Yes, on the heels of last night's eight-run assault, Dustin Pedroia is once again hitting cleanup.

Youk and Coco are still out sick. Josh Beckett, who thinks he had food poisoning, rallied from his sickness to play catch today.

All systems appear to be go for Beckett's start Friday in Texas.

MIchael Bowden, on the heels of his first Major League win, was sent back to Pawtucket this morning. He will work out of the bullpen for the PawSox on Friday, and be back with the Red Sox shortly thereafter. Terry Francona left the door open for Bowden to pitch in relief or a starter the rest of the way.

Speaking of Tito, he admits to being a little dazed and confused when he ran out to argue Pedroia being safe at second last night.

"I go out there, I look up last night, I haven't been so embarrassed in years. I could not figure out what the hell Ozzie was doing out there. That was the damndest thing. I wanted to go out through the Monster, I didn't' want to go  back to the dugout because I knew what was awaiting. Kevin Cash is just screaming, lay off the Red Bull. And Millsy is just wearing me out. I could have sworn I thought Pedroia threw his arms up, like he was [mad]. And I put my head down. I put my head down and I go, why is Ozzie helping me? I didn't know what to do. Petey's like, get out of here."

Would you believe Dustin Pedroia? No, it's not a misprint.

I'd like nominations for another smaller cleanup man in the history of baseball.

The move was the result of Kevin Youkilis being sick, and Mike Lowell and J.D. Drew on the DL.

"I'll never hear the end of this from Pedroia or Ortiz," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. "Pedroia said it's long overdue and Ortiz says he's retiring."

The last Red Sox second baseman to hit cleanup was one Carlos Baerga in the forgettable season of 2002.

Ian.

This, barring a miracle, will be the last day I ever sit within the confines of legendary Yankee Stadium.

I hope nobody mines that I'm going to be a little self-indulgent today and give you my personal top seven moments in this truly-historic ballyard in the Bronx.

Without further ado, here are SEVEN to savor.

1. October 20, 2004: Game 7 American League Championship Series, Red Sox 10, Yankees 3: Johnny Damon belts two homers, including a grand slam. The Red Sox become the first team to ever come back from 3-0 and exorcise, oh, I don't know, an entire lifetime of misery against the Yankees.

2. October 16, 2003: Game 7 American League Championship Series. A few terms of quick reference. Pedro Martinez. Grady Little. Pitch Count. You know the rest. Without this epic loss, the next year isn't quite as surreal.

3. October 19, 2004: Game 6 ALCS: Curt Schilling and the bloody sock. A-Rod knocks the ball right out of Arroyo's hand. Foulke strikes out Tony Clark with the game on the line. The umpires get Bellhorn's home run call right. The stage is set for history.

4. September 10, 1999: I've seen two no-hitters live, but this was the best game I've ever seen pitched. It was Pedro Martinez at his best at a time the Yankees were at their best. Pedro fired a one-hitter with 17 strikeouts and had the Yankees fans cheering for him when the night was over. "That performance was better than my perfect game," David Cone told the Boston Globe's Bob Ryan. Who could argue?

5. May 28, 2000: Pedro vs. Roger. By far the best duel between arguably the two best pitchers in the history of the Red Sox. It was a Sunday Night ESPN Game and it was scoreless until the ninth when Trot Nixon won over Red Sox fans forever by belting a two-run homer to break a scoreless tie. Pedro went the distance.

6. July 1, 2004: Yankees 5, Red Sox 4, 13 innings. Maybe the best regular-season baseball game I've ever seen. Derek Jeter diving into the stands and scraping apart his face is the lasting memory. But there were plenty of other moments from this one.

7. October 31, Nov. 1, 2001: Yankees-Diamondbacks, Game 4 and 5 of the World Series. Because this is a Red Sox blog, I listed this last. But in truth, this should be top two or three. Yankees, on consecutive days, two runs down, in the bottom of the ninth, only to get game-trying homers off your pal B.K. Kim. Tino Martinez hit the Game 4 shot, and Derek Jeter hit a walkoff off Kim in extra innings. The next day, it was Scott Brosius with two outs in the ninth and Soriano with a walkoff single in extras. Curt Schilling's friends Mystique and Aura were definitely in the building in this one.

And there you have it.

