One Casey just wasn't good enough for the Red Sox. On Thursday, with the 30th overall pick in the first round of the First-Year Player Draft, the Sox selected 18 year-old shortstop/pitcher dual threat Casey Kelly out of Sarasota, Florida. And with a name like Casey Patrick Kelly, I have a feeliing he'll fit in just fine in Boston.

Casey comes from a baseball-crazy family. Casey's dad Pat Kelly was drafted by the Angels to play catcher, and got a cup of coffee playing for the Blue Jays for three games in 1980 (funnily enough, all 2 of his dad's major league hits came off of Bob Stanley against the Sox at Fenway Park). His dad also took over as bench coach for the Cincinnati Reds last season after managing the Reds' GCL team. Contrary to what some (erroneous) reports have stated, Casey's dad is NOT the Pat Kelly who played for the Yankees. Casey's brother Chris Kelly plays for the Rays organization, his uncle Mike Kelly played for the Blue Jays organization, and his cousin Dustin Kelly played for the Red Sox organization.

The Sox are banking that all those baseball ties will propel Casey to sign on the dotted line... because there is another suitor for his athletic affections. Casey also signed a Letter of Intent to play football (QB) for the University of Tennessee earlier this year -- and now he has a big decision to make. But it sounds like he's leaning towards the Sox. Per MLB:

We spent some time talking to the kid," said general manager Theo Epstein. "First of all, he's a great kid, from a great baseball family. You could hear the passion in his voice when he talks about baseball, and we wouldn't have taken him if we didn't feel in our hearts that he wanted to go out and play professional ball."

There is still a contract to be worked out. But all things being equal, Kelly sounded like a man who was ready to start a baseball career.

"It's definitely a tough decision," said Kelly. "I haven't talked to anybody at Tennessee yet. Out of respect to them, we'll just have to see how the summer goes and see how everything plays out with this."

Kelly was then asked if he saw his future in professional baseball or pro football.

"Right now, I'd have to say baseball," he said. "It's kind of up for grabs. I don't really know the answer to that yet. We'll see how the summer plays out."

"They picked me in the first round so I'll probably be wearing a Red Sox uniform," the Sarasota (Fla.) High School star said just minutes after the pick was announced.

Kelly said Boston has already told his family that it is comfortable with a set of financial parameters that was floated to baseball executives before the draft.

"They knew the price was going to be a little higher because of football," the 6-foot-2, 190-pound Kelly said.

Kelly signed with Tennessee to play quarterback in February. Barring an unforeseen snag in the negotiations, his arrival in Knoxville seems very unlikely.

A possible snag could arise from Kelly's future position, claimed Pat Kelly, Casey's father and a minor league manager.

"They (the Red Sox) like him better as a pitcher but they want to give him a chance to play shortstop," Pat Kelly said. "He doesn't want to pitch. I think that's going to be a big part of the negotiations."

The first clip is the video of Casey watching when his selection was announced (cover your ears- there's a woman on the clip with a high-pitched squeal-scream), and the clip of the pie job is after the jump.

Hat tip to Red Sox Monster for the video!

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Is there anything more miserable than an off-day? Especially when that off-day falls on a Monday. What else are we supposed to use to distract us from work obligations and responsibilities at home? We can't be expected to actually accomplish things!

So let's pretend we're going to a game at the ballpark instead. Except, not a game like those this weekend where it's 150 degrees out. And to help you along with the visualization, my main Cubbies man Timothy Souers (from Cubby Blue) painted a gorgeous watercolor Fenway scene that he sent along and shared with me... so now I'm sharing it with you.

After last night's Celtics-Lakers finals game, it's time to add to the ever-growing compendium of Sox dressed up in their best Celtics green. And who wouldn't enjoy getting kickass courtside seats and watching the local 5 beat up on the guys from L.A.?

The Globe reported that, "[t]he Sox contingent was expected to include Curt Schilling, David Ortiz, Jon Lester, Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell, Jacoby Ellsbury, Tim Wakefield, Coco Crisp, Julio Lugo, Alex Cora, and front-office folks Mike Dee, Sam Kennedy, John Henry, Tom Werner, and Larry Lucchino." No official confirmation whether that whole slew of Sox guys actually attended the game, but at least three of that gang were in attendance.

