If there is any upside to the looming baseball strike, it's that a work stoppage could be the only thing that will snap the Red Sox out of their second half slump.

To be fair to the All Star Game, the Sox were slumping before the Tie Near Titletown. Sweeps by the D-Backs, Dodgers, and Braves helped chip away at the Sox's torrid start. But, historically, the Sox are one of interleague play's biggest chumps, so such events weren't exactly major cause for concern. The five game sweep of the Blue Jays obfuscated the one for three performance against the Tigers right before the break, a series that now takes on bellwether status.

The problems with the Sox today are, in some ways, related to the problems seen in the Sox as they came north from Fort Meyers to start the season. Derek Lowe appeared as a solid counterpoint to Pedro, but otherwise we've got the modern, crosstown equivalent of "Spahn, Sain, pray for rain." Relief pitching is, in most cases, anything but. The offense, which came from the usual suspects (Nomar, Manny, Johnny) and not so usual (just about everyone else), is pretty much dried up now, with newcomer Cliff Floyd the lone bat with reliable pop- and even that's waning.

The AL East title is pretty much gone. Those Bronx people are eight games up with about six weeks left, and they show no signs of slumping. The wild card chase is slowly getting out of hand, with the Sox 3.5 back of the AL West tri-leaders Seattle, Anaheim, and Oakland. A four game set with the Angels is on tap, so there's some room for improvement here. But there are no more games against the other two. The only good news is that those three teams get to slap each other around for a goodly chunk of September, while the Sox play mostly Baltimore, Toronto, Tampa, and Cleveland (with three against the pinstripes just to keep us honest).

Season's not over yet, clearly. Just not sure what to panic about first- no Red Sox post-season or no more of any season.

In other sports news, the boys from the Jesse Burkett Little League in Worcester take on the Harlem team tomorrow in one of the US semifinals of the Little League World Series. Sox-Y@nks paralell aside, the most notable angle for this game is Harlem's taste for hot-dogging. You may remember one Harlem player pulling the Babe Ruth point in the game against Bethlehem, PA. Add to that Adam Diaz's home run wave and trot in Harlem's win over Aptos, California.

The Harlem coach handled the situation pretty well, making it very clear that any similar display would get a kid tossed from the game. My concern is that people are going to remember that rather than the success of a team from Little League's Urban Initiative, which is doing great work to bring baseball back to the inner cities. Of course, what I really hope for is that people remember Worcester's run to the title.

Which, considering that the Netherland Antilles were the first team to get a hit off of the Japanese team in pool play, would be something to remember indeed.

Apropos of nothing so far, Terrell Davis for the Pro Football Hall of Fame? No. Four years do not a Hall of Fame career make. Would he make the Hall if he got to play a full career? Almost certainly. Sadly, you don't get to the Hall based on promise and what could have been. Consider if Jamal Anderson's career ended today (which, heck, it just may). Would you put him in the hall? No way.