Take your pick:

Scene 1

Situation A

Bottom of the 6th, Sox up 6-3, runners on second and third with two outs. David Ortiz at the plate or…

Situation B 

Bottom of the 6th, Sox up 6-3, bases loaded with two outs. Kevin Youkilis at the plate.

Scene 2

Situation A

Bottom of the 8th, Sox up 6-4, man on second with one out. David Ortiz at the plate or…

Situation B

Bottom of the 8th, Sox up 6-4, men on first and second, with one out. Kevin Youkilis at the plate.

Last night, Orioles manager Dave Trembley was presented with each these two scenarios, and both times, he went with B. Both times, he felt that pitching around David Ortiz, and to Kevin Youkilis, gave his team a better chance of winning. But here’s the question:

As a Red Sox fan…at this very point in time… during this very Red Sox season… who would you rather have out there? Forget the past for a second. Just consider these last five months. Aren’t the Sox a more dangerous team in Situation B? For right now, wouldn’t you rather have Youk up with the bases loaded and two outs, than runners at second and third for Ortiz?  

This isn’t going to be a "Papi’s Lost It" manifesto—but him and  are on a little bit of a cold streak.

Kevin Youkilis likes to be "holding it" when he comes to the plate, as he explains in this awesome video from Red Socks Diaries.

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.

Shaky, shaky, shaky! What else can I say about the status of our beloved Boston Red Sox right now? Over their last 10 games, they have gone 3-7 with each and every loss being devastating to their once cushy lead atop the American League East.

Their last two losses against the New York Yankees were right out of a Hollywood screenplay. Watching Saturday’s ninth-inning squander with the bases juiced was detrimental to my health, and last night’s abysmal performance by the bullpen was a heinous crime.

Now, as we sit at our desks with a steaming cup of coffee or a keg full of water like myself, I can’t help but wonder about the future of this team. Will it be feast or famine? Currently, the Sox are five games behind the Tampa Bay Rays, yes folks, I said five!

On a bright note, second baseman and newly anointed All-Star starter Dustin Pedroia was 6-for-18 (.333) with two RBIs and three runs scored. He has gotten his average up to .312 on the season and is more than on pace to shatter last year’s numbers.

Third baseman Mike Lowell was 4-for-14 (.286) with one dinger, seven RBIs and one run scored. He now leads the team with 54 RBIs on the year.

First baseman and All-Star starter Kevin Youkilis was 6-for-14 (.429) with two RBIs and two runs scored. It’s becoming more and more apparent how important “Youk” is to this team. I mean, he has a .382 OBP and an awesome .916 OPS on the season.

After Thursday’s dugout skirmish between Kevin Youkilis and Manny Ramirez, allegedly prompted by Youkilis’s propensity for throwing temper tantrums after committing an out, I wondered if the Greek God of Walks is the Red Sox’ version of Paul O’Neill: an uber-competitive pain in the ass who’s loved by the home team’s fans, yet hated by the opposition’s. I see a lot of similarities, for better or worse.

O’Neill, now a broadcaster on the YES Network, played for 17 seasons, was a five-time All-Star, won four World Series (in 9 seasons) with the Yankees, and finished his career with a .288 batting average, a .363 on-base percentage and .470 slugging percentage. Youkilis, now a first baseman with a one-game errorless streak, has played the equivalent of three full seasons (469 games), is on his way to his first All-Star game, has played on two World Series teams, and has career averages of .282./.381/.445. So, he slugs a little less than O’Neill did, but hits for a similar average and get on base a little more frequently. Meanwhile, fans of the respective teams love these gentlemen’s passion for the game, i.e., their willingness to break bats, attack water coolers, and act like spoiled brats when things don’t go their way. (Note: I use “love” in the present tense, because some yahoo Yankee fans still want to impregnate Paul O’Neill.)

Things I’ve learned this week

There are nice things about having the Internet on your cell phone

There are also about 10 things that bother me about this commercial. For one, the dude clearly hits the letter H instead of a B at the beginning of basketball. Also, the bet in question is the equivalent of the guy in Seinfeld betting Elaine that Dustin Hoffman was in Star Wars. Anyone in a position to place a wager on this topic knows that Kareem is the all-time leading scorer, or at the very least would remember that it was him the first time someone brought his name up as a possible answer. I’m embarrassed to admit how much longer I could write about this ad. I just don’t like it, which is weird because I feel like I’m the target audience. I don’t know, maybe that’s why I don’t have an iPhone.

That’s my Kenyatta, always peein’ on people

I need to scratch those plans to dress up as a squirrel on Opening Day at Fenway

Michael Jackson’s not going to buy that property in Arkansas after all

The Shaquille O’Neal "Wait, You Know It Isn’t 1999, Right?" Award of the Week: Pedro Martinez

I understand how Pedro going on the DL is newsworthy, but I didn’t realize we still lived in a world where Pedro pulling his hamstring required its own box on ESPNews, prominent position on espn.com and lead story on Baseball Tonight.