Everyone has done it. I wake up multiple times a week, afraid I may have lost an arm. While sleeping, your arm gets caught underneath your body and the circulation gets cut off, you wake up in a daze, move positions and the feeling comes back. You fall back asleep and wake up good as new, although, when this happens to Josh Beckett and he pitches like shit it’s breaking news.

As Red Sox Nation collectively holds our breath, Beckett is not looking like the ace starting pitcher we all came to know and love from the past 2 years. In his last start (2 1/3 innings, 8 runs, 8 hits against Toronto) he felt a tingling feeling in his pinky and ring finger, and Tito had said that had something to do with his location, and we are all hoping the same.

Apparently this tingly feeling had come from Beckett sleeping on his arm the wrong way the night before, yet he told redsox.com writer Ian Browne that it is something he had been dealing with off and on this season but he had no idea what it was, or where it was coming from.

Now with his next start pushed back until Tuesday against the Yankees in New York, the Bronx Bombers are licking their lips hoping Beckett is not right and they can slip back into the playoff picture, as their window is getting more slim while the days pass.

The problem with his feeling seems to be minor, but with multi-million dollar investments, you can never be too cautious. However, with the Red Sox playoff berth far from a sure thing, we can be sure to all be biting our nails as the rest of the season and our starting pitching dilemma transpires.

Buchholz Looking to Right his Pitching Wrong

It is no secret that young phenom Clay Buchholz is not having the year that everyone expect. It is not his fault, however, that he is not living up to the hype given off of last year’s no-no in his second major league start. It’s tough to forget such a milestone for fans like us. But the season can still be saved for Buchholz.

Pitching coach John Farrell and Clay have seemed to find a flaw in the young guy’s mechanics which may be causing his pitches to drift over the plate and contributed to his 6.35 ERA and 90 hits in 73 and 2/3 innings, including 11 home runs over that time.

Texas Gal over in Center Field turned us on to the idea that Buchholz has been “drifting” in delivery, as show through the PitchFX diagrams in her post. Hopefully with this new light bulb over Clay’s head he will return to his form and help the Sox finished the sweep over the Orioles, more for the kid’s confidence than the team.

Wakefield Plays a Little Toss

After spending 10 days on the DL, Tim Wakefield has got the ball back in his hand and played catch with pitching coach John Farrell for the first time since going on the disabled list with tightness in the back of his right shoulder. The Sawx are hoping after a few more side sessions Wake will be ready to take back to the mound.

Colon to Pitch for Pawtucket this Week

After leaving his third rehab start for the PawSox after one inning with a case of the stomach bug, Bartolo Colon will continue his trail back to Fenway this week against Syracuse Chiefs. David Pauley is listed as the probable starter for tonight on the PawSox website, but Colon could end up getting the start.

-First, and foremost, the Sox get their feared number 3 hitter back in the line-up tonight, Big Papi. Papi is coming off the DL after a 53-day, 45 game absence, where the Sox were able to assemble a 26-19 record. The record, though, does not quantify the offense’s struggles without him in the line-up. Without Papi hitting in that number 3 slot, the Sox offense has been out of the top 10 in all three Triple Crown categories, coincidently, with him in the line-up they are in the top 10 of all three.

-However, the player who everyone seems to be bashing recently, and the number 4 hitter in the Sox powerful 1-2 punch, Manny Ramirez is questionable for tonight’s game with a sore knee. Who knows if Manny is just pulling one of his many stunts to show the Sox front office how much they need him, or if his knee has really been bothering him. Ramirez is the only one who knows the answer to that question, and I’m sure he’ll be keeping it that way.

-An interesting storyline for tonight will be Joba Chamberlain making his first start at Fenway Park, especially with the past he has with the Red Sox, and most notably, Kevin Youkilis. Joba was none too happy with Youkilis’ slide in Yankee Stadium on July 5th, and he made it known when in Kevin’s next at bat, he promptly received a 97 mph fastball between his legs. Last season, Youk also received two fastballs over his head in the Bronx. It’ll be interesting to see how Joba handles Youk in his first at bat tonight; I know I’ll be watching.

