Boston

In a move only a true psychic could have seen coming, the Boston Red Sox have claimed veteran outfielder Johnny Damon off waivers from the Detroit Tigers.

Red Sox fans will not have forgotten the name Johnny Damon. The outfielder was a member of the Red Sox from 2002 to 2005, during the time of "The Idiots," of whom he was a ringleader along with former BoSock Kevin Millar.

The Boston Red Sox are at a crossroads right now. In the thick of a pennant race, their star closer is melting down before their very eyes.

Jonathan Papelbon is putting up the worst numbers of his career and is no longer one of the most intimidating closers in baseball.

When I did the write-up after my interview with new Red Sox OF Ryan Kalish last year, I predicted that he would be a BIG hit with Red Sox Nation when he finally arrived in Boston (though I’ll admit that I thought he’d get here in 2011, not 2010).

Both the calendar page and the greeting card companies dictate that the one day per year we are allowed to "honor thy father" (at least in this country) is the third Sunday of June. Since 1910, children around the globe have annually taken a mere 24 hours out of their busy lives to "celebrate fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence of fathers in society" by dousing Dads with a collection of humorous cards and never to be worn ties.

If nothing else, Father's Day acts to provide a fitting and opposite book end to the prior month's holiday, Mother's Day.

A serious Triple Crown candidate is emerging in Detroit.

Miguel Cabrera's 18 homers and 53 runs batted in pace the American League and he ranks fourth in batting average (.339).

I know precisely what you're thinking. It's the second week of June.

How dare you utter "Triple Crown"!

Well, let's look at it this way—with each mention of the feat, writers offer a refresher course in history.

Who was the last player to earn the Triple Crown?

Carl Yastrzemski.

When was this feat last achieved?

Mike Cameron is slated to perhaps come off the Disabled List tonight and enter the Red Sox lineup.

This fact alone is not likely to prompt cartwheels in the streets of Boston—but it's what the transaction would mean that is more important.

With Cameron's return, the Red Sox will be about as whole as they've been since the sixth game of the season when they began a four-game set in Tampa that's about as important as games in May can be.

Belligerence makes the world go ‘round.

New York Yankees fans and Boston Red Sox fans are militant competitors. They’re also mutual complements. When the Yanks and Sox square off at Fenway Park this weekend, soldiers on both sides of the front will fire the latest shots in a long-standing conflict—which would be more distressing news if long-standing conflict weren’t such an important part of human identity.

Harmony means getting along with your peer group.

Hostility, on the other hand, means getting in touch with your personhood.

For Red Sox fans, there weren’t too many things to cheer about in the month of April.

The team got off to a horrendous start, plagued by a surprising lack of pitching and a not so surprising lack of offensive punch.

David Ortiz is once again showing himself to be “Big Pop-up” as opposed to “Big Papi,” and the offseason acquisitions of Marco Scutaro, Adrian Beltre, and Mike Cameron have provided minimal run production.

J.D. Drew hit a home run Sunday afternoon.

While I'd usually make some sort of snarky comment about how difficult it is to hit balls out of the park without the use of a human heart, that turn of events this time instead brought home the reality of how upside down this season has been so far in Boston.

J.D. Drew has been the Red Sox's most durable outfielder.

The Boston Red Sox entered this season with one of, if not the best starting rotation in the major leagues.

The trio atop their pitching staff—Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, and John Lackey—was, on paper, deemed one of the best in baseball, possibly only second to the New York Yankees' three-headed monster of CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Andy Pettitte.

But the three Red Sox aces have done little to deserve their reputation around the league, combining to go 3-3 with an abysmal 6.18 ERA in the early going, which is a big reason for Boston’s struggles.