It's a happy homecoming

ST. LOUIS -- He said he did away with his inner fan in 1993, when he was signed by the San Francisco Giants. The team he adored, the St. Louis Cardinals, was still in his heart but almost out of his mind. That was tough for a kid who grew up in the St. Louis suburb of Maryland Heights, wanting to play for his hometown team.

So coming home and banging out a pair of hits last night in the Red Sox' 4-1 victory over the Cardinals in Game 3 of the World Series was described in one word by Bill Mueller: special.

He's not about to begin trying to figure out it all out.

"I'm not here to analyze it," said Mueller. "I'm here to play. It's for my mom and dad and my family to be here and watch me play in a World Series. I think it's very special for them to come to come to this ballpark and watch a family member play in the game. Those are memories they'll have for the rest of their lives. This is the place I grew up. It's a very special place. Always has been and always will be."

Mueller's homecoming was top-notch; he went 2 for 4 and knocked in the Sox' fourth run with a single to right field in the fifth inning, knocking out Cardinals starter Jeff Suppan. In the fourth, Mueller started a two-out rally with a double to left-center field and rode home on Trot Nixon's single.

Mueller also was involved in the pivotal play of the game when he took a throw from first baseman David Ortiz to catch Suppan off third base and complete a double play in the third, which seemed to take the air out of the Cardinals.

"David has a lot more experience at first base than people give him credit for," Mueller said. "He played there in Minnesota. He's played there for us. He's not some guy that just started playing the position, so he has good instincts and he moves around a lot better than most people think. He's got great feet and hands."

Mueller said he had no idea what the Cardinals were doing on that play. He didn't know if, with none out, coach Jose Oquendo had directed Suppan to run on contact or not. "It was big that they didn't score a run right there," said Mueller.

In the first inning, Mueller made the correct play by not getting involved. On Manny Ramirez's throw from left field to gun down Larry Walker attempting to score, Mueller let the ball go through to catcher Jason Varitek.

"I never heard Jason say to cut it off, so if I don't hear it, I let it go through," Mueller said. "It was a great throw by Manny and a nice play by Jason."

Mueller is a very low-key player who tends to speak in cliches and downplays most achievements. After he'd committed three errors in Game 2, his worst defensive game of the year, Mueller didn't get down on himself. After his teammates tried to pick him up, Mueller said he wanted to do something to make up for that game, and he succeeded last night.

But Mueller never will get ahead of himself.

"We have to go out there and compete [tonight]," he said. "It's the old cliche, but we have to take it one inning at a time. I mean, we were down, 3-0, against New York and we came back.

"I think everyone in this clubhouse understands that until you wrap it up, it's not over, so we're not celebrating anything except that we won the third game and we'd better win another one to wrap it up."