-The Sox counter Chamberlain, with dueling flamethrower, Josh Beckett, on the mound tonight in Boston. Beckett comes into the game with a 9-6 record (3-0 against the Yankees) and a 3.98 ERA through 18 starts, with 113 K to 25 BB in 120 innings pitched. He is coming off a CG last time out, against the Los Angeles Angels. Beckett took the loss in the game, chucking 8 innings of 9 hit baseball, giving up 4 runs and striking out 6 along the way. Here’s hoping to 4-0 against those Bronx Bombers.

-Dustin Pedroia has been the team’s hottest hitter this month, batting at a .436 clip, raking 44 hits in his last 101 at bats. In 9 games against the Yankees this season, Pedroia has also been hot, hitting .350 against New York pitching. Robinson Cano, widely known in the baseball world as being a 2nd half hitter, has started on his tear in the last 30 days, dancing to the tune of a .359 avg with 4 HR, striking out only 4 times in that span.

-This 3 games series ranks high on both teams priority lists, as the Yankees come into Fenway Park only 3 games behind the Sox and Tampa Bay Rays. Both teams are in a tie at the top of the AL East as of the games played through July 24th. In the case of a series sweep for the Yankees, they would tie themselves with the Red Sox and once again show the baseball world they can never be counted out of the race for the division.

Every series between these two American League elites give us something to watch for, and this series will not disappoint. Be ready for a playoff atmosphere at Fenway Park at 7:05pm.

New England Patriots QB Tom Brady normally rests easy at night knowing that when he takes his 5 to 7 step drop, he has 3 Pro-Bowl linemen giving him all the time he needs to lock on his target and get rid of the ball. The linemen, who have been in the Top 10 of sacks allowed in the NFL since 2004, allowed Tom to throw for a league record 50 touchdowns last season. Logan Mankins, Dan Koppen and Matt Light have taken joy in pancaking opposing defensive linemen to the tune of Super Bowl rings. But I’m sure Matt did not tell Tom and the rest of the boys about his new off-season gigs, singing and coaching baseball.

The colossal 6-5, 305 pound offensive tackle took to the microphone on Friday, July 18th in Nashua, New Hampshire to sing the National Anthem in front of a packed house at Holman Stadium during a Nashua Pride game. The usually grizzly looking Light, cleaned up a bit for his first and I’m positive last performance, wow-ing the crowd with his eccentric voice and askew pitch.

Once the Anthem was finished, and the opposing pitcher warm, the self-proclaimed gentle giant made his way to the first base coaches box in the bottom of the 1st to begin his 3 inning coaching career. Light was put right to work when he waved his right arm in a frenzy, signaling a Pride hitter on his way to second after lining a shot into the left-center field gap.

Although Matt will not be a candidate to coach for the Canadian-American Baseball League all-star team or be a winner in the eyes of Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson, we hope that he will stick with his day job and keep churning out those pancakes and keeping our boy Tom off his back long enough to hit the streaking Moss deep for touchdown after touchdown.

On Deck Fantasy Baseball First Half Report
By Buster Softly

Already halfway through the fantasy baseball season in On Deck Fantasy’s inaugural season and we have learned 3 things:

1. The beginning of the season does not foreshadow the end, or even the middle of a season.
2. Drafting young is no indication of looking toward winning in the future.
3. Number of roster moves does not equal number of team wins.

We have seen a large swing in the momentum throughout the league since the beginning of the season, most notably, the Dirt Dawgs of Walla Walla. Led by Trot Nixon, the Dirt Dawgs came out of the gates with 3 wins of 7-3 or 8-2 margins in their first 5 games and GM Kevin Neville could not stop gloating to the rest of the league. Since beating hometown rival, The Great Guys, 8-2 in Week 5 though, Walla Walla has lost 6 straight including a 10-0 thrashing to the [REAL] Milltown Monsters. The team is now in 2nd to last place, 9.5 games out of a playoff spot. Who is talking now Neville?

Two of the top 6 teams, Lima Time and the Santa Monica Wildcats, were said to be battling for the 2010 championship at the beginning of the season. But the way things have been coming together; it looks as if they may be right in the thick of things when it comes down to the end this season. Lima Time is only 2 games out of first place, and has been a fixture at the top of the standings all season. After losing 5 out of their first 7 weeks, the Wildcats have come out of no where to roll of 4 straight, scoring a remarkable 7 categories in each win.

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