Good news for Red Sox fans as golden boy Jonathan Papelbon has what is called in baseball terms, “dead arm.” In case you don’t know what “dead arm” is, Red Sox medical director, Thomas Gill defines it as:

“the ball of the shoulder joint had slipped slightly forward, but not completely out of the joint to the point where it would be considered a dislocation”

Right now the idea is to keep Papelbon out of the lineup til he regains the strength in the right arm. Since the Red Sox still have a shot to make the playoffs, you may see Mr. Papelbon return in a few weeks. If the Sox are out of the race by then, it would be wise to shut him down til next season.

I do have to wonder though, if he got “dead arm” as a closer, how many innings would it have taken him to go thru a “dead arm” phase as a starter?

CORRECTION: I do have to amend my last question due to the lack of medical knowledge I have about deadarm. An anonymous reader notes that deadarm can happen to a pitcher at any time. Deadarm is a partial or near shoulder dislocation. The ball starts out of the socket and stretches the ligaments and tendons but doesn’t pop out fully. So basically to answer my own question, Papelbon could have gone thru a deadarm phase at any point of the season. It could have happened to him after the first pitch of the season or any points in between.

As the Red Sox were finishing up getting their asses handed to them by the Chicago White Sox tonight, Red Sox former farmhand and current Florida Marlin, Anibal Sanchez was putting the final touches on his first career no hitter in only his 13th MLB start.

In case you didn’t know, Sanchez was part of the Josh Beckett/Mike Lowell trade that happened over last off-season. Also in that deal was Hanley Ramirez, who made some spectacular plays at shortstop, including getting an assist on the last out.

This brings up a very interesting question. Was the trade for Josh Beckett worth it? While Beckett got off to a fast start this season, he has faded over the past few months of the season. The throw in in that deal was Lowell, who was a salary dump by the cash strapped Marlins. I will not knock Lowell at all because he has been stellar defensively at third base. But what has Beckett really brought to the Red Sox? I am interested to see what people have to say about Mr. Beckett.

Good news for the Boston Red Sox as David “Big Papi” Ortiz is setting his sights on returning to the Sox lineup on Tuesday. Ortiz has been out of action all this week after a reoccurrence of his heart palpitations. Ortiz flew back to Boston on Monday and underwent a battery of tests to determine if there was anything wrong with his heart. All tests came back negative and his problem was likely due to stress and fatigue.

Also in other injury related news, Alex Gonzalez, Trot Nixon, and the “Captain” Jason Varitek returned to the Sox today as all 3 were activated from the disabled list. Gonzalez was 0 for 3 in Sunday’s game while Nixon and Varitek did not see action.

Hopefully the return of these 4 players in addition to Manny Ramirez, the Sox can start their winning ways again and make a last minute run at the wild card. The Red Sox currently sit 6.5 games behind the AL wild card leader Chicago White Sox, who are in Boston for a 3 game set.

Well after undergoing tests for cancer, Jon Lester was diagnosed with a rare form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a blood cancer. Lester will begin treatment for the disease this week. It is not known what stage he is at right now but because he is only 22, the odds for recovery are much greater.

Look for Mike Lowell to give Lester advice on dealing with the cancer, as Lowell is a survivor of testicular cancer.

I am sure I speak for all of Sox Nation when I say our thoughts and prayers are with Jon Lester and his family.

In other Sox news that happened while I was at the UCONN/URI football game on Thursday night, David Wells was traded to his hometown San Diego Padres. The Sox received AAA catcher, George Kottaras for Wells.

Some troubling news out of the Red Sox camp last night, as rookie pitcher, Jon Lester, may be battling cancer according to a Boston Herald article.

Lester had been placed on the DL with some back trouble that stemmed from a minor car accident he was in before a game against the Evil Empire. According to NECN TV, Lester was complaining to his brother about not feeling right and his brother told him that he should go in and get checked out. Unfortunately, the results of the tests were not good and Lester has swollen Lymph nodes. Swollen lymph nodes are usually caused by 4 things.

• Infection
• Inflammatory Conditions
• An abscess
• Cancer

The rookie pitcher is currently under going more tests to determine the cause of these swollen lymph nodes. Let’s hope for his sake, its just a minor condition that can be taken care of.

I do ask that everyone say a prayer for Jon Lester and wish him a speedy recovery.

Image taken from Boston Dirt Dogs

Where was tonight’s starting line-up of the Boston Red Sox playing at the start of this season.

1. Coco Crisp: Boston Red Sox starting CF
2. Alex Cora: Boston Red Sox bench player
3. Mark Loretta: Boston Red Sox starting 2B
4. Kevin Youkilis: Boston Red Sox starting 1B
5. Eric Hinske: Toronto Blue Jays bench player
6. Mike Lowell: Boston Red Sox starting 3B
7. Carlos Pena: released by the Detroit Tigers, signed minor league deal with NY Yankees
8. Doug Mirabelli: San Diego Padres backup catcher
9. Dustin Pedroia: Pawtucket Red Sox starting SS (AAA affiliate for the Red Sox)

So in tonight’s game, the Sox are starting 4 of the original 9 players from Opening Day 2006. Missing are Jason Varitek (15 day DL), Trot Nixon (15 day DL), Manny Ramirez (day to day with a knee injury), Alex Gonzalez (15 day DL), and Big Papi (out indefinitely with heart abnormalities).

We are gonna need a miracle to catch the $198 million dollar Yankees but Sox fans its time to get out the old saying. “We Believe!”

Is anyone else worried that our beloved Red Sox probably will not make the postseason this year? I know I am worried about it. I will note for the record, that I haven’t given up yet. To make matters worse, Big Papi was sent home from Oakland today to be reexamined for an irregular heartbeat. Although it wasn’t announced to the press til later, back when the Yankees were in town last weekend, Ortiz was sent to the hospital and cleared for the same problem. Let’s hope and pray that Papi is ok, not for the Red Sox sake, but for his family’s. Heart problems can be kinda scary and no matter how bad we want Papi in the lineup, he needs to do what’s best for him.

The Sox lost another pitcher as well, with Jon Lester falling victim to the DL with a bad back. I am not sure whats going on in Boston this year with all the pitchers, but when we have to start Kyle Snyder, Jason Johnson, and tonight Kason Gabbard, we are in trouble. Why oh why didn’t Theo make a move to pick up a pitcher that could have helped for the stretch run. Speaking of Snyder, he was sent back to the hotel in Oakland with the bug that is running thru the Sox clubhouse right now. And to add insult to injury, Manny is out til the Sox return home with a knee injury.

So whatever you do, make sure to include the Sox in your prayers. Do whatever you have to do to bring the Sox some luck. Wear your hat inside out, if they win a game dont change your clothes, anything that you can do right now to give the Sox some momementum to catch up to the Evil Empire down there in NYC.