As we wait for Mark Kotsay to try and navigate the airport and the New York traffic to make it to Yankee Stadium in time for tonight's game -- do you think he will get the Doug Mirabelli police escort? -- I just wanted to share the Boston media's thrilling 9-7 victory over our New York counterparts today. The game -- the last ever media game at Yankee Stadium --- was a comeback special and lasted eight innings.

Down 7-1 to New York, the Boston bats rallied furiously. Trailing 7-4 entering our final at-bat, we came up with five runs. The winning run came home when a gimpy Jeff Goldberg of the Hartford Courant -- torn left meniscus and thoroughly messed up ACL -- somehow made a mad dash to score on a wild pitch.

Great rally. Without question, the MVP of the game was Katz Nagao, the Japanese right-hander who throws everything but the kitchen sink. Katz came out of the bullpen to fire four shutout innings to earn the win. And he added a ground-rule double for good measure.

One of the best parts of the game was that Bob Klapisch of the Bergen Record and ESPN.com could be there. Klapisch, who has played semi-pro ball for years, recently had a terrible injury in one of his leagues.

In the words of Klapisch's recent column, "the ball sliced open my cornea, completely detached my retina, ruptured several areas of the eye socket and broke nearly every bone on the right side of my face."

Slowly but surely, Bob is gaining back vision in the eye and even spoke of playing in next year's media game. Apologies to your doctor, Bob, if you didn't want me to put that on my blog!! Anyway, I don't doubt that he will be back on the field.

Back to this year's game, Uri Berenguer, the Red Sox's spanish broadcaster, had a terrific game, belting two hits and playing solid defense at second base. And our third star had to be Goldberg, just fighting his way down that last 90 feet. Great stuff!

I'm looking forward to the game at Fenway on Sept. 26.

Amazing how when you win you don't think of individual stats. This is the first time in this blog I've mentioned my 0-for-2 performance, which included a strikeout against Tyler Kepner of the NY Times -- I took a good cut on the first pitch but fouled it straight back and another foul back on the second pitch before whiffing on the deuce -- and a groundout to second base against my MLB.com counterpart Bryan Hoch.

The play of the day was made by Jack Curry of the NY Times, who dove into the third base stands Derek Jeter style to make a great catch. Of course, Jack made the play from third instead of short, but he was still mighty impressive.

All in all, just a great day. And once again, kudos go out to our catcher Mike Petraglia, who is the glue to our team. Though I've only been playing in these games since 2004, Petraglia  -- who is a multi-media force for both MLB.com and WEEI.com -- has caught every Boston-New York media game since 1995.

Anyway, a great time was had by all.

Let's face it, there's not going to be a Red Sox-Yankees ALCS this year. So three more games between the Red Sox and Yankees at Yankee Stadium, then on to the new digs next year.

But the retrospectives will be left to the media and the fans. The Red Sox need to win baseball games right now. The Yankees need to win them even more.

As for the news of today, J.D. Drew went the DL before today's game. And just as quickly as that piece of paperwork was completed, the Red Sox were reportedly close to landing a replacement. It appears Mark Kotsay could  be coming to the Red Sox in a trade with the Braves. Kotsay was scratched from the lineup and reports surfaced that a trade was close to  done, with just some paperwork left.

Like Drew, Kotsay is a left-handed hitter who can play right field and center. He doesn't have the same power as Drew, but he is similarly strong with fundamentals and a very good outfielder.

Josh Beckett is good to go for Friday. Mike Lowell will start hitting off a tee tomorrow.

In the meantime, check out a pretty good story by Alex Speier of WEEI.com on how the new Yankee Stadium could impact the rivalry.

Talk to you in a bit.

 Ian.

As a lot of us sort of suspected, Josh Beckett won't pitch Tuesday against the Yankees. Instead, it appears as though Wake will make his return that night, and the latest on Beckett is that he's penciled in for Friday against the White Sox.

Also, it came to light today that numbness in two of the fingers is not the only symptom for Beckett. He also has some inflammation in the elbow. As most of you faithful readers have probably noticed, I've been wondering all year about Beckett, suspecting that there must have been a reason for his dip from last season. This would explain a lot.

J.D. Drew is out of the lineup again with that ailing back. It wouldn't shock me if he goes on the DL. I'm sure Theo is hammering the phones trying to find a productive bat. Brian Giles would have looked pretty good right now, eh?

