After three innings last night, the mood at Fenway was as good as it gets. Josh Beckett was on the mound, and the Sox had staked him to a 4-0 lead. The team was hitting well, including superprospect Jacoby Ellsbury, who got his first major-league hit by zipping down the first-base line to beat the throw on a routine ground ball. The Sox even had a helper monkey named Ayla throw out the first pitch.......

Friday night's adrenaline-filled Texas/Boston matchup confirmed for us two things that we've suspected: Jonathan Papelbon is human and man, we really don't want to ever tick him off. While we can't post the photo directly, we can encourage you to take a look at an image of rage from Fenway Park last night. During the top of the ninth, as the Sox were clinging to a 2-1 lead, Papelbon had given up what first base......

ESPN has never met a story it couldn't drive into the ground. Remember Terrell Owens' "suicide attempt" last fall? Unfortunately, with the Red Sox off, we need something sporty to talk about, so enter the Worldwide Leader's hyping of Barry Bonds' chase of the home run record. Jayson Stark, probably the best non-Gammons baseball writer out there, is flummoxed that not as many people are against Bonds as everyone seems to think. We know people......

Go ahead, admit it. We will. Going into this season, we were counting on Schill, Daisuke, and Josh to guarantee us a .600 winning percentage, and we'd take our chances with the other guys. Not so fast. That guy with the 1.35 ERA, that guy who had the Blue Jays flapping their wings ineffectively all night? That old guy? That's Old Reliable Tim Wakefield, who improved to 2-1 with another bloodlessly effective outing. "He can......

--After the beauty that was Dice K's debut, the Red Sox suffered a letdown with a loss to the Rangers, 0 to 2. It was a low-scoring game, so clearly Tim Wakefield had a decent pitching effort, but the Rangers' Robinson Tejeda was better. It stings a little to lose to a team with Sammy Sosa, though. Tonight, Julian Tavarez and Kevin Millwood will match up, and we hope the Red Sox will enjoy a......

A conversation about baseball these days will undoubtedly involve something about this "juicing" scandal, and Bostonist ain't talkin' about these guys or this dude (he's a whole different story). Between the Balco scandal, Barry Bonds crushing home-run records, the leaked statements by Jason Giambi admitting he took steroids, and now Canseco's book it was inevitable that somewhere along the line the government would become involved. Yes, there's been much in the news, for months,......

Today the Red Sox will attend the traditional recognition ceremony at the Whitehouse for the World Champions. The players, owners, managers and president of the Sox will meet President G. W. Bush. He’s the first President since Woodrow Wilson that has seen the Red Sox win the World Series while sitting in office. Bush has some special connections with the Sox. Where the Curse befell the Sox after trading the Babe to the Yankee’s, Bush......