Hitting third and playing leftfield ...

Ted Williams (1939-1942, 1946-1960)

2 time AL MVP 16 time AL All Star

6 time AL batting champ and 4 time AL rbi and home run champ

elected to the Hall of Fame in 1966

Although I admit that in the history of the franchise there are some great players at this position, there is no one as great as Ted Williams. 521 career home runs, 1839 rbi's (13th best in the history of the game), 2019 walks (4th best), .634 slugging percentage (2nd best) and a career batting average of .344 (5th best). "The Kid" was arguably the greatest hitter who ever lived. There are two great biographies that were written about Williams' life. Both delve into the complexities of his personality. Regardless of his character flaws, most notably his brashness, Teddy Ballgame was simply the best.

Like no other sport, baseball's history and the comparing of players is driven by statistics. Williams' stats as a hitter for average, power and driving in runs are better than anyone in the history of the game (Babe Ruth is the only other one in the discussion). When you take into account that Williams did not play in 1943-1945 and missed virtually all of the 1952 and 1953 seasons due to his commitment to the U.S. Navy as a pilot, it is easy to see his place in baseball history. That was five years in the prime of his career that he did not accumulate hits, runs, rbi or home runs. It is possible he could have been the all time leader in home runs and runs batted in when he retired.

Who makes out better?

Waking up this morning we find the Sox (with my boy Jon Lester) breathing a little easier after last night's win and fans with a smile on their faces.

Why the smiles? Not just from the impressive win.

Following the game the Yanks had a closed door meeting to "iron" somethings out. Joe Girardi got testy with the media when asked about the meeting. Dissension on the opposing side is always a good thing.

A new Quinnipac University poll says for the first time in five years Connecticut is a red state. No politics here. According to the poll, 41% of state residents are Sox fans as opposed to 40% Yankee fans and 9% Met fans. The tide is turning.

Best of all, NY newspapers are reporting a love quadrangle. Seems ARod has been getting cozy with another fake blonde. The ageless Madonna. The big shocker is that the Mrs. Cynthia Rodriguez has been returning the favor by hooking up with musician Lenny Kravitz. The question is who made out better? ARod or Cynthia? Let's see Madonna versus Lenny Kravitz.

Madonna has tons of money and fame. But didn't she date Jose Canseco back when both of them were really popular? Since then he has come out and admitted to using needles to increase his performance. While Madonna married a needle of an Englishman and continues to be a lackluster performer.

Lenny Kravitz has has less fame and money. But he did have a cool mother in Roxi Roker (Helen Willis from The Jeffersons) and Ricky Williams gave up playing for the Dolphins just to follow him on tour.

I'll let you decide but a man crush from Ricky Williams is pretty powerful. Plus if she becomes the former Mrs. Rodriguez, the alimony from $240 million won't be too bad. Looks like ARod is a loser again.

Where's the Panic Button?

The lack of offense is starting to become a worry. A big difference between successful teams and unsuccessful teams is timely hitting. The Sox just cannot seem to get the big hit when they need it. Leaving runners in scoring position especially with two outs is demoralizing. Getting a two out rbi is uplifting to a team.

Last night, Lowell leaves the bases loaded in the top of the eighth. In the bottom of the inning, Navarro gets a two out single off of Delcarlman to give the Rays a two run lead. Game over!

A couple of "By The Way's";

• When did the Rays' fans become so rowdy?
• Cowbells are annoying
• Varitek had absolutely no shot last night in the ninth
• I would have ruined the plasma if Cora got thrown out last night in the ninth trying to stretch a single into a double down two runs
• Evan Longoria is really good
• The featured BTW is something I have thought about in the past -- Clubhouse unity is a little overrated so why not bring in Barry Bonds? He's an OBP machine and would be a huge presence in the middle of the line up. Some fans are calling for the Sox to trade for Griffey but he has nothing left. The answer is Bonds. I know the chances of this actually happening is little to none but from a purely baseball performance perspective it does make sense. Free agent that would cost approx. $4 million for the rest of the season.

Big seven game stretch

As we wake up this morning, say good bye to interleague play and check the standings, the Red Sox are currently in second place behind the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Sox finish up a ten game road trip with series against the Rays and Yankees. To win five out of seven over the next week would suffice. We have Masterson (v Shields), Wakefield (v Garza) and Dice K (v Kazmir) going against Tampa the next three nights.

For some odd reason the Sox are not consistently hitting versus other team's relievers. The winning formula used to be wear down the starter and then light up the bull pen. The rays pen has performed well but are not dominating.

Suggestion time -- move Pedroia to lead off, bat Youk second and move Ellsbury down.

Sean McAdams in the Providence Journal today reported that Manny shoved a Sox employee to the ground after learning that his request for 16 tickets to a game may not be met.

Let's hope the Sox are feisty this week.

Batting second playing centerfield ...

Tris Speaker (1907-1915)

AL MVP 1912

1327 hits, 267 sb, .337 (3rd best in Sox history) career batting average

1937 Hall of Fame inductee

The best true center fielder the Red Sox have ever employed. Speaker was best known for his stellar defense but has the third highest batting average in Sox history. He had 207 outfield assists in his nine year career with Boston. Most impressive is the fact that in 1937 Speaker was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame as a member of only its second class ever. Still not convinced he was that good? In the 1937 balloting he finished ahead of Cy Young! Yeah, the same guy that the award is named after.

Batting the left handed hitting Speaker second will give him the 4-3 hold to hit through with Boggs on base. Speaker's on base percentage was over .420 for his career with the Sox.

Tempted to put one of my all time favorite BoSox players in this position but Fred Lynn didn't have the numbers or career to match up with Speaker's.

Good Win

Last night's win was very much needed. Hopefully this can propel the offense to start scoring some runs consistently. Thirty runs in the last eight games is not going to get it done.

Drew has finally cooled. Tek's hit last night "broke" a 1 for 30 slump. Pedroia, Ellsbury, Lowell and Youk have all performed as we would expect. Manny has struggled driving in runs of late. He has something like one rbi in his last ten games.

Ortiz hits off a tee today to see how his wrist has progressed. The Sox have weathered the storm since his departure. How long can we stay afloat offensively without the big guy? We'll see how he does off the tee. Hard to believe I'm interested in how a 6'4" 240 lb man is feeling after hitting a baseball off a tee.

Randy Johnson vs Wakefield tonight. Vegas has an even money line on a back injury tonight from one of the starting pitchers. Game time is 7:05 but with the daily rain delay it will start about 7:45.

Batting Leadoff at 3B

Wade Boggs (1982-1992)

5 AL Batting Champ ('83,'85,'86,'87,'88)

8 time AL All Star ('85-'92)

2098 hits, 1067 runs, career bavg .338

Inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame 2005

"The Chicken Man" bats lead off on the All Time team. With a .428 on base percentage this guy will get on base and set the table for the heart of the order. Along with Tony Gwynn, Boggs was the hitter of his era. He collected 200 hits in seven straight seasons.

How sweet was the swing that produced countless doubles off of the Green Monster? How about the eye that produced nine consecutive seasons with at least 87 walks? How about the underrated defensive infielder that through a tremendous work ethic went on to win two Gold Gloves? Was there anyone else on the team you would want up in a big situation?

I think this selection at third base is a no brainer. Is there anyone else worthy?

Hobson?Petrocelli?

Regardless of his off the field escapades (Margo) and his defection to the Yankees (Didn't he ride the horse for the Sox in '86 before he did it for the Yanks?), Wade Boggs was the best third baseman in team history.