Ian.

Immediately after the game, Clay Buchholz was optioned to Double-A Portland. This can't come as a surprise to anyone. Even Buchholz admitted he knew he was done if he didn't pitch well tonight.

With the off-days coming up Thursday and Monday, the Red Sox won't need that spot in the rotation for a while. For now, they should be able to get by with Beckett, Lester, Dice-K and Byrd with Wake filling out the rotation as early as next week.

Yes, I do believe Alex Cora might have pitched the bottom of the eighth for the Red Sox, becoming the first Boston position player to pitch in a game since David McCarty on Oct. 3, 2004. That was also at Camden Yards. That would have been fun. But the Red Sox chipped the deficit to 11-6 in the top of the eighth and then Okajima came back to pitch the bottom of the inning.

If Daisuke Matsuzaka can win five more games this season and finish with 20, he will set a record.

The pitchers in Major League history who won 20 games with the fewest amount of innings?

Red Sox crack PR man Henry Mahegan was kind enough to dig up the list for me.

Bob Grim: 20-6 for 1954 Yankees in 199 innings.
Pedro Martinez: 20-4 for 2002 Red Sox in 199 1/3 innings.
Josh Beckett: 20-7 for 2007 Red Sox in 200 2/3 innings.
Tim Hudson: 20-6 for 2000 Oakland Athletics in 200 1/3 innings.

At most, Dice-K has seven starts left this season. He is currently at 126 2/3 innings. You do the math. He has no prayer at reaching Grim's 199 innings or even coming close to it.

So yes, if you feel like Dice-K's season has been bizarre, I couldn't agree more.

Put that shortstop controversy on hold for now. Julio Lugo had a setback today, re-pulling the quad that he tore in early July.

Rob Bradford of WEEI.com first posted the story about 20 minutes ago. I just spoke to Lugo, who was pretty dejected.

More details later.

This just in: Captain Carl Yastrzemski is resting comfortably after triple bypass surgery that his representative Dick Gordon has called "a complete success".

Good news. Sounds like Yaz got off the operating at about 8 p.m. tonight.

Manager Terry Francona announced a little while ago that Josh Beckett will be pushed back three days and will pitch next on Tuesday in New York.

The righty has been dealing with numbness in his pinky and ring fingers, partially due to sleeping on top of his arm.

It doesn't sound good. Any time you hear numbness, a red flag goes up. Hopefully Beckett is OK. All year I've suspected maybe there was something going on -- nagging or otherwise -- that has prevented him from being the complete ace he was a year ago.

Away from the medical news and on to the baseball field, Joe McDonald of Providence Journal fame asked Tito tonight what his plans are at shortstop once Lugo returns, which could be around Sept. 1. There was no definitive answer from Tito's desk.

"Oh, oh, not today. we're two weeks away. It just doesn't make sense for me to say on Aug. 19 who is going to be the shortstop on Sept. 1. It doesn't make sense. Lowrie has done a great job. We're thrilled to death. It just doesn't make to do something when we don't need to."

Can anyone read through the tea leaves on this one? I think you need to stick with Lowrie if he keeps hitting like he has.

It feels a little strange to be back in Baltimore. Last time we were here -- back in late May and early June -- Manny Ramirez belted home run No. 500, a truly majestic shot.

That night, you couldn't imagine Manny being happier anywhere than at that very moment, wearing a Boston Red Sox uniform.

Back here tonight, his successor Jason Bay clocked two homers high and far into the Baltimore night.

Last time we were here, J.D. Drew had vertigo. The series ended with Drew embarking on his most torrid month as a member of the Red Sox.

Back here tonight, Drew's back is the problem, as he had to miss the game. Maybe he will rebound as strongly from the back as he did vertigo.

Last time we were here, Jason Varitek was having a highly normal season offensively.

Back here tonight, the captain came in with truly horrific numbers. But tonight, he smoked a home run on to Eutaw Street that, who knows, maybe is the start of something.

Last time we were here, David Ortiz had just torn that tendon sheath in his left wrist and would be lost to the Red Sox for nearly two months.

Back here tonight, the big man is back in the saddle and perhaps very close to getting in a groove.

Last time we were here, Rob Bradford was a key member of the Boston Herald.

