A week ago, I’d be lying if I said that I expected the Sox to be five games back in the division behind the Devil Rays. While the D-Rays probably were not going to stay atop the AL East for the rest of the season, I’d also be lying if I said that I had predicted the Sox would be looking down on them in the standings by the All Star Break. Making up 5.5 games in a week is epic. If this happened the last week of the season instead of the last week before the break, it would be talked about as one of the greatest comebacks to steal a division title in history.

Of course, it helps for the Sox to play in Fenway (aka “Manny’s Playhouse”) instead of on the road. Manny has started crushing the ball again, and when he does he’s started with this new two handed chest tap as if to say, “Mom, look, I made this!”. Plus he’s got his friends in the Monster, probably expecting Jambi to talk to him through the hole in the scoreboard while he’s playing left field. You know Chairry is somewhere in the clubhouse. (Maybe that’s what the Jack McCormick argument was about, I wonder if he told Manny that Chairry couldn’t come with them on the road trip…)

But I digress, the Sox are in first place at the break. A Red Sox manager will be managing an all-star team that is starting 1/3 Sox players in The Toilet, and soon this freaking All Star game will be over so we no longer have to hear about the wonder and majesty of a stadium where the fans take pride in making 12-year olds cry. I can’t wait until it’s just rubble. Enjoy the game!