Mike Lowell, Most Valuable Player

I know I should just be basking in the moment, but I'm concerned about what happens to Mike Lowell now that he is a free agent.

Now that Alex Rodriguez is leaving New York, Lowell will probably get a 4-year offer from the Yankees, and I don't think the Red Sox will offer him more than 2 years with an option for year 3. The Sox front office is cold-blooded that way...and it was the right choice to let Pedro Martinez go after the 2004 WS, and Johnny Damon after the 2005 season.

It's really going to be up to Lowell -- does he want to play in Boston, where he'll be loved, or take more money to go to a Yankees team in disarray.

This free agent stuff is the one part of baseball I don't like. I don't begrudge the players getting what they can given the system, but I do wish there was more roster stability, like in the NFL or NBA.

OK -- resume basking!

Photoset: Grainfield and Park, Kansas

A few photos we took while in Northwest Kansas this past July.

Ladybugs

I felt like a Joba-Chamberlain-sized aphid today while on the old painting ladder. Swarmed by a phalanx of ladybugs enjoying the warm rays of sun on the wall I was working on.

Banana Dance Challenge CANCELLED

Due to obviously poor mojo, given the Red Sox' struggles against Cleveland, the Banana Dance challenge has been cancelled and the Banana Dancer returned to his previous location.