Hot day. Got there early. The only player on the field was Lugo, taking grounders. Here he's out in the outfield after throwing a ball up to the Monster Seats, which was dropped.

These kids must've won a contest where they get to have a catch with Jon Lester or something.

The field from up in the Monster Seats. (You can see Lugo taking grounders.)

Patches in center field from the recent concert.

Eventually Lowrie came out and took some grounders, too. I just missed getting him really high, but you can tell he's off the ground here.

The pitchers made their way out to right field. Here's Justin, passing Canvas Alley.

After the rest of the RSN people were kicked out, I got to stay since I had a Monster SRO ticket. Was able to get some shots of empty Monster Seats. Since they keep RSN people to the right side, they have a little green barrier now, which you can barely see.

More of the same.

More of the same, but looking left.

Looking straight down The Wall, you can see the VIDI of COVIDIEN at an extreme angle.

Hanging out over the Monster to get this shot. Here's a piece of trivia for ya--see how there's the big garage door, and then two widows above it? Well, there used to just be one window there--compare to this pic I took in May 2006. Or this one I took at ALCS Game 7 in '07.

John Smoltz.

Marlon Byrd, moments after hitting a ball I caught. Read all about the three BP balls I got here.

Getting close to game time now. My mom finally showed up and we got some good seats. Got moved a few times, finally settling in in the front row, and seeing four innings from there. Finally, the last latecomers arrived, and we stood the rest of the time.

It was the big Scholar Day thing, and these scholars got to drop the banner which revealed a new sign on the Monster. Here's the NESN video of it. Go to the 45 second mark, and you'll see me in the second row, the only one in a blue shirt. My mom comes down the stairs and sits next to me, then you see me turn and take a picture of the scoreboard through the light tower.

And here's that pic. We weren't in this shot--we're just off the screen to the right.

Bard, Kottaras, and MDC caught the first (three) pitch(es).

I couldn't fit this all in completely, but at far right you can see a woman in the front row taking Bay's picture, and at far left, Bay.

Jason Bay below us.

The Rangers' first base coach is Gary Pettis, a legend of "my day."

Pedroia up. Kristen of Red Sox Diehard told me that my name was on the scoreboard in this game. I guess they pick 10 random RSN members and "welcome" them, and I was one of them. Sweet!

Looking left along the front row. I had a great angle on a double to deep left center off the wall.

All of a sudden, the hawk came out of nowhere and swooped down and did a giant loop around the field. Everybody watched and cheered. Click to enlarge this pic and see how everyone's eyes are locked on the bird.

Now it's coming back around. At this point, I started to film it, which you can watch here.

Kotsay hit a double right down the line, and later homered to cut the lead to one, but Dice was too crappy to overcome on this day, and we lost 6-3.

Youk got hit by a pitch but was called back to the plate on account of "no attempt to move." He was pissed.

One final shot of Dice on the mound in a bad game on an otherwise fun day.