Sports Redux: Papi, Wake Reel In A Win

A bad day fishing is better than a good day almost anywhere else, they say. And when you play the Marlins, you're required to make fish jokes. So there you have it. The Sox returned to Fenway for their own Admiral's Feast last night, as David Ortiz homered (#5) and Tim Wakefield went to 9-3 for the year, grilling the fish 8-2.

Everything significant happened in the fourth. Big Papi drove in three runs, the first on a leadoff solo homer, the second after the boys batted around and he singled in Pedroia and Youkilis. Nick Green and George Kotteras also drove in runs, while Jason Bay had an RBI walk. With an 8-1 lead, Wakefield could just concentrate on settin' 'em up and knockin' 'em down, which he did, to get a 6-inning win and serious talk about a vacation to St. Louis next month.

"I don’t get too caught up in that kind of talk," said Terry Francona when the subject of Wakefield's All-Star potential came up. But he did allow that he would be "extremely" happy to see Wake chosen for the Midsummer Classic. Wake himself: "If I make it, great. If not, I’ll finish up the second half." Back to work, fellas. We did catch a rare smile from Tito in the dugout last night, after George Kottaras used a little sleight-of-hand to make a foul ball look fair, getting an easy out and angering the Marlins. Well done. Former Marlin Brad Penny goes against his old friends tonight.

The baseball world was rocked yesterday...well. Not rocked. Not even surprised. Just kind of a resigned shrug seems to be the reaction to the news that Sammy Sosa's name is on that famous list of guys who tested positive for illegal substances. Howard Bryant says we should be outraged. Sosa says he's retired and "calmly waiting" to be elected to Cooperstown. Hope that chair is comfortable.

What were you doing one year ago tonight? The Celtics were blowing the Lakers off the floor to capture banner #17. What a good time that was. The Lakers are, unfortunately, the ones who get to have a parade today; we'll see if there's anything left of their city when the jubilee is over. In other basketball news, the Detroit Shock of the WNBA have had a coaching change; Bill Laimbeer is out and Rick Mahorn is in. If that doesn't work out, Charles Manson is under consideration.