The reporters at SoxCorner ask Sox fans if they think Curt Schilling should retire. Most seem to think he should come back. Even the Phillies fan.

With less than 40 games left in the season, talking heads will soon be clamoring about Most Valuable Player candidates. And since I own a head and I like to talk, I’m going to start clamoring about Kevin Youkilis. Without denigrating the accomplishments of other players (since that’s bush league and boring), I’m simply going to state the case for why the Red Sox first baseman should be able to garner loads of top 5 votes from Major League Baseball writers.

Given his production and versatility (both in the lineup and in the field), as well as the team’s position in the standings, Youkilis has to be considered one of the top 10 candidates for American League MVP right now. In no particular order, here are the other candidates, based on a combination of their stats and their team’s success:

Josh Hamilton — .300/.365/.543, with 28 home runs and 114 RBIs. Texas is 15.5 games back of LAA and 10.5 back of the Sox in the Wild Card.

Ian Kinsler — .319/.375/.517, with 102 runs, 71 RBIs and 28 steals. Texas is 15.5 games back of LAA and 10.5 back of the Red Sox in the Wild Card

Milton Bradley — .316/.442/.583, with 20 home runs and 62 RBIs. Texas is 15.5 games back of LAA and 10.5 back of the Red Sox in the Wild Card

Carlos Quentin – .293/.395/.586, with 35 home runs and 96 RBIs. CWS lead Central Division by 1 game over MIN.

When Joe Torre was with the Yankees, he always used to say that reaching 20 games over .500 was an important and often overlooked benchmark for a team. Overlooked because a team could reach 20 games over and not, percentage-wise, be playing the best baseball of the season.

With last night’s victory the Red Sox are now 20 games over .500 for the first time in 2008 (71-51, a .582 winning percentage) and yet they’ve had higher winning percentages this season. On June 27, for instance, the team was 18 games over .500 (50-32) and sporting a .610 winning percentage.

To understand the importance of going 20 games over .500 at this juncture of the season, consider this: If Boston simply plays .500 baseball (20 wins, 20 losses) the rest of the season, they’ll win 91 games. If the team holds to its home/road winning percentages (.750 and .444, respectively), the Red Sox can expect to win 16 (actually, 16.5) of their final 22 home games and 8 (actually, 7.92) of their final 18 road games. If so, the team will finish with 95 wins — the number Theo Epstein always targets as the minimum needed to reach the post-season.

Despite the contentious way he left Boston, Manny Ramirez said he had nothing but love for Red Sox fans. It was a respectful nod to a fan base whose support for him was more or less constant, at least until it became obvious that Ramirez — jogging to first in 5.7 seconds during a no-hit bid, etc. — was more concerned with getting traded than playing the game respectfully. Still, our good memories of him will always outweigh the bad, no?

Unless, of course, he signs with the freaking Yankees next year.

Seriously, does anyone care about Johnny Damon anymore? He could get hit by a bus and I wouldn’t shed a single tear. Harsh? Perhaps, but he started it — by signing with the Yankees. According to a story by George King of the New York Post, Ramirez would consider doing the same thing after this season. Why? To "get back at the Red Sox."

 

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Having successfully orchestrated his divorce from Boston and his landing in with the Dodgers, Manny Ramirez would like to make life miserable for the Red Sox during the next few seasons. According to people who have spoken to the eccentric outfielder since he was dealt to L.A. on July 31, Ramirez wants to sign a free-agent deal with the New York Yankees this offseason and get 19 chances a year to punish Boston.

"He wants to play for the Yankees so he can get at the Red Sox," a close friend of Ramirez’s told The Post.

Padres outfielder Brian Giles nixed a potential trade to the Red Sox, a win-win for everyone involved. The Sox didn’t really want him; they simply wanted to keep him away from the Angels and the Rays. And because Boston has a worse overall record, they were able to do that merely by putting a claim on the one-time Pirate. Giles, who has a limited no-trade clause, said he wanted to remain close to his daughters in southern California, according to the Ian Browne story on MLB.com.

(Joe Bick, his agent) said that Giles wants to stay with the Padres and that being close to his daughters is a major factor. "He has a great commitment to those girls," Bick said.

Good for him. Some people might say he’s crazy for not joining a World Series contender, especially since he’s never won a title and has often played for poor teams in Pittsburgh and San Diego. But frankly, are championships everything? It’s good to see that in some instances, no, they’re not as important as family considerations. Brian Giles obviously knows and loves his children, and they apparently have no problem with the fact he’s a loser.