I’m surrounded by them.

No matter what, I can’t get away from them.

They’re in my family. They’re in my work place. They’re everywhere.

They, in this case, are New York Yankee fans.

And, of course, I’m listening to them today (Monday) because the trade deadline is looming at 4 p.m. this afternoon.

My coworker Patrick Bryant and I are the only two Red Sox fans in the region and possibly the only two in North Carolina that isn’t related to Trot Nixon. That makes for us in this area, a lovely existence. Well, I take that back, I did meet a waitress at Napoli’s last year who was a student at Chowan University who was a Red Sox fan, but she was from Massachusetts.

Thankfully, I still have the last laugh because Boston won the most recent World Series either team won, we are the defending champions of the American League East and heading into today we hold a slight one-half game lead this year in the Eastern division.

None of that matters, however, because all I ever heard from my brother, Scott, or any of my co-workers – particularly Curly Morris, Sidney Joyner and Billy Harrell – is how many times the Yankees have won the World Series.

At least now they can’t tell me about the Red Sox being without a world title since 1918.

We are, of course, not the most historically downtrodden team as long as the Chicago Cubs still are a franchise in Major League Baseball. If Dusty Baker can’t win with a club, the gods are definitely lined up against them.

Still, if there is heartbreak to be had, more often than now, we’ll find it. I’ve had my heart broken so many times.

To me, if you’re a real fan of the Boston Red Sox, you can still close your eyes and watch the ball roll through Bill Buckner’s legs during the 1986 World Series. That’s how I know you love the team.

Still, as I sit here quietly monitoring the trade wires, nothing seems to be happening in Boston. While the Yankees have added right fielder Bobby Abreu and pitcher Cory Lidle today, the Red Sox thus far have done nothing.

While I keep up my end of the back-and-forth that is the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, I can’t see that we’re doing much to aid our cause. Sure, we have one of the best rotations in baseball with Josh Beckett, Curt Shilling, David Wells and Tim Wakefield, but is it enough to get us back to the post season?

I’m sure I’ll be hearing a daily update soon as we head down the home stretch of August and into September and October. Billy and Sidney are always better at keeping up with the standings than I am and they can tell me quickly whether or not they think my team is in trouble.

While the Boston Globe it talking about some possibilities, the Red Sox haven’t done anything yet. I’ll stay tuned.

Questions? Comments? Snide remarks? All are welcome.

You can reach me at thadd.white@r-cnews.com or call me at 332-7211.

Be careful out there and be good sports.