Nomar Returns to Fenway but Oakland's Anderson Blanks The Sox Completely...Oakland 6 Boston 0

After a rousing standing ovation in the second inning for Nomar Garciaparra by the Fenway Faithful, it was back to work time for John Smoltz and his teammates. That work did not go well for the righthander. He gave up four runs in the fourth inning and that was more than enough for A's starter Brett Anderson, who threw a complete game shutout, allowing only two hits, walking two and striking out nine. Granted, right now the Sox are playing with a depleted lineup but Anderson was spectacular. It was that fourth inning meltdown by Smoltz that effectively ended the game. He said this...

“I felt like I was going to keep putting zeroes up. I enjoy pitching here,” Smoltz said. “In the fourth inning, everything happened pretty fast. It was like ‘Wow, all right, that’s over with. Let’s try to keep it at one run. I felt in control, I threw the ball really well and didn’t have much to show for it tonight,” Smoltz said. “And as mad as I get, I have to make sure to realize that I’m making a lot of progress even though the results don’t look like that.”

The Fenway Park fans and those in the city of Boston showed some real class to Nomar considering his behavior before the club jettisoned him. Remember, he was the closest thing to a Fenway god during his playing times. A wet-eyed Garciaparra had this to say before his team's victory.

“I love ’em,’’ a teary Garciaparra said before the game when asked about Sox fans. “I don’t know how else to put it. I love the way they treated me the whole time I was here. It’s emotional. When I was gone - Boston fans are everywhere and I can’t tell you how many times I heard ‘Thank you. Appreciate everything you did.’ And I can’t tell them what that meant to me. I can’t believe the wonderful experiences that I’ve had here and it’s all because of them.’’

Thanks Nomar, thank you very much. You played your heart out here until, for some reason or reasons, you grew uncomfortable with the intense media scrutiny. It comes with the territory, however. Good luck to you in the future...I mean it. We all do.

Tonight, the Sox, one game ahead of the Yankess, will try to win a game with their ace Josh Beckett ready to go against Dallas Braden. May the force be with him...he was just so-so in his last start and when that happens, he usually bounces back with brilliance. Go Josh. GO SOX.

Have a wonderful Tuesday as the world's eyes will be focused on the California city of Los Angeles. All the major networks will have their lenses there, too, with coverage, complete coverage, starting at 1pm EDT of the Michael Jackson Memorial service, a service that will be filled with music. That was his life. Gone too soon. I'll be watching, on NBC HD.

Oh, I almost forgot, you can click on the title of this post for more Sox coverage, from everywhere. As always, BE WELL, be safe, be happy. I'll see you soon. That's a promise.