I spend a lot of time perusing the statistics pages at Baseball-Reference.com, looking for story ideas or killing time, so I’m often amused by the paid sponsors of each respective page. Here’s the deal: For $3 to $5 (on average), you can sponsor your favorite player, manager, or team for one year, while advertising your company, Web site, or personal allegiance. For instance, Derek Jeter’s page is sponsored by Hot Stove New York, which plugs itself as “The one-stop destination for New York sports,” and Jason Varitek’s page is sponsored by FenwayFanatics.com.

And who sponsors Red Sox shortstop Julio Lugo? Yankee fans, of course.

Hey, you have to give them props. I checked Lugo’s page last week (while researching players who run like their butt’s on fire) and whoever runs this iYankees blog had written something like, “Have to love a Sox player whose on-base percentage is under .300.”

Touche. Can I suggest a future entry? “Somehow played shortstop on back-to-back World Series winners.”

Lo and behold, Lugo’s not the only Sox player who’s sponsored by fans from an opposing team. Think you can guess the other guys? Here are the sponsor pages and tributes for the key members of the 2008 Red Sox. Personally, my favorites are the sponsors for Youkilis, Casey and Lopez.

Wow! Did the Sox look good or what in their four-game set with the Detroit Tigers? I mean, they outscored the cats 25-14 and were a Julio Lugo error away from taking out the brooms and sweeping the kitty litter under the tarp.

So yeah, our nice overpaid backup, I mean starting shortstop Julio Lugo stinks like a college student’s shower towel. This is the same guy that’s taking playing time away from Jed Lowrie, the same guy that has 10 errors as of May 9 and the same chap that needs to be demoted to Pawtucket’s equipment room.

Does anyone reading this agree that the signings of outfielder J.D. Drew and Lugo were two of the worst free-agent acquisitions that you can remember on this team? I know we win, I know that the front office knows how to construct a team through the draft, but they have no clue how to sign guys. I mean, Matt Clement anyone? We still could have starting pitcher Derek Lowe for that money. Oh, just so you know, over his three full seasons with the Dodgers, Lowe has recorded a combined 3.70 ERA in 639 1/3 innings of work.

I’m not in the habit of giving Julio Lugo the benefit of the doubt, but last night’s fielding gaffe — his league-leading 10th error of the year — is completely understandable. Why? Because it’s Julio Lugo, and I’ve come to expect this of him. He remains the lone Red Sox regular from last year’s team who’s never earned the fans’ respect. Whether that’s fair or not is beside the point: You either have the fans’ respect or you have people throwing up their hands in disgust, shouting, “(Bleeping) Lugo, of course!”

Now I could have let the bad vibes from last night’s loss infiltrate my brain, leading me to write a column about Jed Lowrie, the Red Sox’ shortstop of the future, i.e., the starter in all games going forward (hope, hope). But that would have been knee-jerk and dispiriting. Instead, I chose to watch baseball bloopers, which serve to remind me that Julio Lugo isn’t the only fielder who bobs around like a wounded wildebeest. So, try to enjoy the following compilation. My favorite comes early, when the Royals’ first baseman buries the relay throw into the pitcher’s face. Even Lugo hasn’t done that.

Well, not yet anyway.

These Baseball Tonight commercials are like Forrest Gump meets Frank Drebin of Police Squad, i.e., Gammons, Ravech and Kruk influencing some of the most memorable moments in baseball history (Bobby Thomson’s home run in the 1951 playoff, Joba Chamberlain’s bug problem in last year’s playoffs), and doing it by being complete morons. Below we have Karl Ravech explaining his role in Curt Schilling’s infamous sock.

Ha-sterical.

Man, I can’t wait for Baseball Tonight’s re-creation of Babe Ruth’s called shot. It’ll probably have him pointing at a naked Linda Cohn, saying “I’d hit that!”

Or not.

Entering yesterday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Red Sox shortstop Julio Lugo was hitting an anemic .188 against former teammate Scott Kazmir, with six strikeouts in 16 at-bats. His three hits? All singles. In short, Kazmir owns Lugo, and Lugo knows it, which might explain why Julio glared at Kazmir for several moments after the lefty flamethrower dismissed him with a second inning strikeout in yesterday’s game, on the 10th pitch of the at-bat.