David Ortiz was at the game, of course- he's getting to be a regular. Pretty soon, he'll have his own seat on the Celtics bench. Jon Lester was also on-hand, and was honored by the Celtics as part of their "Heroes Among Us" program-- and was given a standing ovation by the crowd.

Curt Schilling took in the game from courtside seats directly beside the Lakers' bench- which gave him a fantastic opportunity to listen in on all the action. And, of course, he's wiling to talk all about it:

One thing I did learn was that in addition to not having one ounce of athletic ability, being white, and having no vertical, and only being able to dribble right handed, I couldn't play in the NBA because about 43 times last night I heard things being said that would have made me swing at someone. These guys talk MAJOR trash on the floor, and the great part is that most of the times I've seen it the guy on the receiving end usually doesn't respond much, if at all, and just plays the game, schooling the guy who feels like he needs to talk to make his game better.

See lots more pictures of the Sox at last night's game, after the jump...

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It may be an off-day for most of us, but not for Captain America Jason Varitek. He's hosting his annual Celebrity Putt-Putt tourney tonight in Middleton to raise money for Saints Medical Center and Celebrities for Charity. Last year, several members of the team showed up to play through the (tiny) greens-- so we're counting on those of you who are going to report back tonight with photos and stories.

The best part of the event, though, has to be the cute-as-a-button commercial with Varitek and Jon Lester that's been showing on NESN. A couple of weeks ago, NESN also went behind the scenes to film a kind of "Making Of The Video" segment for that same commercial -- and to celebrate Tek's tourney, here's video of that:

Kevin Millar just can't get enough of Boston. Papi, Lester and Schilling and the rest of the Sox crew weren't the only ones at Sunday night's Celtics-Lakers clash, Mr. Millar was live and in person -- and made an appearance on the jumbotron in the Garden to a rousing ovation. Per the Globe, he was parked right next to David Ortiz at courtside.

As usual, some folks in Baltimore are getting their feathers ruffled about Kevin's Boston proclivities.

I don't know what to make of this. On the one hand it's just some dude enjoying an off night among friends. On the other, it just looks bad.

Basically I think it comes down to this: Millar is kind of a big oaf, and he knows not what he does. Some of the best years of his life were spent in Boston and he probably really does wish he was still there. I don't doubt that he gives the Orioles 100%, but he's not now and will never be "one of us" (for lack of a better way to put it). He's just a warm body at first base, holding a place for Mark Teixeira or whoever else we settle on to man that position for real.

Have I mentioned how much I love Kevin Millar?

From last month's SI Kids:

Not exactly a head-scratcher, is it?

Coco Crisp's web gem in the outfield, Dustin Pedroia's slumpbusting double, J.D. Drew's continued (surprising) slugfest and Manny Ramirez mashing #505 were the highlights.

Josh Beckett's disturbing second inning, the lackluster bottom half of the batting order (going a combined 0-fer-17) and the largely craptacular bullpen (we're looking at you, Hideki Okajima) were the lowlights. Oh, and getting clobbered by the O-birds at home in Fenway - that part sucked, too.

Beckett was quite placid after the game - at least, in the bits of the press conference that made it past the censors and on to NESN. Before the game, he was a little more candid with Rob Bradford:

"You come into the season and it's one start at a time, one pitch at a time," [Beckett] said. "I try and stay fairly consistent. If I have a (shitty) outing, I'm not going to say 'Aw (shit), I'm not going to lift legs today. It didn't work last time.' I try and stay consistent, win, lose or draw. I try and be a consistent teammate, and be consistent with my work. That's what makes me feel comfortable. I want to be able to feel that I did all of it to prepare for a certain moment and then I can just let it go.

"The thing I go out and try to do is focus pitch to pitch, execute pitch to pitch. I know people get tired of me saying that, saying that it's a cliche. But it's not a cliche. It's about executing (fucking) pitches. If you execute a high number of pitches you get outs and we're trying to get as many outs as possible."

