When I first read Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game six years ago, I remember wondering repeatedly how all those young players highlighted in the book would turn out. At the time, of course, those players were all still mere prospects working their way up through the minors. Readers were therefore left to rely upon author Michael Lewis’s claims of genius bestowed upon Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane. In the meantime, we’d have to wait and see for ourselves.

Of course, in these parts, we all know how much discussed Kevin Youkilis turned out. In the book, Youkilis was described as “a fat third baseman who couldn’t run, throw or field”. Regardless, Beane coveted Youk as an on-base machine and famously nicknamed him “the Greek God of Walks” (after which Youkilis was famously derided by Terry Francona, who said, “I’ve seen him in the shower and he’s not the Greek God of anything”).

Looking back at the book, I had a hard time getting past Lewis’s frequent man-crush descriptions of Beane peppered throughout. According to Lewis’s general portrayal, Beane was (among other things) a skilled ladies man, a no-nonsense genius and a conniving baseball visionary capable of brutal feats of strength (which comes in handy around Festivus). Honestly, Lewis’s fawning reached such a level of idolatry at times that one could easily slip in a few paraphrased “Chuck Norris Facts” into the Moneyball text and it would be difficult to sift them out:

With some managers, the daily batting order is about as predictable as a Road Runner cartoon. Everyday, every night, it’s the same exact boring thing. 

But not Terry Francona. No, Tito likes to mix it up, and considering that the Sox currently have 2.5 game lead in the East, I’m in no position to complain. But still, I wondered, despite all of Tito’s tinkering, which spots in the line-up are giving the Sox the most production?  

So I cracked open a bottle of Diet Dew and sat down to crunch the numbers…

… and then realized Baseball Reference already did the work for me. 

Have a look for yourself:

This is a semi-regular feature here at Red Sox Blog, as we ask Don Orsillo’s decapitated bobblehead to use a familiar baseball term — three up, three down — to hand out compliments and insults to Red Sox players, coaches, owners, beat writers, broadcasters, groundskeepers, sideline reporters and inferior opponents.

Take it away, Decap…

Up: Hurray for seeing-eye singles! Rocco Baldelli tied the game with a two-out single in the 9th inning, a multi-hopper that found the outfield grass near second base, and Julio Lugo pushed across the go-ahead run in the 11th with a chopper that bounded past a drawn-in infield. As Pete Vuckovich said to Wesley Snipes in Major League, "You really knocked the crap out of that one."

Down: Listen, John Henry, I respect the fact that you bagged a young chick with your rich, droopy-ass skin, but let me tell you something: Handing out bobbleheads dolls — of you and the trophy wife — as wedding favors is insulting to those of us born with bobbled heads. Know this, my friend: "There can be only one!"

Up: Boy, those Yankees must be feeling good about themselves, winning seven in a row against three vaunted powerhouses like the Braves, Mets and Mariners. Print those playoff tickets now, Bommahs!

Down: One-time Red Sox player Cecil Cooper, who now manages the Astros, was no doubt glad that yesterday’s extra-inning Sox game didn’t last long enough to allow Jason Bay to match Cooper’s 35-year-old Red Sox record of 6 strikeouts in one game.

Fang Bites reports on last night’s advance screening of the new Ted Williams documentary at Fenway Park, where guests watched the 75-minute biopic in the EMC Club or (and this is damn cool) on the stadium’s centerfield scoreboard, then listened to Johnny Pesky reminisce about the Splendid Splinter.

It’s done very well and in the same style as previous documentaries in the "Sports of the 20th Century" series. I was quite impressed how the film did not pull any punches and did not whitewash his marriage problems or his relationship with his three children.

The documentary premieres July 15 at 9:30 p.m. on HBO.

Leigh Montville, whose biography of Williams I bought for $2 (in hardcover!) two weeks ago, was in attendance last night, Fang Bites reports, as were other Boston media luminaries, including Jackie McMullen and Dan Shaughnessy.

Other links of note today:

* John Henry and his wife gave out bobbleheads of themselves as wedding favors (Bob’s Blitz)

* Sign the petition to re-sign Leon Powe (iPetitions)

David Ortiz seems to have regained his Big Papi status of late, and the timing could not have been better because the Dominican slugger will soon be lending his nickname to a restaurant in Framingham, the Boston Business Journal reports.

David Ortiz is swinging for the fences, this time with a restaurant that will mix traditional steakhouse fare with high end burgers and salads.

The Red Sox slugger has taken a financial stake in Metro 9 Steak House in Framingham, which will be renamed Big Papi’s, the restaurant’s owner confirmed with the MetroWest Daily News late Tuesday.

(Metro 9 sounds like the name of a local news team.)

Peter Sarmanian, president of Classic Restaurant Concepts LLC, which owns Metro 9 along with The Kinsale in Boston, The Asgard in Cambridge and Desmond O’Malley’s in Framingham, told MetroWest the revamped eatery will complete its transition by the end of July, but remain open in the interim weeks.

A help wanted advertisement on the online marketplace Craigslist says the restaurant is hiring “for all staff positions including servers, bartenders, cocktail servers, food runners, bussers, hostesses and cooks.”

 This kind of business always works out. Just ask Bernie Kosar.

When the rains came to Baltimore during last night’s Sox-Orioles game, Boston led 9-1 in the top of the 5th inning, and I told my wife, "I hope the rain lets up so the game will go official and the Sox can get the win." The tarp was on the field, the rains were heavy, so I stopped watching and went to bed, exhausted from a long day.

Thank god I did, because last night’s historic implosion might have driven me to drink (more).

Seriously, I don’t even want to know the particulars, and I certainly will not be checking SportsCenter to see the lowlights (or highlights if you’re an O’s fan). It’s enough for me to check the box score and see that Masterson and Okajima didn’t have it last night, and that Papelbon blew the save. This was the first loss to Baltimore this season. Hats off to the O’s, who must be basking in this victory, their own equivalent to last season’s Mother’s Day Miracle, when the Sox bested them at Fenway in dramatic, come-from-behind fashion.

So, was this a bad loss? Absolutely. Was it a rarity? I sure as hell hope so.

Anyway, the best way to forget a loss like this is to get back on the field as soon as possible, and in that regard the Sox are fortunate, because today’s getaway-day game starts at 1:35 p.m.

Giddy-up, BoSox.

Heading into the season, we all suspected this might be a problem. After the 2008 post-season, how could we not?

At the plate, Lowell swung the bat like he had three arrows in his back; in the field he looked like he needed a walker. He was a was a shadow of himself, and as heroic as it was that he was even trying to play, it was clear that this hip injury was a serious one.

Literally the morning after Boston’s Game 7 loss to the Rays, Lowell had surgery on the torn right labrum, and doctors deemed it "a complete success." Later that day, Theo told reporters that "we expect Mike to be able to contribute right from the start" and we had no choice but to be optimistic…

Maybe the surgery was all he needed?

Maybe the hip won’t be an issue?

But next thing you know, the Sox are making a run at Mark Teixiera (a move that would have pushed Lowell out of town). Of course, Teixiera signed with the Yankees because he’s scared of his wife. But you had to wonder—is there more to this Lowell injury?

Then Spring Training starts, and Lowell still isn’t ready.

February turns to March and the he’s still saying things like "I’m hoping to be ready for Opening Day," as opposed to more affirmative, "I can’t wait to get out there on Opening Day!"