When you want to go home again, sign a one day deal.

Before we begin:

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE SPELLING ERRORS IN THIS POST AH INTENTIONAL.

I am a baseball fan.  Not just any baseball fan -

A Boston Red Sox Fan.  Yep, a proud Cahd carrying membah of the Red Sox Nation.  From birth to the day I die.

When your parents are born and raised in Maine (Portland, my second home I call it) I think it's an unwritten law that you're a Sox fan. Stick with 'em through thick and thin.  Through the sucks time and the happy times - none more happy as when they won the World Series in 2004 and again in 2007, you're there, cheering them on.

Like any baseball fan, I cry when some of the key players are let go or leave of their own accord - Damon, but we won't talk about him (traitor).

I cried when Boggs left.  I cried when Clemons left and now look what's happened to him.

But nothing shocked me more as to when Nomar Garciaparra left the Sox and went to the Cubs in 2004 in a trade.  At the time, Nomar was my favorite Red Sox player. I think it was because of his at bat rituals - the glove adjustments and the bat tap on the shoe. I loved it although my dad found it somewhat annoying and just wanted him to hit the ball. 

Bostonians treat the Sox players like members of their family, and the generosity is reciprocated by the players, who express sadness when they're leaving their "home" to move to another.

But here's the thing:

Once a Red Sox, ALWAYS a Red Sox.  During the 2004 season, Nomar was with the Sox for all of 4 months prior to being traded to the Cubs, but to the Red Sox, it didn't matter if he wasn't there to win the World Series.  He helped get them there.  Nomar's contribution - however small - got them to the playoffs and to the world series.  For that small contribution, Nomar got a championship ring.

Today, Nomar Garciparra signed a one day deal with the Boston Red Sox so that he could retire as a Red Sox - As it should be.

Always a Boston Red Sox.