But those silver sunglasses have (still) got to go.

Congratulations to Dominican-born David Ortiz, who was sworn in as a United States citizen this afternoon at the John F. Kennedy Library in Dorchester. From the Globe:

"My whole family, kids, and everyone have been born here," Ortiz said. "It's a great country, proud to be here, now proud to be a part of it."

Ortiz's wife, Tiffany, added: "It's a big deal for him. It's really important and I'm really proud of him."

Welcome to the club!

Jonathan Papelbon is not a big fan of the Rays - and he has a long memory. Don't think he's letting go of what happened last week.

In his weekly chat on Comcast, he was asked about Jonny Gomes and Carl Crawford jumping in to sucker-punch Coco:

In my opinion, it's a bunch of bull what they did. All I got to say is what comes around goes around, man. Payback is a bitch, man - I tell you what. In my opinion, and the way I feel right now, this thing isn't all settled and done. We still got to play them a few more times and I know when we go into Tropicana things will be a little bit different than when went in there last time.

Basketball is an odd-duck sport for me - I don't have a team I live and die by. I'll watch some of the playoffs, but rarely sit and watch a full regular-season game. There's no team I hate- and what's more, there's no players I dislike. Except one.

Asked if he was disappointed in Schilling's comments, [Kobe] Bryant responded, "Go Yankees!" and pumped his fist, drawing laughter from reporters Wednesday.

It had just been too darned long since a Red Sox player blasted a four-run tater... 3 weeks to be precise. Mike Lowell was the last Sox player to hit a grand slam, back on May 22nd against the Royals. And since no one stepped up to provide highlight reel material since then, he had his way with the Orioles' pitching tonight-- and cranked out a grand monster shot.

Let's take a moment and celebrate all four of the grand salamis mashed this year so far by the Red Sox:

David Ortiz vs. Rangers - April 18th (bottom 3rd)
J.D. Drew vs. Royals - May 22nd (bottom 2nd)
Mike Lowell vs. Royals - May 22nd (bottom 6th)
and now...
Mike Lowell vs. Orioles - June 12th (bottom 5th)

The day has arrived. The start of five straight series of interleague play - kicking off with the Cincinnati Reds, then the Phillies, Cardinals, Diamondbacks, and ending in my hometown with the Houston Astros.

And you know what that means... Small ball. Bunts. Stolen bases. Sac flies. Drawing walks. Hit-and-run plays. And best of all... pitchers batting.

Watching guys like Tim Wakefield and Bartolo Colon at the plate is like getting to see our pitching rotation do tricks on command for our amusement. Awww, look how cute! He's trying to swing a bat! Isn't that just so precious! Give him a treat!

For his part, manager Terry Francons is not at all psyched for the upcoming stretch of NL opponents.

"It's not set up fair," [Francona] said. "You set your team up to play American League-style baseball and then you go play National League-style; you just do the best you can. We're going to be asking pitchers to bunt and things they have not been asked to do. But, we've handled it for the most part and we'll try to handle it again."

The only time Francona would probably prefer to play an N.L. team would be in October because that would mean another trip to the World Series. The Sox swept the Cardinals in 2004 and the Rockies in 2007.

"I don't understand a lot of it. I understand it's hard, but because the wild card is so important, the imbalance of the schedule seems [unfair]. We're playing four teams from the Central, one from the East and one from the West. I don't understand that."

Justin Masterson will be the first of the pitchers to swing the lumber tomorrow when he makes his start against the Reds in Cincinnati. In preparation, he and Josh Beckett have taken their cuts in batting practice this week to get warmed up. And Josh doesn't mess around when it's his turn to bat -- remember this home run against the Phillies back in 2006?

So here's how the Sox rotation stacks up in their career major league batting stats:

Tim Wakefield: 12/98 / .122 BA / .149 OBP / .173 SLG / 1 HR
Josh Beckett: 31/205 / .151 BA / .191 OBP / .224 SLG / 2 HR
Bartolo Colon: 10/83 / .120 BA / .129 OBP / .120 SLG / 0 HR
Jon Lester: 0/4 / .000 BA / .000 OBP / .000 SLG / 0 HR

I've got two words for you: CANNON. FODDER.

