the amount of coverage they give it makes it seem like we're still in Week 1.

But you might as well kick off your shoes, fluff up the pillows and get comfy, boys and girls, because we're gonna' be here a lot longer than that.

The owners want a 50-50 split of the revenue, down from the 57% the players receive now. The owners want a hard salary cap in the league, causing some players' contracts to suffer. Basically the owners are like those asshole kids in the grocery store who point to every box of cereal and every can of Spaghetti-o's "Ma, I want this one!"

The players feel like the owners are exaggerating their numbers and how much money has been lost in the league, and feel like things are fine the way they are right now.

Of course, here it is, July 1st. The owners cost are significantly down, being that the league is out of season, and can essentially kick back and relax atop their piles of money until almost October. The ball is in the union's backcourt, and who knew the owners could run a full-court press this well?

And by the way, you know this thing is going to be good when they have a legitimate logo for it (picture at the top).

We're Halfway There...

Baseball has reached the midway point of the grueling 162-game season, and with that, I figure this is my blog, I'm going to make a few predictions. Kind of like a "if the season were to end today..." sorta' thing. Off we go.

Postseason baseball is one of the most amazing things on this planet, other than postseason hockey and Reese's Klondike bars. From the American League, I would give the division titles to the Red Sox, Tigers and Rangers, with the Yankees falling just short of the AL East and snagging the Wild Card spot. I think when the Red Sox return to full health again, they will roll just as good as they have under those circumstances. The Tigers, led by Verlander and Cabrera will keep it close, but squeak by in the Central, and the AL West winner is like the idiot kid brother that is there because Mom made the other three bring him along, even though the Rangers did make it to the Fall Classic last year, no big deal.

For the National League: The Phillies will run away with the East, the Brewers' bats will stay hot enough in the Central, and the Posey-less Giants will take the West, with the Braves securing another playoff berth, their first without Bobby Cox at the helm.

For the awards, I think the MVP honors should belong to Adrian Gonzalez of the Red Sox, and Matt Kemp of the Dodgers. Gonzalez is leading the majors in home runs and RBI while sitting in the driver's seat of Boston's offense, and shows no signs of slowing down. Milwaukee's Ryan Braun may have a better case given the team he plays for, but over the past few years Matt Kemp has been stomping doors down making himself a household name on a subpar ball club. Kemp is in the NL's top 6 in batting average, runs, RBI, stolen bases and leads the league in home runs with 22, all despite playing in a 10-games under .500 bankrupt organization.

As far as the Cy Young awards go, there's no need to even argue. Justin Verlander of the Tigers and Roy Halladay with the Phillies. Both have 10 wins, 120+ strikeouts, ERAs under 2.40, and WHIPs under 1.05. Game, set, match.

Disagree if you want, but stick around til October and let's see what happens.

YOU WON A MILLION BUCKS! YOU WON A MILLION BUCKS! YOU WON A MILLION BUCKS!

For a second there, Drew seems way more excited that she is. Just the pure astonishment when she gets it on the first guess, then the clock check before he loses his mind and starts pointing at her yelling. Amazing. And if that Million Dollar Spectacular isn't enough for you, here's two more classic moments.

Wait til 0:48...and don't let the confetti scare you like it does him.


Lastly, it all goes down at 0:40. Next time I do anything worth celebrating, my moves are going to be eerily similar to his.