Sports Redux: There Can Be Only One

If you looked at the Red Sox schedule at the beginning of the season, and someone told you there'd be a series in the first week of July with first place on the line, you'd probably assume it was the weekend series in the Bronx. You'd be wrong. So wrong. The Red Sox find themselves on the last day of June in second place, looking up at the Tampa Bay Rays and heading into St. Petersburg for the epic showdown to end all epic showdowns. Well, not really, but it sounds good. The stakes certainly are getting higher every time TB appears on the schedule.

The Sox are in second courtesy of a game-winning RBI by Mark Loretta (why can't we have guys like Bob Lobel asking why we can't get guys like that?) and a 3-2 loss in Houston to drop the series. The Sox offense didn't do a good job supporting Beckett, getting only solo homers by Pedroia and Manny. The Sox bullpen didn't do a good job relieving Beckett, as Aardsma put the winning run on and Okajima let him in. Okajima is probably looking forward to that All-Star break next week, huh?

We also learned this morning that Manny isn't just hitting solo home runs; he's also going after the team's traveling secretary, apparently in a contretemps involving his ticket allotment. Everything's smoothed over, so you might as well replay it in your mind with George Costanza as the victim.

And speaking of fighting, the Sox/Rays series opens up with James Shields pitching for Tampa Bay. You may remember him from the Coco Crisp brawl earlier this month. Shields served his six-game suspension already; Coco's serving his right now. And don't forget Papelbon's farewell to the Rays after that series. This could be fun. On the other hand, it also could be the first time the Sox have a letdown game in NY after an emotional series in Florida. Up is down. Black is white.

Fernando Torres is a happy man today; after scoring the lone goal in a 1-0 Spanish victory in the Euro 2008 finals, he can tell his grandkids "once I was the King of Spain". Spain hadn't won in 44 years, and now Germany can eat humble pie.

Image from Amazon.