At the break, the Red Sox currently sit in first place in the AL East Standings, just a half a game above the upstart Rays. In this year’s Mid-Summer Classic, the Sox have 7 players going, which ties the Cubs for the most representatives in the majors. Three of them are starters, two of which will be on the right side of the infield (Kevin Youkilis-1B and Dustin Pedroia-2B).

Dustin Pedroia brings his hot stick to tonight’s All-Star game in NY 

Can you name the last time two Red Sox players started on the right side of an infield in an All-Star Game? Well, it wasn’t that long ago; in 2006 (David Ortiz-1B and Mark Loretta-2B). That’s right, Mark Loretta started in the All-Star Game in 2006. Two years later, he’s a utility player for the Astros. How quickly the times change…

Not only will we be represented in the field, but also in the dugout. Manager Terry Francona will be calling the shots for the American League. I’m probably one of many Red Sox fans hoping that Terry will be searching for valuable information in Manager Joe Girardi’s desk prior to the game. The fact that the Red Sox will be sitting on the Yankees bench and coming out of their clubhouse is just uncanny. Here’s to hoping the AL can take another one.

This past week may very well have been the Red Sox biggest week of the season. After dropping the first 3 games of the week against the division leading Tampa Bay Rays, the Red Sox crawled into New York to take on their arch rivals.

The good guys managed to take the first game of the series, which snapped their season high 5-game losing streak. The Red Sox followed that up with another victory, but after taking the first two games of the series, they let the next two slip away and finished the biggest week of the season with a 2-5 record. This was not a good sign heading into the final week before the All-Star break. Let’s hope they can bring some better results this week as they return home to face the red hot Minnesota Twins and division rival Baltimore Orioles.