Interesting tidbits

* Don't look now but Carl Crawford has an .854 OPS in his brief tenure this year. Is this the Carl Crawford we were promised?

* Meanwhile, the Sox have had their most impatient season at the plate since 1992. ESPN has the story and this is dead accurate. My only question: was this part of a strategy to emphasize other skills (like defense and power) or was this an accident on Cherington & co's part?

Run differentials

Here's a look at the run differential leader board in the AL, which is a bit different from the standings:

Texas +93
NY Yankees +53
Boston +41
Toronto +40
Chicago Sox +34
LA Angels +31
Tampa Bay +16
Baltimore +3

This shows us several things:

* Baltimore is due to fade and is essentially a .500 team that has gotten lucky.
* Cleveland doesn't have a positive run differential and is due to tank very soon with Chicago headed back to first place.
* The Yankees are good, yet again.
* Texas is the class of the division.
* Boston could be ready to start a run towards second place in the AL East, provided it gets everyone healthy. The reason that the Red Sox are 3 games below their expected win percentage is that they are 0-4 in extra inning games. With the return of Andrew Bailey and Daniel Bard and emergence of the bullpen as a whole, this team could be primed for a playoff run.

Visiting The Bailey Bowl, Meeting Our New Closer & Manager

Last Saturday, I had the pleasure of attending the Bailey Bowl, an event to benefit the 3 Strikes Foundation, raising money to help kids with cancer. It took place down in New Jersey near Philadelphia, where Andrew Bailey, our new closer, grew up. It was a really fun night and I was thrilled to meet a former Sox player, a future Sox player, and our new manager Bobby Valentine. Big thanks to MLB.com's Tara Gore for letting me tag along with her. Felt a little like a kid again. Got so excited that I even waxed the 'stache for the occasion!

Craig Breslow, recently traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks (seriously, who approved that name?) but having pitched 13 games for the Red Sox in 2006, he's part of the Red Sox legacy and is therefore able to sign my Sox ball. Really nice guy and founder of the foundation. Also I'm a fan of the shirt that he was wearing.

So I've had this ball since I was about 10 and it's been signed by numerous Sox players, first from baseball card shows, at a baseball camp, at the Fenway Park parking lot when I was a kid, and most recently at the Bailey Bowl. The players who've signed it range from Rico Petrocelli who joined the Sox in 1963 to Bailey, who's joining in 2012.

Here's my friend Tara Gore interviewing Craig for MLB.com.

Me with the new Sox closer Andrew Bailey, who organized the charity event with the money going to help kids with cancer.

Tara interviewing Bailey.

Bobby Valentine getting mauled by the Phillie Phanatic.





Here's the video that Tara and company posted about the event. Check me out about 60% of the way through it for footage of Bobby V signing my Red Sox ball!