If someone wanted to sum up Daisuke’s tenure with the Red Sox, yesterday’s loss against the Rays would be the perfect example…

112 pitches, 63 for strikes, Daisuke went 4 batters into the 6th inning without recording an out, and gave up 5 runs (4 earned) on 8 hits while walking 4 and striking out 4–he also made a HUGE mental mistake in the 6th inning, where, instead of going for the “sure” out at 1st base, thought he had a play at 3rd–until he realized no one was covering 3rd, so he chocked and held onto the ball, allowing everyone to be safe…Lucky for him, he was saved from his 4th loss of the season by Ramon S, who recorded the loss when he gave up the winning run in the 7th inning…

While none of the Boston Red Sox were named starters to the All-Star game for next week (no surprise there) 6 players were named to AL roster–too bad 1/2 of them are on the DL: That Clay Person (DL), Jon Lester, Victor Martinez (DL), Adrian Beltre, Dustin Pedroia (DL), and David Ortiz…

And in a move that surprised no one, Joe Girardi stocked the team with his own players. Case in point: A-Fraud, who is having a less than stellar year (.272 with 12 homers and 62 RBI’s) and is behind Youk In every category, except Doubles (A-Fraud has 20, Youk has 19) and RBI’s (A-Fraud has 62, Youk has 55)…Yeah, he was more deserving…

And how ’bout That Clay Person’s replacement: Andy Pettite…Guess there was no other decent pitchers in all of the American League huh?

And if you noticed someone is missing from the 6 Sox who made it: Yep, Kevin Youkilis. Fortunately, he is part of the Final Man, which means all of Red Sox Nation can gather together and vote their Youk loving hearts out–they have done it before for Johnny Damon in 2002 and Hideki Okajima in 2007. Unfortunately, right now, freaking Skankee Nick Swisher (Nick Swisher, REALLY? UGH….) is leading the pack of 5 which also includes: Paul Konerko (White Sox), Delmar Young (Twins) and Michael Young (Rangers)…You have until 4:00pm EST, Thursday to vote…

Another weird twist in the Mike Lowell saga: While everyone is in Tampa Bay, Mike Lowell is at his home in Miami–Tito weighs in: “There’s nothing going on or anything…He’s not doing baseball stuff for the next three or four days, so I told him to go home and take a couple of days. He’ll do some stuff at home.’ The party line is that his hip is bothering him…The Sox really need to do something here–this has gone on WAY too long…

But some good news on the Josh Beckett front: He will pitch today, in his 1st actual game since leaving the game at the stadium 6 weeks ago. If all goes well, his next rehab start will be over the weekend, so it’s quite possible he could be activated shortly after the All Star break…

And, Holy Buckets! Jed Lowrie is back to baseball! In his 1st rehab game with Lowell (Single A) he went 1-2 with 2 walks…No timetable for his return to the bigs…

Also progressing is Jeremy Hermida who started taking batting practice again. He has been on the DL since June 11, but hopes to start minor league rehab after the All-Star break…

And yes, Dustin Pedroia is still taking grounders on his knees…

Coming up: With That Clay Person on the DL, Felix Doubront will get another start in the bigs, for game 2 of this series in Tampa Bay, opposed by Jeff Niemann. 1st pitch 7:10pm…

Here’s how it works: Each of the 18 custom made putting holes will be hosted by one of Varitek’s Boston Red Sox teammates or other Boston celebrities. Fans purchase foursomes to play the course and meet the celebrities.

Not a golfer? A limited number of spectator ticket are available, allowing folks to see interviews with Red Sox players, enter raffles, auctions and contests to win some amazing prizes. Tickets can be purchased at Ticket Master, and are $15.00 each.

‘Tek weighs in on his annual event: “I’m very lucky to have passionate fans. They always come out to support me and I can’t wait to see them all at Putt-Putt this year. The event raises money for two amazing organizations through the generosity of the fans.”

About Journey Forward: A 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to bettering the lives of those who have suffered a Spinal Cord Injury through an intense exercise program, Journey Forward was founded by Dan Cummings, who after a diving accident was diagnosed a C6 quadriplegic and was told he would never walk again. After attending a similar program in California, 7 years after his accident, Dan walked out the doors determined to bring the program back to Boston.

About the Celebrities for Charity Foundation: Set up to provide many local charities a way to have celebrities involved in their fundraising efforts, Celebrities for Charity provides celebrity visits to charitable events and autographed memorabilia for charities to use as fundraising tools. Celebrities for Charity has proudly reached the $1,500,000.00 donation mark and looks forward to growing this number.