Back here tonight, Rob made his writing debut for WEEI.com, where he is not just a tireless reporter but also the site editor. I expect that website will be a must visit for Boston sports fans, considering that Rob has added writers like Michael Felger, Ron Borges and the highly-underrated Alex Speier, who made his debut with a terrific and extensive piece on the man of the hour -- Jason Bay. Also, frequent MLB.com contributor Mike Petraglia will be blogging for the website, and Mike virtually covers every major sporting event in Boston.

Good luck to Rob and his crew. I've already bookmarked that sucker.

Also, the Red Sox continue to call Josh Beckett their ace but Jon Lester continues to pitch like the ace. What would your rotation be in a potential Division Series? I'm curious.

That was the greeting of the now-defunct Mike and the Mad Dog Show, which had a 19-year run until ending abruptly on Thursday.

As a resident of New York City from April, 1998-March, 2002, I felt obligated to weigh in on the end of an era. True confession as a lifelong follower of Boston sports who was a New York transplant for four years: I loved listening to Mike and the Mad Dog. Those guys were, as Mad Dog himself might say, "twemendous". Just a great listen.

They were passionate about their topics and had the pulse of NYC sports like nobody else. Dog had his dog-whistle screech and quintessential New York accent. Francessa, who came across as a little smug, was the big Yankees fan, and seemingly the voice of reason for the show when Dog would go on one of his emotional rants. I found Dog to be extremely endearing. As a listener, you felt like you knew him.

As everyone knows by now, they weren't best friends off the air, though they were by no means enemies either. Did that really matter? It's like the Bird and McHale thing. They were great teammates on the court.

They basically had me at hello with Russo's  vintage opening. Then he'd break into, "How are you today Mikey?" And Mikey would always respond with, in that deep voice, "I'm fine, dawg."

Then they'd quickly segue into the hot button issue of the day. "I mean, Mike, it's just tewwwwible the way the Yankees keep giving away these games in the late innings."; "Dawg, I know, Tohhhhrrrrre's got to stick with his stahters longehhhh".

When Dog really wanted to emphasize a point, he would start with, "Listen, Mike ...". And when Mike made a really astute piece of analysis, Dog would give him a tip of the cap by saying, "That's a great point by you, Mike. Excellent point."

You always knew when a really big game was about to be played, or had been played the night before, because Mike would refer to it in his very best New York accent as "Huuuuuggeeeeeee."

It was great that Dog was a SF Giants fan instead of a Yankees fan. It made the show a great listen. They both were always very objective when talking about the Mets.

Dog loved to talk about tennis and Mike loved every team his close friend Bill Parcells ever coached or was affiliated with.

I remember one specific time I was driving up to Boston from New York in my car and I wanted to tear Russo's head off. It was during the 1999 Red Sox-Indians Division Series and the Dog was just attacking Pedro Martinez for coming out of Game 1 after four innings with an arm injury. He was questioning Pedro's heart and guts and calling him soft for coming out.

Because I knew what type of competitor Pedro was, I was getting so annoyed. I wish I had Dog's phone number handy when Pedro came out of the bullpen a few days later and fired six no-hit innings at the Indians in decisive Game 5 while throwing in the high 80s. But those guys were so strong with their opinions that you either agreed or wanted to shake your transistor radio in disgust. That's what made them so great.

I lived in New York during a great time period for sports. The Yankees were in the World Series all four Octobers I lived there. The Mets were highly relevant in two out of the four years. The Knicks were having a strong run under Jeff Van Gundy. The Giants and Jets were also at solid points, the former going to the Super Bowl in 2000 and the latter becoming important again under Tuna. Mike and The Mad Dog had the words to describe all that was going on at this exciting time in New York sports.

It's too bad for New Yorkers who defined their afternoons with the banter of these two guys that they won't be around in tandem anymore.

But they had a great run -- one that I'm sure they are both very proud of.

P.S. -- Bill Simmons a few years back wrote this classic running diary of a Mike and the Mad Dog show that he covered live.

You guys and gals are on your own for a few days. I'm taking some annual summer family time. I will resume coverage of the Red Sox on Monday in Baltimore.

I won't be seeing much baseball -- if any. So feel free to use the comments section like you usually do -- as a place to discuss all nine innings every night. Perhaps that is how I will keep up with the team while I'm on this break.

Talk to you in a few days.

Ian.

