Click to enlarge. Got to a two-hour meter that ends at 6 PM right at 4, so my price for parking was eight quarters, and I walked over to the park with plenty of time before gates opened. Then it's wait for the second door of gate B to open as everybody else (already standing by the first door because people around here always flock to where everyone else is--"ooh, a line of ten cars stopped at a light in the middle lane, and no cars in the left or right lane even though they aren't turn-only lanes. I'll be the eleventh car! Woohoo!") falls for the "first door to open" trick, and I'm basically the first one in. Which is cool if you like standing around looking at six visiting players and a big tarp...

Steve Levy in the house.

The star of the pre-game activities was definitely the sky. It was a beautiful day, and then the stroms started brewing. (Making it even more beautiful to rain-lovers like me.)

Standing in the front row by the camera well is as good as being in the camera well.

Ed Randall of "Ed Randall's Talking Baseball."

Looking out toward right, the last of the non-evil skies.

Lowell comes out briefly, and talks to Levy. The front of Mike's shirt said "Woooooooo!!"

Lugo also made a brief appearance.

Gray clouds over the Monster.

Now the death clouds really start rolling in.

More clouds showing here.

The winds kick up, and a runaway garbage bag appears.

Looking west, the good stuff is on the way in....

At this point, everyone's wondering how it could possibly not be raining.

Sky over the light towers.

And another deadly cloud over the tower to the left of home plate.

Youk came out to see what was goin' on overhead.

And finally, the skies opened up. Not to the portal to hell that seemed imminent, but, you know, to allow rain to pour down. So I took a good spot under the roof.

The clouds finally start to lift and the rain stops. One more minor shower a little before 7 caused the start time to be delayed by a half-hour.

Whole lotta warning track. I went to this spot because I wanted to get a shot of the crew running past me with the tarp as they removed it. But they kept it on the field so long, I gave up and would get the shot from a different angle.

Two different Diamondback jerseys.

Top right to bottom left: The right field foul line, the warning track, the padding on the fence, the space between padding and wall (you can see all the way down to the dirt), the fence itself, and, I think, my left leg.

A weird drain in the stands.

Your AL East standings. And the tarp thing. And some fans.

During that whole storm, they kept the lights off. Finally, they go on.

Another lights on tarp shot.

I still haven't gone into the Bleacher Bar. But you can see a TV on in there if you look closely. Above, the Citgo sign.

The catcher spits something "out" in front of the word "out."

Beckett pulling a Zoppi.

Beckett and Varitek. Yes, I'm out at my bleacher seat. I thought, Hey, instead of standing the whole game, I'll actually use my seat for a change! I've been seeing the same people who have my 10-game plan since it started in 2004, and there seems to be a new baby joining the crew every year. I also got to see Empy, who was sitting a section over and spotted me.

I was up here when they took off the tarp.

There they go....

Manny and Lugo.

Haren, who would beat us on this night.

I think Remy caught a foul ball. I zoomed in on them, but I never saw him hold it up, though they were smiling. Can anybody tell me what happened?

Drew in right, his brother at the plate.

Kooky with his shirt so open that it looks like ARIZZONA.

Not much action in this game...except when Youk suddenly had an injury. I saw Lugo hold up two fingers so I figured it was an eye thing. Here, Lugo says, go to the clubhouse, you can't play. I later found out it was a throw in that inning's grounder-practice that hit him. Tell me it wasn't freakin' Lugo who threw it....

Jacoby on second, Lugo on third. We needed two runs in this game, but we only mustered up one. Crappy. At least Beckett had a nice game.

So I missed it on Saturday, since I was in NYC playing touch football in Central Park, but Chris Smith got in a game! The first Red Sox Smith since Dan, who pitched in two games in 2000. So he'll be added to my Smiths of Baseball project.

Oh, and I said I'd be here for a game thread tonight, but I forgot I have softball...so tomorrow, I promise, I'll open it up to a thread, even if I'm not around, but I should be.