Team Turmoil still in the mix

On March 28th, one week before the season started, I wrote that if the Boston Red Sox were within five to eight games of the Yankees when Nomar Garciaparra returned, everything would be ok.

I didn't take into consideration that Pedro Martinez would miss almost two months of the season, or about 10-12 starts.

I didn't factor in starting catcher Jason Varitek's season ending in the beginning of June.

I didn't calculate what would happen when Carl Everett missed 30+ games during the middle part of the season.

I didn't expect Derek Lowe, one of the top closers in the game over the past couple of years, to have the most blown saves in the major leagues.

I didn't know that with six weeks to go in the regular season, Jimy "Manager's Decision" Williams would no longer call on his horses in the barn because he would be axed by The Duke.

With all of that said, the Red Sox are four games behind the Yankees in the AL East, three games behind Oakland in the wild card race, and the Prodigal Son will return on Sunday to help herd his teammates down the home stretch.

That's right folks, Pedro Martinez, the best pitcher on the planet is due to make his first start since June 26th on Sunday night against the Texas Rangers and it couldn't have come at a better time. The Red Sox are currently on a road trip that will make or break their season. Then they will return to friendly Fenway to face the aforementioned Bronx Bombers and the AL Central leading Cleveland Indians. It doesn't stop there however, because they will then head into enemy territory for a four game set against the rival Yanks.

The fact that they are in a position to control their own destiny as they head down the home stretch is amazing. New manager Joe Kerrigan has already employed a more exciting brand of baseball that has the Red Sox stealing bases, something I wasn't sure the organization knew they were allowed to do.

Does this mean everything is back to normal in Beantown?

Not exactly. Ex-closer Derek Lowe celebrated Kerrigan's first win by referring to him in a not so kind way, when asked why he was not brought in to close out their win against Seattle in favor of new crowd favorite Ugi Urbina.

Then earlier this week, catcher Scott Hatteberg who had handled most of the catching duties since Varitek went down with his injury, told the Boston Herald he is upset about his recent lack of playing time and that he has asked to be traded at the end of the season.

Hatteberg, who has thrown out a shameful six out of ninety-seven base stealers this year, has been replaced for the most part by Doug Mirabelli, who threw out six consecutive base stealers in one stretch last week. Mirabelli continued to shine the other night as he hit his first career grand slam during an 8-5 win against the Angels, who are also chasing the wild card spot. Hatteberg might as well get a cushion for that seat on the bench.

On top of all the whining, Manny Ramirez is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury that will likely keep him out of the lineup during the entire road trip. The Sox are refraining from placing Ramirez on the 15-day DL in case he is ready to go by the time the Yankees roll into town.

So, there are about five weeks left in the season and the Sox are still in it. No more guesses, no more predictions. I figure with all that has gone on over the first 124 games of the season, there is no sense in trying to predict what could happen over the last 38.

I'm just gonna sit back and enjoy the ride. I just hope the destination of this trip is October.