Thursday - the day after Hump Day

It is August 3rd. After holding sole possession of 1st place in the AL East since June, the Sox have slumped, and are now in a virtual tie with the Yanks (actually, they're one down in the loss column, so the Evil Empire is percentage points ahead of us). On an up note, great 9th inning last night. On a down note, Nixon and 'Tek injured, the Yanks picked up (read: bought) Bobby Abreu and Corey Lidle, and the Sox remained pat at the trade deadline.

Word is that Andruw Jones was placed on waivers yesterday. The question is, who wants to pick up that salary? I'd rather see the Sox get some fresh young arms than trade away top prospects (Hansen? Lester? Forget it!) for a slugger who may or may not even be around a year from now. Which is why I'm glad those trade rumors turned out to be false (hence, "rumors").

The team is scuffling right now. Boomer had a crappy outing, Lester's last three starts were nothing spectacular, and we don't have a fifth starter (unless you count Jason Johnson...which, frankly, I don't. I was at Tuesday's game. What a joke).

If anyone needs a good laugh, there are two really funny stories on The Onion's website. One is about the the trade deadline, the other is about steroid use in pro sports.