Wholesale Keychain TRIVIA: 30 HR, 100 RBI LF

Jason Bay now has 30 home runs and 100 RBI in a season for the Red Sox as the left-fielder. Name the four other Boston left-fielders to reach this milestone.

Wake up, Sox fans! The Red Sox are in a race!

Over the last couple of months, I have noticed that Red Sox fans seem to be losing attention to the team. Tickets are harder to sell off if you can't make a game. Comments on Red Sox blogs have dropped.

We are in mid-September, atop the wild card lead by only two games, and it seems as if Red Sox Nation is in a collective funk -- myself included.

What's going on?

9/9: The Berken Byrd

How's that for a play on words? Except for the whole birds being able to bark thing, of course. Byrd threw a gem against Toronto and followed it up with a stinker against Chicago. What's he got in store for Baltimore? On the other side, Berken has a 6.07 ERA an 4-11 record. These are the types of games we should win. Will we?

Can David Ortiz make it to 30 home runs and 2010?

Back when David Ortiz was mired in his homerless streak, not bopping his first home run until May 20 and his second until June 6, I made a bet with a friend that Ortiz would end up with 30 home runs.

Ortiz had a torrid June and kept consistently banging out the home runs, so it was looking more and more like I would win the bet. However, Big Papi has followed up a .222/.330/.495 August with a clunker in September: .160/.250/.280 through September 9.

In my mind, the more pressing issue here is 2010. Do we hand Ortiz the DH job automatically and pray he comes through with it? The way I see it, Ortiz is virtually untradeable and it's impossible to relegate him to a bench spot.

9/8: Buchholz meets his old friend/foe

Clay Buchholz tangles with the Baltimore Orioles, who he handcuffed two years ago for a no-hitter... and whom handcuffed him the last time the two dueled on Aug. 2 when Clay gave up seven runs over four innings.

9/7: No more Sox

Today is the final game of the season against the accursed White Sox, stealers of Carlton Fisk. Josh Beckett has given up 12 home runs in his last four starts (!!!) while Mark Buehrle is 2009's Mr. Perfect. Curt Hennig would roll over in his grave if he knew that the wrong Sox had the 'Perfect' label. Can Beckett keep balls inside the Cell? If he wants a future job as prison guard, he better show it here.

9/6: Two young lefties duel

John Danks needs one more win to set a single-season career high in victories and move over .500 in his career. He'll be opposed by John Lester, who now is the Red Sox's career leader in strikeouts by a left-hander in one season. Should be fun.

Dice-K making another rehab start Wed.

Via Twitter, Amalie Benjamin (or as the FOXSports announcers would have you believe, 'Molly' Benjamin) says that Daisuke Matsuzaka will make another rehab assignment Wednesday -- the location to be determined.

The Dice Man started for Pawtucket on Saturday and was not pleased with his breaking ball command. Sox officials said they hoped to squeeze one more minor league start out of Matsuzaka.

After the start, Dice-K will rejoin the BoSox. It remains to be seen who he will replace in the rotation. The two candidates are obviously Paul Byrd and Tim Wakefield. My guess? Wakefield looks like he's still hurting a ton, so they'll give Wakefield a breather and work Matsuzaka in. What say you?

9/5: Wakefield returns (triumphantly?)

Wakefield returns! Perhaps the Sox's most consistent starter when healthy, Wake will go against Gavin Floyd, who has a 2-0 career record against Boston.

9/4: Two Sox go at it

Paul Byrd goes against Freddy Garcia; two pitchers both returning from the dead. Garcia held the Yankees to three runs in six innings last time out, so he may be rounding into form. The ChiSox certainly aren't; they're collapsing. A sweep would be nice; I still haven't given up hope for the division title.