For more information about the Jason Varitek Celebrity Putt-Putt tournament, you can check out their website or call 978-749-6700.

BBA Baseball Talk, which discusses the big stories of the day in major league baseball and other baseball-related topics, can be found at Blog Talk Radio (blogtalkradio.com). Interested in participating? Callers are welcome to chime in at 347-884-8690. Or check out the Chat Room.

BBA Baseball Talk is a weekly one-hour show that is hosted by a rotating schedule of BBA Bloggers, and the time and date of the show may move depending on the requirements of that week’s hosts.

The Baseball Bloggers Alliance is a confederation of 159 blogs working together for collaboration and discussion possibilities.

Hope you can join us!

So Jonathan Papelbon denies that he is all but NY bound the moment Free Agency hits: “I think that’s the perception, that I’m going to go somewhere else, but it’s all a perception…It’s one year at a time. It’s working out, and both sides are happy. Of course I’d love to be with Boston for a long time. But this is the way it is right now, and I’m happy going one year at a time. This is the organization I started in. This is the organization that gave me the opportunity to play Major League Baseball. Of course I’d love to stay here for 15 years. Right now one year at a time is the way it’s working, and I’m happy and everyone else is happy, so why not?”

I’m thinking that the ONLY way Papelbon will not end up as the closer for the Skanks once Rivera retires is 1. The Skanks go after someone else 2. His arm falls off, or maybe (but very unlikely) 3. The Sox will give him more money than the Skanks…But I guess we will see…

And what was Theo’s response to Victor Martinez’s desire to stay in Boston for the rest of his career, and not ever touch free agency? Pretty much the same as always: “It’s always nice when players want to be here. We’ve got talented guys on this team that we’d like to keep around. We’ll see what happens…With both him and Josh, we’ll stick to a policy on not commenting. The more clubs talk about potential deals for free agents, the less likely they are to get done.” Spoken like a true attorney…

So Daisuke’s back is bothering him, which was bad enough that he did not participate in the optional workout yesterday. But apparently, no one is super concerned at this point–It may keep him out of workouts for a few days, but doe not look like it will impact his Spring Training too significantly…Hey, at least he told his employers this time…

In a complete non-surprise, the Sox are going to have Mike Lowell play some 1st base this spring–to either make him more marketable, or more useful to the Sox. I know I am partial because Mike Lowell is one of my favorites, but I reallyREALLY think the Sox would make a mistake if they trade him. What happens if Big Papi slumps as horribly as he did last year? Or Youk or Beltre get hurt? The Sox would be in a heap of trouble. As much as I love David Ortiz, if he cannot get it done, let Mike Lowell DH–his offense isn’t the issue–when some think big happens, he’s usually right in the middle of it…So why not???

For the complete stat-heads, MIT is hosting The Sloan Sports Analytic Conference on March 6th at the Boston Marriott. The 9-hour conference will feature 13 different discussions including Baseball Analytics, hosted by Rob Neyer of ESPN, and will feature a panel that includes Tom Tippett, the director of baseball information services of the Red Sox along with John Dewan, Dan Duquette and Shiraz Rehman from the Diamondbacks. There will also be a “Moneyball” discussion. For more info, to buy tickets ($200 for non-MIT students) and a complete schedule of events, check out their website.

From 1st to Worst: Chien-Ming Wang, former Skankee Ace, before his body started to fall apart, has signed with the Nations with a very incentive heavy contract. Still recovering from last year’s shoulder surgery, he won’t even be ready to pitch until May. But he IS a career 55-26 pitcher, with a 4.16 ERA–and will only be 30 years old (on my birthday no less…)

Finally: The signups for raffles for all of the really good seats at Fenway started today (already signed up myself) Pretty long list, including the Skankee games, the dates Manny returns to Fenway (which is an interesting choice) as well as Green Monster and Right Field Rood Deck Seats. Deadline for signups is next Monday the 22nd, and for a complete list of available tickets, and drawing dates, go here.

Good Luck!

And may you eat enough L-Tryptophan to knock you on your sorry Thanksgiving Day ass! 

Enjoy the Holiday–we all have a lot to be thankful for…

Go Sox!

Scioscia, who lead the Angels to the American League West division title and into the American League Championship Series despite the tragic loss of Nick Adenhart early in the season, garnered eight first-place votes and 58 total points from twenty ballots cast by bloggers from across baseball.