In which I highlight noteworthy blogs for you to gather reconnaissance on the Red Sox upcoming opponent. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

Red Hot Mama: the Reds from a female perspective, and loaded with humor Church of Baseball: sermons on the Reds and baseball, delivered with a wink & grin Red Reporter: SBN site that's updated daily with all the latest news & happenings Redleg Nation: insightful analysis on the Twins, and timely news updates

Awww, look - they kissed and made up!

Not surprisingly, Curt Schilling had something to say on last week's kerfluffle - some pretty fascinating clubhouse insight:

Manny vs. Youk, round 1. Trust me, this was a TOTAL non-issue and an event that happens far far more than you ever see or hear about. Many times, most times, events like this play out in clubhouses and no one outside the team ever knows about it. Bottom line is that 99 times out of 100 these are never personal, just like this one. The analogy I used was this. Most teams, most non-world championship caliber teams, have things like this crop up later in the year. For pretenders it happens in August, September, the "Dog Days". It does so because there is an awareness or belief that games, ABs, innings are somehow more important now, and the intensity ratchets up. That's not what happens here. Due to an organization wide commitment to winning the world series every year, and a fan base that will accept nothing less, we open the season, be it in Japan or Anaheim, and play 162 games with that approach, that intensity. Things happen when you have that level of intensity and our level of talent on a daily basis. It happens, punches might get thrown, and it ends, and we move on.

"I've had a couple teammates tell me don't think about it. You do what you do," Youkilis said. "There's other people told me, you need to tone this down. It's one of those things. There's a lot of bouncing around. Some people say this, some people say that. There has to be a (happy) medium.

"At times, I probably don't need to do what I do. Other times, it's just a frustration thing," Youkilis said, speaking in a private moment prior to last night's 6-3 win over the Orioles. "There's times for it. There's times I shouldn't do it. It's one of those things as I get older and realize a little more in life, it won't be as big a deal (for me to do it)."

"To me, I think the hardest thing is it doesn't change overnight. You can't just flip the switch. It doesn't work like that. You have to take it slow and try to get better. I think as my career goes on, it will get better."

The last time the Red Sox and Reds faced off on the Cincinnati diamond was over 30 years ago-- and since certain of us weren't even alive then, not everyone may be familiar with the Reds. So here's a few reasons why you should be psyched for their interleague matchup this weekend.

1. Kevin Youkilis and Justin Masterson
Hometown boys Youkilis and Masterson will each be making their first appearance at Great American Ball Park, battling it out against the team they used to love as kids. Kevin grew up in Cincinnati, and played ball at the U of Cincinnati before embarking on his major league career... and his parents rented out the ballpark's Riverboat deck (seats 140!) for Saturday's game to celebrate his homecoming. Justin was born in Jamaica, but spent his formative years in Ohio - and graduated from local Beavercreek High (and his parents still live in the area).

"I just hope he pitches well," said Mark [Masterson, Justin's father], the pastor of the Creekside Community Church in Beavercreek.

Anything else he'd like to see?

"Well, it'd be fun if he struck out Ken Griffey Jr.," Mark said with smile.

2. Bronson Arroyo
The former Sox hurler bides his time pitching for the Reds - that is, when he's not grooming his long luscious locks... or singing serenades to the city of Boston. Alas, he's not slated to pitch against the Sox- but you can bet he (and his blonde mane) will be hanging out of the dugout looking wistfully at the Sox bench.

3. Awesome Names
Homer Bailey. Seriously, how awesome is that? A pitcher named "Homer". OK, his given name is "David" -- but that's just not as fun. Even better.. Dick Pole. Come ON. He wins the name game, hands down.

