In Pawtucket, R.I., the fans started lining up Thursday morning for a chance to see Boston Red Sox slugger Manny Ramirez play his first baseball in more than a month.
A crowd of 8,445 gave Ramirez a standing ovation before each of his four at-bats, and cheered him even when he went 0-for-4 in a 5-0 loss to Triple-A Richmond.
Red Sox Nation is feeling giddy because the finger Ramirez broke sliding headfirst into home plate May 11 is almost healed. He plans to finish the weekend in Pawtucket and return to the Red Sox's lineup Tuesday at San Diego.
The Red Sox are 18-14 with Ramirez out of the lineup, and they have remained slightly ahead of the New York Yankees atop the American League East.
But concern about the Red Sox's health doesn't end there.
Right-hander Pedro Martinez, perhaps the most important player in the division, is riding a roller coaster of emotions as his right shoulder continues playing tricks on him.
When he lost to Curt Schilling and the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3-2, on June 8, Martinez expressed the uncertainties he's facing.
"The biggest adjustment I have to make is realizing I'll have to deal with this the rest of my career, or at least the end of the year," Martinez, 30, said. "I don't even know if I'm going to get through the end of the year. I'm learning how to pace myself. ... This is all new to me."
At that point, Martinez was 7-1 overall but 0-1 with a 5.50 ERA in his past three starts. Previously, his worries seemed to be about this season alone, but this time he was talking about the rest of his career.
"After this season is over, I am not going to know what is going to happen," he said. "In reality, I don't know if I am going to pick up velocity after the first half. I don't know if I'm going to make it into the second half. I am wondering, I don't know. I am lost."
Even with the best record in baseball, the Red Sox are a fragile team. This past week, they put second baseman Rey Sanchez on the disabled list with a pulled right hamstring, saying he could be out until the All-Star break.
"The way the MRI looks and the way he feels now, we could be pushing that point," team physician Dr. Bill Morgan told the Boston Herald. "It's unlikely he's going to be very aggressive before the All-Star break."
It's another tough break, considering Sanchez is batting .318. The Red Sox might hold on to win the division, but not without giving their fans a few ulcers in the process.
No rookie blues
Orioles starting pitcher Rodrigo Lopez is a Rookie of the Year candidate, but the current AL favorite appears to be Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Eric Hinske.
Hinske is hitting .279 with 12 home runs and 38 RBIs. Acquired from Oakland in the Billy Koch trade last winter, Hinske is a big reason the Blue Jays are back on the Orioles' heels for third place.
Bierbrodt recovering
Devil Rays pitcher Nick Bierbrodt, recovering from gunshot wounds suffered June 7, should be able to pitch again, his doctor said last week.
Released from the hospital yesterday, Bierbrodt, 24, flew home to Long Beach, Calif., and is expected to return to Tampa in the next week to 10 days.
He was shot while sitting in a taxi with two friends waiting in a drive-through line at a fast food restaurant in Charleston, S.C. Witnesses said Bierbrodt argued with a man who rode up beside the taxi on a bicycle.
"I would say the majority of people who have that situation, with those gunshots to that area, would not have made it to the hospital alive," David Cole, chief of general surgery at the Medical University of South Carolina, told the Tampa Tribune.
A spring training return is "a reasonable goal," Cole said.
Compiled from interviews, wire services and reports from other newspapers.