Perhaps Josh Beckett is simply seeking a second opinion for some minor elbow inflammation. Perhaps the esteemed Dr. James Andrews is a security blanket that will utter a few hushed words and make everything alright for the clearly spooked hurler. 

But the sentiment here is that the Red Sox front office is beginning to take on the resemblance of the traffic cop in the Naked Gun.

You remember the scene: a warehouse is on fire and intermittently exploding with soot-covered people scurrying to escape, and Lt. Frank Drebin sternly tells a group of curious onlookers to “Please disperse…There’s nothing to see here.”

It’s funny in the movie because there are all kinds of wild and wooly things to see behind Drebin – which makes his message patently ridiculous.

I keep thinking of this scene every time the Sox come out with a funneled message telling me that Beckett’s trek to Andrews is 100 percent precautionary and that Boston’s resident ace will be fine.

I simply don’t buy it, and haven’t been buying any of this for the last two weeks. 

I get no joy out of saying ‘I told you so’ – especially when somebody’s health and well-being hangs in the balance – but the news that Josh Beckett is headed to Dr. James Andrews in the booming metropolis of Montgomery, Alabama (I know because I’ve been there) doesn’t come as any great surprise.

With the deliberate, trickling news of Beckett’s symptoms slowly coming to light like layers peeled off a pesky onion, it’s apparent that Beckett has been soldiering through long stretches of this season while feeling not quite right.

It should have been obvious to many when the Sox ace looked very unlike Big Game Beckett for stretches of this season. He's flashed short bursts of dominant pitching, but something has just been a little off since Beckett missed nearly all of spring training after piling up a career-high 230 innings pitched last season between the regular season and playoffs. 

He has been hittable in 2008 for the first time in his career – his batting average against is over 20 points higher than his career mark and he’s allowing more hits than innings pitched for the first time in an overwhelmingly dominant body of pitching work – and many were questioning his health after appearing positively Wasdin-like against the Blue Jays two weeks ago.

It doesn’t take a doctor or a MENSA candidate to connect the dots when a player starts complaining of elbow discomfort and numbness/tingling in the right pinky and ring fingers. 

Those specific symptoms scream out ulnar nerve involvement to anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of baseball and pitching injuries – or just someone willing to type those particular words into Google and hit search.

The Sox continue to push the message out there that this visit down south is 100 percent precautionary and that Beckett could pitch through all this if the Sox weren’t so preoccupied with his long term future. That's reassuring news if it's 100 percent accurate.

Well, guess what. The Sox are 4 ½ games behind a Tampa Bay Rays team that looks like they have the pitching and defense to sidestep prolonged slumps or losing streaks in September. The Olde Towne Team has a relatively comfortable 2 ½ game lead over the Minnesota Twins in the AL Wild Card standings, but it’s not nearly cushy enough. 

This is the time when a pitcher like Beckett – IF he is healthy -- would be playing through nagging injuries and minor issues just like every other baseball player is by the Aug. 29 date on the baseball calendar. Maybe he misses a start and then jumps right back into the fold if his elbow is a little tender, but that clearly isn't the case here.

Instead he’s flying down to the place where pitchers’ ulnar collateral ligaments go to be replaced. 

The Sox aren’t allowing the bad thoughts to creep into their heads as Beckett gets a second opinion from Andrews, but they must know their chances this season will be dead, cremated and then spread if their 28-year-old ace needs surgery.

He’s known as Big Game Beckett for a reason: the 6-2, 1.73 ERA statistics in the postseason are eye-popping and important. But you could almost feel a vibe from opposing teams during the 2007 playoffs that they were already beaten on days that Beckett was toeing the rubber. 

Jon Lester and Daisuke Matsuzaka don’t exude that aura, despite both enjoying excellent seasons in their own particular styles.  

“We’ve had a lot of injuries to deal with all year. We just have to deal with it and play the year, period,” Sox catcher Jason Varitek said. “[Beckett] is missed in our rotation, obviously. We’ll do our best to make ends meet.”

I admire Varitek’s unbending insistence that the Sox players look past Beckett’s visit to Alabama, but I think I’ll ignore the Drebin-like Sox mantra to “Keep moving…there’s nothing to see here.”

There’s plenty to see here, and almost none of it is good.