So long, farewell and Auf Wiedersehen to Bryan Corey - who is headed to the Padres of San Diego for that always in-demand utility fielder/pitcher, "Player TBN" (or cash- not the Kevin kind). It should work out well for all parties- the Sox didn't have room for him, and the Pads are desperate for some pitching, so Bryan should get some playing time fairly quick.

The Sox were also busy making other kinds of roster and lineup moves today- pulling Alex Cora off the DL and plonking him down into the starting shortstop position for tonight's game (while Julio Lugo is still out). Jed Lowrie was optioned back to Pawtucket to make room for Alex's return. Hasta luego, Jeddie Boy (or is that "hasta Lugo"?) - I'm sure we'll be seeing you again soon.

Sean Casey is also ready, willing and able to come off the DL - look for him to be activated as soon as tomorrow, once the Sox make it through tonight and the likely bullpen deficiencies resulting from Papelbon and Okajima's recent use.

I've deprived y'all long enough -- it's time for another installment of Awesome Animated GIF Of The Week. This time, it's Manny (being Manny):

And if seeing Manny and his lifelike bobblehead makes you just a teensy bit jealous, you can make a bobblehead (of sorts) in your own likeness here -- or do like I did, and make bobbleheads of random Sox players.

One of the most unfortunate byproducts of my hectic schedule last week was that I sorely neglected to recognize my favorite ace hurler's outstanding career achievement from May 8th. So for Mr. Josh Beckett:

Better late than never, right?

Batting practice may look like a time for warming up, doing some fielding drills and chatting up random cute girls in the stands -- but Jonathan Papelbon uses the BP time to educate Hideki Okajima on the finer points of gambling.

During the Red Sox recent trip to Detroit, eagle-eyed commenter joyosity spotted Papelbon drawing something in the warning track dirt while gesturing and excitedly talking to Okajima and his translater. On closer inspection, she discovered Papelbon's artwork was really a giant replica of a craps table -- and Okajima was learning the art of being a high roller.

I can see a series of "Gambling With The Sox" videos in the future. Mike Timlin can lecture on how to win at blackjack while double-fisting Bud Lights, Josh Beckett can teach folks how bringing a loaded deer rifle to the poker table is an excellent way to win at Texas Hold 'Em, and Manny Ramirez can tell everyone how fun it is to play slots because of all of the pretty pictures and flashing lights. Wheeee!

And, of course, joyosity was quick enough to take a little bit of video of Vegas Master Papelbon and his two Gambling Proteges:

Hat tip to joyosity for the photos and video!

The lights went dark on Elm Street today, when it was announced that the Red Sox DFA'ed Julian Tavarez to make room for Sean Casey on the roster. That gives the Sox 10 days to trade him or place him on waivers -- and given the interest the Rox have expressed recently, he could well be headed to the Mile High City. Farewell, Julian the Jukin' Jackrabbit.

My only question is: what are the Red Sox trainers supposed to do with these extra pieces of Tavarez-specific equipment?

Of course, we'll always have the memories...

Foolish, foolish Brewer fans.

If it wasn't bad enough they had to deal with the loss of Bernie Brewer's awesome beer barrel slide**, now the guys behind the Milwaukee Brewers blog Right Field Bleachers challenged me to a surefire losing (for them) wager over the upcoming Sox-Brewers interleague series this weekend. I'm pretty confident that even Gabe Kapler can't help the Brew Crew take 2 of 3 from his beloved Sox.

If the Sox win? They'll send me over five of their original design Papi seeds tshirts (which I can then give away to 5 lucky Center Field readers).

If the Sox lose? UNLIKELY... but I'll send them a sixer of Sam Adams, Boston Baked Beans and some clam chowder.

Either way, they still have to deal with Eric Gagne -- so I think we already know who the real winner is.

** Seriously- how cool was this? Silly Brewers and their need to have a "family friendly" park. I wish we had one of these at Fenway- you could charge drunken Massholes $50 a pop to take a ride down the slide into the giant beer mug:

The silver lining of the grey cloud that was the pummeling of Clay Buchholz by the Twins' bats last night? Thanks to NESN, we got to witness Kevin Youkilis and Manny Ramirez making fun of the batting stances of Jason Varitek and Sean Casey.

Happy Birthday and Giddy Up to Josh Beckett - who turns a ripe old 28 today. All deer, elk and moose in a 500 mile radius, watch out: I'm sure there will be some beer drinkin' in celebration, and then no four-legged antlered animal will be safe.

Let's play a little game of catchup, shall we - and get caught up on all the Sox video goodness from the last few games.

First up: David Ortiz mocking Tito Francona in the dugout.

Next: some postgame remarks from Josh Beckett after his fairly crappy outing Tuesday against the O's.

Now that NESN censors his postgame press conferences, here's what was NOT included:

"It's (fucking) horrible. That's the only (fucking) word for it," Beckett said last night at Camden Yards, where the Red Sox dropped a 5-4 decision to the Baltimore Orioles. "You can't give up as many hits as you get outs when you have my (fucking) stuff. (Fucking) terrible.

"I think everybody in this room holds me to the standard (he holds himself to). I think they're all shocked how (fucking) (shitty) I can be at times. I think everybody in here knows I should be able to get more than 17 (fucking) outs in a game."

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Earlier this week, it looked as though Red Sox fans were going to be denied the chance to see their beloved Eric Gagne up close and personal when Brewers' manager Ned Yost unceremoniously yanked Gagne from the closer role after he notched a league-leading FIFTH blown save. To Sox fans, this seemed a little crazy. Not because benching Gagne is crazy-- but because after his performance last year, it's kind of like paying $10 million for a broken-down ratty old monkey windup toy... and then getting mad and throwing the monkey away when it couldn't play a tune on its cymbals. It's a broken-down ratty old monkey! Of course it can't play the cymbals well!

Never fear, Sox hecklers -- the dream is still alive: Gagne was restored to his rightful role as the closer/broken-down monkey for the Brewers after just a two day "mental break". I'm not sure what he did during that "mental break" (buy a new pair of weird goggles? say "eh?" and "aboot" a lot? drink some Molson beer? hang out with Mounties?), but I'm all for it if it means we still have a shot at seeing Gagne enter a game this weekend against the Sox at Fenway.

I'm thinking the fans should hurl water bottles at him again, so he feels right at home back in Fenway.

Gagne can't even catch a break on Wikipedia. Commenter 1863_project noticed a section on Gagne's Wiki page (long since removed, of course) criticizing his fashion choices as well. Thanks to 1863 for screencapping it for posterity:

No mention of his heinous goggle glasses and weird hair? Come on now, anonymous Wiki fashion critic -- get on the ball!

Let's try this again, shall we?

	vs. Milwaukee Brewers Fenway Park - Boston, MA SP: Daisuke Matsuzaka vs. Jeff Suppan tv/radio: FOX - MLB.TV - WRKO
	vs. Milwaukee Brewers 8:35 pm Fenway Park - Boston, MA SP: Tim Wakefield vs. Dave Bush tv/radio: NESN - MLB.TV - WRKO