First, to the news of the day. Yes, one knuckleballer will replace another one when Charlie Zink makes his Major League debut on Tuesday and Tim Wakefield officially goes to the DL. Also, David Ortiz has some tenderness in his wrist today, so he's getting the day off. J.D. Drew will DH. And Clay Buchholz is still in the rotation. He will start Friday night against Toronto.

So after covering Sunday afternoon's Red Sox-White Sox game, what did I do? A)Went out for a nice dinner; B) Ordered room service; C) Filled out my expense reports; D) Went to another baseball game.

If you selected D, you are correct. Yes, I could not pass up a busman's holiday at old Wrigley. It was definitely worth it. I had been there once before as a fan in 1986, when I was 14 years old. It happened to be the same day that the Celtics and Bulls staged that classic at the Garden when some guy named Jordan dropped 63 in double OT and still lost. Full confession. I spent most of the last few innings in the tunnel watching the basketball game on TV. That game was against the Pirates, and wound up being postponed due to darkness. Eck made the start for the Cubs.

Other than that, the only other Wrigley appearance for me was that three-game Sox-Cubs series in 2005, when it was about 120 degrees every game, and the national media contingent was so large that you couldn't even move in the clubhouse.

I think, overall, last night was my most enjoyable Wrigley experience. I started in the press box, paying my respects to former Red Sox PR guru Peter Chase, who is now running the show for the Cubs and doing a great job of it. Also in the house was Godon Edes, formerly of the Globe and now of Yahoo! Gordon made his debut last night, spinning a couple of typically good stories.

Then, it was on to the stands, where a slice of pizza and a frosty cold beverage awaited. Joe Haggerty of Hacks with Haggs fame took in the scene with me. It was interesting to  see and feel how fired up Cubs fans are these days. It reminds me of what it was like at Fenway Park pre-2005. Yes, times have changed over there. Red Sox fans still love their team and love the game. But there isn't the urgency and the over-the-top passion that once existed. That's just human nature. The Cubs still haven't been there.

 Wrigley is just a great spot. Is it any better than Fenway? Probably not. But it's unique in it's own great way. I recommend it to anyone and everyone who has never gone. It continues to strike me how big a difference there is between American and National League baseball. The NL just flies by with its sacrifice bunts, hit and runs and double switches. The AL is just more plodding, with every batter hoping for a 10 or 12-pitch at-bat. I saw two great catches last night -- one by Edmonds and the other by Fukodome. All in all, good stuff, and a nice prelude to tonight -- the last of this seven-game road trip.

Right shoulder injury for Tim Wakefield. Very similar to last year. They are trying to contain it before it gets worse. The plan now is for him to miss two starts. No word yet on who will start Tuesday. The top candidates are Michael Bowden (scheduled to pitch Monday), Devern Hansack (last pitched on Aug. 7) or Charlie Zink (who would have to pitch on three days rest).

And, originally, Jacoby Ellsbury was going to hit seventh today. But that changed two hours before game-time, when Kevin Youkilis was scratched with a left shoulder impingement -- a product of lifting weights a few days ago.

So Ellsbury will lead off, J.D. Drew will hit cleanup and Sean Casey is hitting seventh.

Here at U.S. Cellular Field, home of those first-place Chicago White Sox. Trust me though, these ChiSox are no tourist trap.

When colleague Mike Bauman and I took a cab to the ballpark this afternoon, the driver said it was the first time any customer had asked him to drive to "The Cell" all year. He then proceeded to tell us that the White Sox really weren't any good and wouldn't make the playoffs this year. And all this time, I thought Chicago was a more positive-thinking kind of town.

The Red Sox have their own problems at the moment, trailing those "we won't go away Rays" by 3 1/2 games, the largest deficit Boston has faced since July 7. They were a season-high five games back on July 6.

Right now, the obvious problem is that two of the team's biggest boppers -- David Ortiz and Mike Lowell -- have gone ice-cold. Lowell is 0-for-his last 15 and is batting .202 since July 1.

But you have to think both those guys will get hot, and when they do, the whole team has a chance to heat up with them.

It will be interesting to see when Jacoby Ellsbury goes back to the leadoff spot. Manager Terry Francona indicated that once he puts Ellsbury back up there, he wants it to be for good.

