I suppose This Blog ought to weigh in on the whole Mike Lowell-David Ortiz business, since it seems to be what everybody is talking about -- or, at least, that portions of Everybody best described as Bob On A Car Phone, You're Next.

(An aside -- which radio consultant genius came up with the idea of having the hosts read text comments on the air, much less to describe them as being from The 508 or The 617? This is seriously retrograde radio, Fiorello LaGuardia reading the comics. Really, stop it.)

This was never going to be a tenable situation. Neither man was going to be helped much by the defenestration of Manny Ramirez, or by the team's curious disinclination seriously to replace him. Ortiz already had demonstrated that he was not going to handle his immiment obsolescence very well, and the team tried to trade Lowell for a rack of back ribs in the offseason. (There are also more than a lfew indications that relations between Lowell and Terry Francona have pretty much dissolved.)  It was further complicated by the fact that the two of them were both well-liked, in and out of the clubhouse, and integral parts of the most important five-year span in the team's history. This was never going to be pretty.

However, as far as clubhouse controversies go, and especially as compared to the ongoing internal mess that's going to surround both men all season, Lowell's comments the other night are pretty small beer. Yeah, he laid out the traditional Play Me Or Trade Me case in the immediate aftermath of a pretty harsh loss to the Yankees, but you'd be awfully hard-pressed to make the case that it affected the team in anyway. The Sox haven't lost a game since. To hear tell from some quarters, however, Lowell spit into the sacristy, while Ortiz largely gets a pass for what has become incessant whining about the awful media and how it hurt his widdle feelings. Yeah, that's always been a successful tactic around this franchise.

Unless you happen to be one of those odd people who love baseball, but hate baseball players, and have embarked on a career as a professional contrarian oddball, this has been nothing more than one more week in a long season, signifying very little. The Red Sox set themselves up with an untenable DH situation. They have to live with it. On the other hand, good starting pitching is a wonderful anti-depressant.