And what is this doing to Terry Francona, the manager of the 2006 Sox? He was coughing up blood and spitting it into a towel while he answered questions after yesterday's loss.
``I might have OD'd on my blood thinners," explained the beleaguered manager. ``I think I took too much."
Not even his trainwreck years in the corner office at the Vet could have prepared Francona for what has happened to his Red Sox this month. Filling out his lineup card has become more difficult than organic chemistry. The Sox-Held-Hostage-By-Manny-Tour takes a toll on everyone.
This is not to suggest that Manny Ramírez is faking, but his curious on-again, off-again availability -- coupled with the increasingly frequent necessity to remove him from games -- gives the manager fits and is taking the team down.
Here's how Francona starts his day when he gets to the ballpark: First he has to find out if Manny is in or out (wounded-knee Manny is 0 for 6 in the first six games of this trip with two starts and one pinch-hitting appearance). Then he sees if he has a healthy catcher who is not named Javy Lopez. Then he asks Mark Loretta if he can play first and Kevin Youkilis if he can play left. Then he pencils Dwayne Hosey, errr, Coco Crisp, into the leadoff spot and works his way south to No. 9. It's pretty tough since Jason Varitek, Alex Gonzalez, and Trot Nixon are on the disabled list, Wily Mo Peña has a sore left wrist, and Doug Mirabelli has a sore left ankle.
When the lineup's finished, Francona talks with pitching coach Dave Wallace to see who's available in the bullpen and who can start the next day. The bullpen situation is ever-dicey. Mike Timlin has morphed into Steve Crawford, Keith Foulke is always hurt, and the others besides Jonathan Papelbon are either not ready or over the hill.
It's a Bechtel Bullpen: no safe bridge to Papelbon.
