It's been said that it's tougher to repeat than to win the title in the first place, and at this point, everybody associated with the Boston Red Sox would have to agree.

The second-place Sox have endured more injuries this season, still have the deal with a resurgent New York Yankees team and face a new challenger in the Tampa Bay Rays, who are two games ahead as of July 27. And now they're also dealing with a major distraction involving one of the best pure hitters in big-league history.

Manny Ramirez begged out of the lineup on Friday with a sore knee. At home against the archrival Yankees, you'd better really be hurt. MRIs on both knees ordered by the team showed nothing wrong, essentially calling Manny's bluff. Ramirez returned to the lineup and went 0 for 4 on Saturday in another Boston loss.

Ramirez wants the Red Sox to pick up his $20 million option for next season. The team is under no obligation to do so, especially in the middle of a pennant race. So the perception is that Ramirez is pouting.

As Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaugnessy recounted:

Manny's snit comes after he flattened 64-year-old traveling secretary Jack McCormick over a ticket allotment in Houston. It comes after he ripped ownership for allegedly lying to him in contract negotiations. It comes after he was rebuked by [owner John] Henry. It comes after his giggle-fest when he played a popup into a triple while the Sox were being swept in Anaheim.

This might be a poor read of the tea leaves by Manny. He is not as valuable as he was. For $20 million (club option for 2009 and again in 2010) the ball club can expect to do better than .301 with 19 homers and 61 RBIs after 104 games.

So this could be the most interesting trade deadline move of all this week - the deadline is Thursday. It could be addition by subtraction in Boston. As ESPN's Buster Olney reported on Saturday, Ramirez would certainly be dealt to the National League - the Red Sox wouldn't want to risk facing him before the World Series - so that leaves the Mets, Phillies, Cardinals, Cubs, Dodgers, Diamondbacks or maybe even the Marlins as the likely suitors. (Forget the Brewers - they're already loaded in the outfield.) The Mets are in Manny's hometown. And one of Ramirez's old hitting coaches - Charlie Manuel - is managing in Philadelphia. Most of the above teams can't afford him. But many of them have a prospect or two that Boston might like. And one of them could make a massive move and pull the trigger.

If this is the last Olympics for baseball - and signs certainly point that way - then good riddance. Because they're meddling with the game, and not in a good way.

A ruling came down from the International Baseball Federation last week that will be adopted in time for the Beijing Games next month. And it practically ruins any game that extends into an 11th inning.

Each team's at-bat in the 11th inning and beyond will begin with runners on first and second. And if that isn't bad enough, then teams will start the 11th at any point in their batting order.

So if this rule were applied to major league baseball against the Yankees, you'd be facing Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez in every inning from then on, and with Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera on base already. No, that wouldn't affect the game's outcome at all.

Extra innings is one of the best facets of baseball, when one swing could end it, or it could go on indefinitely. Federation president Harvey Schiller told the AP that the extra-innings change was adopted to save time.

"Extra-inning contests can bring about the most exciting results for players and fans, but such circumstances also make it difficult in the context of the Olympic program," Schiller said. "We must demonstrate to the International Olympic Committee [that] not only does our game belong alongside the other great sports of the world, but our sport is manageable from a television and operational standpoint."

Maybe we could play home run derby in the 12th? How about playing pickle in the 13th and wiffle ball in the 14th before we truly decide in the 15th by flipping a coin?

If this is the future, then let's let the Olympics go on without baseball.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, formerly the Anaheim Angels and the California Angels and the Los Angeles Angels, have always had an identity issue.

Like the White Sox in Chicago and NBA's L.A. Clippers, the Angels are rarely the most popular team in town. But unlike the Clippers, they deserve a lot better. That's especially true this year, as the Angels are surging with the best record in baseball, coming off a home sweep of the Boston Red Sox over the weekend.

Nevertheless, in a new Harris Poll, the Angels are one of the least popular teams in baseball. Only the Toronto Blue Jays are less popular nationally.

And then, Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Glove poured salt in the wound in a column published Sunday.

"So why is [the series sweep] not a matter of concern in Red Sox Nation?

Because the Angels can't beat the Red Sox in October, that's why.

The great Francisco Rodriguez came on to smother the Red Sox in the ninth inning yesterday, picking up his 39th save by getting Manny Ramírez and Mike Lowell to pop up with two. Rodriguez has a championship ring in his pocket and is threatening to shatter the all-time save mark. But we know if this had been the playoffs, Manny would have been standing at home plate, flipping his bat, raising his arms like Arthur Fielder on the Esplanade, and admiring his home run off K-Rod.

That's just what happens when these two meet in the really big games."

It's an interesting take for the end of July, calling out the Angels for repeatedly fading against their nemesis Red Sox in the playoffs (the Angels lost to Boston in 1986, 2004 and again last season). But every baseball season is a new one, and the Angels seem to have the goods to get over the hump this season. As Orange County Register columnist Jeff Miller responded:

"So, Danny boy, you’re 100-percent correct. See you in October. I’ll be sure to point out then which team is the Angels, since you and your dated perspective won’t recognize them."

Jerome Holtzman never played big-league baseball. But few made a bigger mark on the game than the legendary sports writer, who died over the weekend in Chicago at age 81.

"It's a sad day for everybody in baseball," Commissioner Bud Selig told the Chicago Tribune. "Jerome was a Hall of Famer in everything he did, in every sense of the word."

He covered the White Sox and Cubs for the better part of four decades for the Chicago Sun-Times, and then for the Tribune. He was a columnist for the Sporting News for 30 seasons, and at one point appeared in 1,000 consecutive issues. He also wrote the Encyclopedia Britannica entry on baseball.

And relief pitchers forever will owe him a debt of gratitude. In 1959 Holtzman invented the save, which measures the effectiveness of a relief pitcher. It became an official statistic recognized by Major League Baseball a decade later.

"The reality is, he revolutionized baseball," former Chicago Sun-Times columnist Bill Gleason told the Tribune. "He glamorized the relief pitcher, who was just another guy before [the save rule]. Jerome said not long ago that he was sorry he'd come up with the concept, that it wasn't necessary. But there was no need to apologize. If there were more people who thought like Jerome Holtzman, the newspaper business would be in better shape."