It started to rain like crazy on the trip from Kingston up to Boston. I kicked the German sedan into cruise control and slid into the slow lane as Wally popped in a Zappa CD.

He's brought along the peace flag that I gave him last winter. We had planned to take it down to Baltimore on Opening Day when we thought GW would throw out the first pitch. It didn't happen. I'm not too sure your average regular season game is the right place for it but I do trust Wally's judgement.

"Impeach Bush, Fire Cheney, Indict Rumsfeld, Banish Ashcroft." Wally knows a thing or two about government and the people who fuck it up.

We bounced into the C&F, only because there wasn't a wait. After a couple of bottles, the game comes on TV, and they show the rain falling on the field. A waitress tells us that the game has been delayed until 3:30, so we order food. As we're waiting I notice the tarp being taken off the field, and most of the room clearing out. Sure enough, the food arrives right around first pitch. We honk it down with more beer.

We're late anyway, so we hit the alley to smoke a quick one. A loud and sudden roar blows through the sky.

"Whoa," Wally's eyes light up. "Must be one of those military flyovers."

'No way, that's the crowd, we just missed something.' Turns out it was Mueller's homerun.

Midway through the game I ditch to grab a couple and when I head back up to Section 9 and notice that Wally isn't there. I slide into the aisle and start to notice that something isn't right when the guy in front of me tells me that my seat is two rows down. I sit in the same seats all year and can't find my way back?

Play is about to begin in the top half of a late inning and Wally notices that Manny is missing. He always notices things ahead of time. That's why I usually hand him the camera. Suddenly Manny pops out of the open door in the left field wall.

Wally wonders.
What was Manny doing under the Green Monster?
Was he taking a shit in a bucket?
Was he pissing in the corner?
Was he partaking of a primo Jaybird?
This is one of the mysteries of baseball.

I know I always thought that strange and wonderful things happened inside the Wall.

What do I know?