Tonight, Jason Varitek is hitting ninth. The last time the captain hit ninth in a game? You'd have to go back to those Cowboy Up days of Grady Little. It was Sept. 22,  2003. This was the first time Francona ever scribbled out a lineup with Varitek's name at the bottom.

Did anyone notice that Mike Timlin has been unscored on in nine of his last 10 appearances? Joe Haggerty -- a swiftly emerging multi-media presence in the Boston market -- has some insight on the matter in a well-done piece that first appeared in Boston Metro and then the underrated Hacks with Haggs blog.

More later.

Ian.

The last thing the Red Sox needed was for Kevin Youkilis to be belted on the right hand by a 92-mph heater and have to leave the game.

That's what happened in the first inning on Wednesday, but everyone can breathe easy. It is just a contusion. X-rays were negative.

Youkilis has become perhaps the most well-rounded hitter on this team now that a certain someone doesn't play on this team anymore. The guy has been an absolute machine this year.

He leads the team with a .317 average, and is second to Dustin Pedroia in hits, second to Pedroia in doubles, tied with Jacoby Ellsbury for the team lead in triples (four), tied with the former (and now Dodgers left fielder) in homers (20),  leads the club in RBIs with 76, third behind Drew and Manny in OBP, leads in slugging, and is just one point behind J.D. Drew for the team-lead in the tell-all category of OPS.

Yes, Kevin Youkilis is the current MVP of the 2008 Red Sox. I had Drew at the All-Star break, but Youkilis has definitely pulled in front.

It says something that Terry Francona thinks this is the guy who should hit cleanup in the wake of Manny leaving.

At any rate, they might have dodged a bullet on this one.

Did you see that Joba Chamberlain went on the DL with rotator cuff tendinitis today? The Yankees can not afford to lose him for any significant length of time. Thus far, they've been very hush-hush on what the report was from the highly-noted orthopedist, Dr. James Andrews of Birmingham, Ala.

Ian.

Great movie by the way. And that's also what walking into the streets of Kansas City feels like. I only wish my friend Rob Bradford was on this trip. Rob (formerly of the Boston Herald and now WEEI.com) had a wager with several players and others related to the club -- with all proceeds going to charity it should be noted -- that he could wear a suit and tie for every game he covered this season.

Rob would have either lost the bet or been drenched in disgusting sweat if he had been on this trip.

On to real news, David Ortiz appears to be OK in the wake of a report in the Boston Herald that he felt some sort of clicking in his wrist last night. As of three and a half hours before the game, Ortiz was in the lineup and batting third.

Mike Lowell is also back in there after getting a shot for his right hip on Monday. In an interesting development, J.D. Drew is again leading off. A day ago, manager Terry Francona indicated that the only reason Drew was leading off is that Lowell was out of the lineup and hitting cleanup. Well, here is tonight's lineup:

Drew RF
Pedroia 2B
Ortiz DH
Youkilis 1B
Lowell 3B
Bay LF
Lowrie SS
Varitek C
Ellsbury CF

Beckett SP

After a horrific travel day -- I stepped out my front door at 4 a.m. and arrived in Kansas City shortly before 2 p.m. CST -- I was positively shocked to feel the air when I exited the airport.

It was like stepping into an inferno. Just disgustingly hot. Gross, gross weather.

Lowell, as planned, is off. He got a shot on his right hip, so hopefully he'll be in less pain when he takes the field again on Tuesday or Wednesday.

So Manny is crushing the ball in LA and running like the wind on the bases? There's a shock. How long do we suspect the honeymoon will last?

I'll blog more later when I have any energy to speak of.

Ian.

This time, Manny was right. Enough was enough. Enough of his unpredictability. Enough of injuries he didn't want to play through while other guys on the team would do just about anything to play. Enough of the mood swings. Enough of the contract obsession. It was just time. This divorce could not wait.

Jason Bay is here. He's batting fifth and playing left. Mike Lowell is taking over for Manny in the cleanup spot.

I huge apology for the lack of blog posts lately. I'm sure most of you probably realized I was a little busy reporting for the website.

At any rate, a great, great move by the Red Sox to get Manny out of town. He was a great character and one of the top three or four Red Sox hitters of all-time, but they couldn't go on like this. Wednesday night was the saddest, most lifeless performance I have seen from a Red Sox team in a long time and you could feel it from the crowd to the field to the dugout. It was clear this situation was becoming an overwhelming distraction.

More later.

Ian.