My boy is in danger.

So, my boy Trot Nixon, the rightfielder of the Boston Red Sox, left Sunday night’s game with a strained bicep. He had an MRI yesterday and was quickly placed on the 15-day disabled list, but is expected to be out for at least three weeks. Great. Last night, catcher Jason Varitek pulled up lame after running from first to second on a Coco Crisp single. After limping home on a Wily Mo Pena (I’m not kidding, by the way. Coco. Wily Mo. These are real names.) triple, he was pulled from the game. No word on how serious his injury is or how long he’s going to sit out.

The injuries concern me for a few reasons: A) They couldn’t be occurring at a worse time with Sox only holding a one-game lead over the Yankees in the AL East race. B) The Yankees, who have been battling injuries all year, are starting to get some of their injured back AND have just signed outfielder Bobby Abreu. C) With Trot not playing for three weeks, his return is sure to be lackluster, putting his future with the Sox at risk as he will be a free agent at the end of the 2006 season.

Again, I’m at a weird point in my fandom of the Red Sox. Because we won it all in 2004, there’s no longer that desperation to win a title. The Nation took a big sigh of relief in 04, but it doesn’t mean we don’t want to win. By this, I mean, we want to beat the Yankees. I can only speak for myself, but I think the next logical step in exercising the demons is to win our Division, not the wild card, and prevent the Yankees from even making the playoffs. That’s my goal for the team this season. And this feat will be tough to accomplish without the likes of the usual suspects who’ve been there before: Trot, Tek, Tim Wakefield, a knuckleballer who’s currently on the DL.

Injuries aside, my biggest cause for concern is the future of my favorite Sox player, Trot Nixon. There are many reasons why I like Trot, none of which are because I think he’s cute. He’s a decent looking fellow, but let’s be honest, the guy rarely cracks a smile and could probably pick up some obscure radio station in Japan with those ears of his. I like Trot because he’s a blue-collar player. One of those guys who’s not really the star of the team, he just performs day in and day out and always does something to help. He’s been with the Sox since he was drafted in the first round in 2003 and he’s said in my own presence that he doesn’t want to play anywhere else. These have always been my favorite types of players and it would break my heart to see him go. With the injury, it’s looking like that could almost be a certainty, especially when Wily Mo fills in and goes 3-for-4 with a run scored and three RBI.

So, it is with a heavy heart that I go to my 16th Red Sox game of the season tonight. Typically, I wear my No. 7 (Trot’s) jersey and make people in the stands “Pat the back” whenever he does something good. (Trust me, they love it. I’m the life of the party at Sox games!). With no Trot on the field, I probably won’t don the jersey. It would just be too hard. Well, that and it’s supposed to be about 96 degrees at game time and this weather is really not conducive to polyester.