Wash Out Tonight - We Still Have Yesterday

Bostonist was sitting in the stands for last night's game, as you may have read. We realize that some of you probably weren’t following all of the lead-up in the press, but this game was kind of a big deal. It marked the return of Johnny Damon to Fenway for the first time since he went to the Yankees, an act seen by some as selling your soul to the devil. It marked the return of Mike Myers, the submarine throwing lefty. And, somewhat unexpectedly, the return of the most beloved backup catcher in all of baseball, Doug Mirabelli, whom the Sox had traded for that very afternoon.

Of course, Johnny Damon’s return to Fenway was the biggest headline. From where Bostonist was sitting, the booing was at first intermingled with applause, but after his first at bat, all bets were off. The crowd did any and everything to distract Damon from his game, and his 0-4 showing at the plate last night shows that it just might have worked.

Mike Myers, who was also greeted by a sea of booing, sweetened the whole former-Red-Sox-returning-to-Fenway-as-a-Yankee deal. After coming in and joining in on the mound conference (Bostonist was starting to think the Yankees mound looked like a scene out of Office Space), he proceeded to throw a pitch to David “Big Papi” Ortiz. And Ortiz, in turn, proceeded to crush it to the Red Sox bullpen with a three-run shot that sealed the deal.

Bostonist thinks the greatest story of the night, however, was the return of Doug Mirabelli to catch Sox knuckler Tim Wakefield. We were confused when we saw Jason Varitek warming up, and were wondering how the Captain would fare. The Sox apparently really wanted Mirabelli for last night, so they flew him out from San Diego to Boston, leaving just minutes to spare before game time. A State Police car brought him to the park just on time. It was so close that Mirabelli reportedly had to change into his uniform in the cruiser.

It was a great, albeit cold, night to be at Fenway. Bostonist is sure that this marks the true start of baseball season. Beating the Yankees 7-3 at home, that is.

Since we’re sure to revisit the rain-out from tonight sometime in August, we’ll leave you with some shots of the action last night.

Post and photos contributed by Ben Silva