Cruz In RF Tonight; Papelbon To Pawtucket

Jose Cruz Jr. was activated today. He will start in right field tonight and bat eighth. Jon Papelbon was optioned to Pawtucket.

The Importance Of Being Manny:

The Sox will let Manny be Manny; his excellence at bat outweighs any eccentricity on or off the field. ... Like it or not, in every walk of life, the truly gifted always get away with more than the average worker bee. When you are brilliant, your foibles are tolerated, whether your playing address is Wall Street or Yawkey Way. In return, you must maintain if not grow production. The measurement may be different -- profit or RBIs. But as long as you keep the numbers going up, the corporate board or the team ownership will not only tolerate but encourage eccentricity. Successful eccentricity is lovable and marketable. Eccentric failures are disposable.

David Wells on Boston: "This city is by far the worst. You can't go out. It's Cameratown, it's not Beantown. I can understand where Manny is coming from. There's no room to breathe." ... Mark Bellhorn was Pawtucket's DH last night going 0-for-5 with two strikeouts.

Chris Snow details the circumstances of last week's Sox/Rockies deal (Stern/Shoppach for Bigbie/top 10 prospect). Sox ownership's blocking of the deal has seriously pissed off Rockies owner Charlie Monfort, since Colorado traded for Bigbie on the assumption that he'd be flipped to Boston. Monfort: "World Champions? If that's what it takes to be a World Champion, then people are right, we may never be one, because we don't operate and treat other organizations like that."

Royals at Fenway:

Tuesday: Tim Wakefield / Runelvys Hernandez, 7:00
Wednesday: Wade Miller / Kyle Snyder, 7:00
Thursday: Matt Clement / D.J. Carrasco, 1:00