4. Sean Casey
Pittsburgh boy Sean Casey may have grown up loving the Buccos, but he spent the majority of his career in a Reds uni - from 1998 to 2005. This won't be his first time back to GABP playing for the opposing team (he played there as a Pirate in 2006), but Sean is still so beloved in the city that any trip is a fun one for him. Terry Francona is honoring Casey's history with the Reds, and giving him the starting nod at first base tonight.

But what do the Reds think about him? Let's ask Reds' manager Dusty Baker (retch) - and see how many times he can use Sean's nickname in just a few sentences.

"I love The Mayor (Casey)," said Baker. "The Mayor will get a big welcome here, won't he? When I first met The Mayor it was in the (Arizona) Fall League playing for the Sarge's (Gary Matthews) team and he said, 'Watch this kid, he is going to be a good hitter.' The Mayor was all giggles and smiles even then."

5. Dusty Baker
Watch out for base-clogging! Horrific managing decisions (Corey Patterson as leadoff batter?!?!) are sure to be on display. For more (much, much more) on the horror that is Dusty Baker, please see the authority on the subject.

6. 1975
This will be the number one story ESPN, FOX and the rest of their buddies bludgeon into our heads this weekend -- and with good reason. The Sox-Reds 1975 World Series matchup was one of legend, one full of characters: Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Ken Griffey Sr., Joe Morgan (VOMIT), Dave Concepcion, Fred Lynn, Luis Tiant, Cecil Cooper, Bill Lee, Jim Rice, Carl Yastrzemski, Dick Pole (!), and, of course... Carlton Fisk.

Here's video of that monster Fisk homerun from Game 6 of the Series, too:

Maybe this Series will bring the Sox some sweet justice for the loss back then in 1975... or at least satisfaction that they simultaneously caused pain to both Dusty Baker AND Joe Morgan at the same time.

The best thing about interleague play, hands down, is watching American League pitchers swing the lumber. I've already posted about one kind of awesomeness that can result-- Josh Beckett knocking a tater out of the park against the Phillies in 2006. Now, by popular demand, is a whole 'nother kind of awesomeness that can result... Tim Wakefield running the bases against the Cubs at Wrigley in 2005.

Watch closely after Johnny Damon blasts a triple into the alley - Wake comes tearing around the bases from first, in a running style that can only be loosely described as "chicken with its head cut off". And then... he SLIDES. Bless him.

If you're Jonathan Papelbon, and you tell the press "payback's a bitch" (thus essentially promising revenge, and basically guaranteeing a bench warning for both teams from the get-go)... don't be surprised if you get hauled into the principal's office.

Papelbon said yesterday that he understood [the concern that any high and tight pitch could be viewed as retribution from him and result in his ejection], but he still seemed steamed by the James Shields fastball that drilled Coco Crisp, touching off the brawl that occurred a day after Crisp had issues with shortstop Jason Bartlett, and the Rays had issues with Crisp for his takeout slide of Akinori Iwamura on an unsuccessful stolen-base attempt.

Papelbon said he wasn't worried about the umpires, hoping they would know the difference between a payback pitch and a purpose pitch to move a hitter off the plate to set up the next pitch, maybe down and away.

At that point, Francona happened by Papelbon's locker. He leaned over to Papelbon and said, "When you get done holding court, could you come in and see me?"

Papelbon started to say something and Francona playfully but purposefully grabbed a handful of Papelbon's T-shirt and dragged him out of the clubhouse to his office for a brief chat.

For their part, the Rays are saying all the right things - that the longstanding feud is over with the Sox... that there won't be any repercussions, and that they totally, completely, 100% have let it all go, HONEST!

"I thought it was already done with and it's a week later and we're still bringing it up," pitcher Scott Kazmir said. "It's already over. It was just real surprising to everyone. We were all talking about it when we walked in (to the clubhouse Friday)."

"When the incident occurred we took care of it in what we thought was the appropriate way, and then we moved on," [Rays manager Joe] Maddon said. "I would think they would move on, also. I'm not going to get caught in a battle of rhetoric with anybody. As far as we're concerned it's over."

"If it starts back up again we'll deal with it when it comes," Evan Longoria said. "But we've got a lot more business to take care of and things to deal with than worry about what they're saying in the papers."