The look in this picture is not the respectful nod of a man who’s just been bested in a fair fight. It’s the bitter face of a man who’s just been struck out for the seventh time in 17 career at-bats…by a former teammate he doesn’t seem to like. Unfortunately, Lugo drew a walk in his next (and last) at-bat against Kazmir, when a strikeout might have made him snap completely. Guess we’ll have to wait for the next Sox-Rays series, scheduled for June 3-5 at Fenway.

Someone has to stop playing the sleepy lullaby music in the clubhouse, because scoring four runs in their last five contests is totally unacceptable. It’s total blasphemy, an achievement that teeters on the ledge of citywide insanity.

In addition, the knee problems that designated hitter David Ortiz has been suffering from and the beleaguered legs of Red Sox outfielders Jacoby Ellsbury and J.D. Drew only add to the overplayed soap opera of misfortune now showing at Fenway Park.

I mean, the only thing changing these days is their spring training venue. The Sox will reportedly move their spring operations to Sarasota. The move is mainly due to the fact that the Cincinnati Reds will join Arizona’s Cactus League.

The ninth-inning heroics April 29 were splendid. The smile on Youkilis’ face when he spanked the ball up the middle into center field was priceless. It was even more amazing to see David Ortiz round third and head home to score the winning run! But the true bright spot in the game was Jon Lester. He threw eight scoreless innings while allowing one hit, walking four and striking out six. He was finally hitting the outside corners against right-handed bats and had a bit more velocity on his pitches. Might he be turning the corner? We shall see.

How ironic would it be if no Yankees were elected to start in the All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium? Considering how lackluster all of their regulars have played so far, no to mention the fact that A-Rod is on the disabled list and won’t be generating nearly the same buzz he did last spring when he came out mashing, isn’t it within the realm of possibility that New York won’t be able to elect any starters to this year’s game? Frankly, it all depends on Derek Jeter, who could roll out of bed and garner 2 million votes, but who’s currently hitting .277 with no home runs, no stolen bases, no range, a .303 on-base percentage, and a .351 slugging percentage.

Not exactly All-Star material.

A three-game sweep at the gloves of the Tampa Bay Rays was the last thing that I was expecting to happen down in Tampa. The Sox scored a paltry five runs in the 29 innings they played against the Rays (Game 1 was an 11-inning affair). Do you see anything wrong with this distorted and grotesque stat line? I sure do, their freaking bats hibernated, the pitching was woeful and the clubhouse is flu-stricken. Oh, and to add a little more hot sauce to the salsa, designated hitter David Ortiz is sidelined with a bruised knee! He should be back tonight.

The Sox currently resemble a small snowball rapidly roaring down a hill getting bigger with every rotation. They are on a five-game losing streak, and they are visually beaten down while the rest of the American League is just beginning to hit their stride. The sad thing about this whole ordeal is that it’s only the month of April.

Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon joins Gary Tanguay and Michael Felger on Mohegan Sun’s Sports Tonight on Comcast SportsNet this past week to discuss various topics, including his not-so-flattering “stunt double”. You can watch more exclusive uncut Jonathan Papelbon here, where he talks about playing Tight End, showing George W a thing or two, and poorly impersonating Gary Tanguay.

Game 1: Red Sox 7 Angels 6
Game 2: Angels 6 Red Sox 4
Game 3: Angels 7 Red Sox 5

It’s tough for me to actually sit here and commend shortstop Julio Lugo on the .364 clip he hit against the Angels. But I have to, just continue it man, you’ve got a lot to prove.

The flu virus demolished a once poised and confident clubhouse, I’m not saying that the morale is diminished in any way, but the fact that catcher Jason Varitek, starting pitcher Josh Beckett and starting pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka were all out in the series, is a cause for concern. I did hear that the Sox took care of the problem, they supposedly sprayed down the clubhouse, we’ll see if their feeble attempt stifles the bug.

Outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury flashed the brilliance that kept him in town during the Johan Santana trade talks. He hit .333 (5-for-15) with two long balls and four runs scored in the series. I was at the game on Tuesday night, and what he did on Dustin Pedroia’s tiebreaking double was unreal. To me, he is easily one of the most exciting individuals in the game of baseball; the future is bright for the flashy centerfielder. He is a leadoff hitter with a .423 OBP, now that’s production.