...Five Years / My Brain Hurts A Lot

It hasn't been that long since I last wrote in this space, but I just am digesting the fact that it has been five years since Nomah's last at-bat at Fenway Park. Time flies.

Seeing the highlight reel before the game tonight, watching him answer questions about the Boston fans and what they meant to him, and seeing that rousing, standing ovation before his first at bat at Fenway in five years really made me feel for the guy. In the late 90's/early 00's, he was the king of the Boston sports scene -- a sure shot Hall of Famer and the face of the Red Sox organization. Everything seemed to go in a reverse direction for him starting with the trade to the Cubs in 2004 -- watching the Red Sox win two World Series without him on the roster, and nagging injuries reducing his career to not much more than a utility role.

Ironically, it's a player like Nomar that the Sox could use right now, with Mike Lowell and Jed Lowrie both dealing with their own injury issues.