I rode in with the people from work (one of whom complained the whole way in that Nomar, Pedro, and Manny were all overpaid - while driving us in his company car), but I was anxious the whole time, because I wanted to be there early. Today was Nomar Garciaparra's return from the disabled list, and I wanted to be in my seat when the starting lineups were read 20 minutes before the first pitch. I had been to Nomar's return game when he had been out with a wrist injury in 2001. He had homered and knocked in the winning run that day, and while I didn't expect the same sort of heroics tonight, I was happy to finally have him back in the lineup. We did make it in time, and we gave Nomar standing ovations when the lineups were announced, when he warmed up on the field just before the game, when he took his position at shortstop, and every time he came to bat or made a play in the field (except one of the co-workers, who refused to stand up for him). We were rewarded when he singled in his first at-bat. Unfortunately it didn't amount to anything, as Brian Lawrence kept the Red Sox bats quiet. Bronson Arroyo started off well, but gave up two runs (only one earned) in the fifth amid a steady drizzle. Tim Wakefield started the sixth. His spot in the rotation had been skipped because the Red Sox had two scheduled off days last week and one earlier this week, and they wanted to keep Pedro and the rest of the rotation on their usual rest. (It had worked, as Petey and Keith Foulke combined on a beautiful 1-0 win over San Diego last night.) Wake gave up another two runs (both unearned) in the sixth, and then it started raining harder. The grounds crew rolled the tarp out for a rain delay, and I went under the stands to meet up with my co-workers, who had bailed from their seats when the rain had first started.

My friends with the bleacher tickets came over to join us, and it really was pouring. My friends and I eventually went back into the stands, to the grandstand area behind where I had been sitting, where it's under cover. My co-workers stood in the concourse the whole time, but at least up in the stands we could sit down, and we'd know as soon as something happened. After about an hour and a half of waiting, my co-workers were getting restless. I tried to explain that there must be a break in the rain coming, or they wouldn't have kept us here that long. With every rumble of thunder I'd say, "That's just a thunderous ovation. Nomar must have come back onto the field!" My arguing wasn't working very well, and two hours into the rain delay they were ready to go. The rain was coming down so hard that I didn't think the game would resume again either, but a true diehard never leaves until the end, no matter what. Every trip to Fenway is an experience in itself, and could be a chance to see something I've never seen before. Some games turn out to be real stinkers (like this one), but we sit through the bad ones with the hope that one day we'll be able to see the best one of them all.

The concept of what it means to be a fan was lost on the co-workers, and they were ready to go. I couldn't ask my friends for a ride back to my car, because it would have been over an hour out of their way, and she had to be at work at 7:45 the next morning, so I had to go, even though it was against every moral principle I believe in. Sure enough, as soon as we got back to work and I got in my car, the game was ready to resume. My friend called my cell phone to say they had moved down to great seats. (See?! When will I ever have the chance to do that again?) Rookies Anastacio Martinez, Lenny DiNardo, and Mark Malaska combined to give up four more runs. The game ended just after midnight (so there still would have been time for me to catch the T if I had gone in by myself). They lost 8-1, but the final score had nothing to do with this being my least favorite game of the year.

After my last game, the Red Sox went on the road. They lost two of three in Colorado, but Trot Nixon returned to the lineup and homered in his first game back. They went on to San Francisco and split the first two games of their series with the Giants. Sunday's game was at 4 pm Eastern. It was also Father's Day, and with the team on the road, the Red Sox offered an open house. Dubbed "A Father's Day Walk in the Park", fans could walk around the warning track, in the dugouts, on the Green Monster, and on the right field roof. At 4:00 the game would be televised on the scoreboard. Although my father couldn't make it, I took advantage of the opportunity and went in myself. See my pictures and read the full write-up here.

After a less than successful road trip, the Sox returned home to take on the Twins. Tuesday's game was a refreshing victory in which the "big three" - David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, and Nomar Garciaparra - had all homered, and Nomar's was a grand slam which sealed the victory. I was back on Wednesday with my friend, in the bleachers, but not in the seat behind the fence and in a puddle, so we could actually see this time. Before the game, an announcement was made for Fenway Park's new security hotline. If anyone was detracting from our enjoyment of the game, we were told, we could call the number and security would take care of it. (I wished they had had that at the game I went to two years ago when two kids were projectile spitting from the first row onto the railing all night.)

Minnesota loaded the bases against Derek Lowe in the first, then scored two runs on groundouts. Carlos Silva kept the Red Sox bats surprisingly silent, allowing only four singles through the first five innings. (He was starting to detract from my enjoyment of the game, but somehow I didn't think that's what they meant!) Torii Hunter hit a two-run homer in the sixth, which made it 4-0 Twins and definitely detracted from my enjoyment of the game! The Sox finally got on the board in the bottom of the sixth, on Mark Bellhorn's solo homer. Trot Nixon continued his solid pace after returning from the D.L., adding a solo homer of his own in the seventh. Unfortunately, that was all the Sox would get.

My quest to find a good T station to park at wasn't much more successful than the game. Riverside has a large lot and is closest to my house, but it's too far from Fenway if I ever need to take a cab back. So I had been parking at Lechmere for night games, but now that would be undergoing construction for the next year, and I would have to take a shuttle bus to and from North Station to get there. So I had gone to Wellington, even though it was further from work, so it took longer to get there on weeknights. Wellington is on the Orange line, meaning I'd have to switch from the Green line, adding more time to the trip. The friend I had gone with tonight was parked at Sullivan, also on the Orange line. She had ridden the Orange line all the way to Ruggles, then taken a shuttle bus to Fenway. I rode the Ruggles shuttle back with her, then got on the subway. I found out that at that time of night, the trains didn't run all the way back to Wellington. Instead, they ended at Sullivan, and I had to take another shuttle bus to get back to my car at Wellington. What a production! I wouldn't mind if we had just won, but it's far too annoying when we've lost.