I guess this means he's really gone

While reading a 200 Miles from the Citi, I came across this picture of the Red Sox introducing free agent outfielder Rocco Baldelli.


There's Baldelli on the left, manager Terry Francona in his winter best in the middle, and matured boy genius Theo Epstein gazing into the future on the right.

The most important part of the picture, however, is the jersey. It appears Baldelli will wear No. 5 for the Sox, just as he did for the Tampa Bay Rays.

No. 5, of course, belonged to Nomar Garciaparra before the Sox dumped him in a deadline deal in 2004, on their way to a world championship. Plenty of fans got down on Nomar after that final injury-riddled season, but I never did. He remains one of my favorite Sox, despite the decline in his career.

So I'll be sad to see another player wearing his No. 5. I never expected the Sox to retire Nomar's number. I guess I just hoped they wouldn't issue it again until he was out of baseball.

The only bright side here is that Baldelli is a likable player.