An eventful return trip

What did you expect Kelly Shoppach to do when Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek came down awkwardly on his left leg trying to round second base Monday night?

Did you expect him to stick his thumbs in his ears and wag his fingers at the Red Sox dugout?

Poke his tongue out, maybe?

Send Sox manager Terry Francona an autographed lineup card with one of these (:-p) at the bottom?

That's not Shoppach's style.

After dealing away their top catching prospect in Shoppach, the Sox now have to deal with a player crunch behind the plate, going with Doug Mirabelli for now.

Shoppach insists that not even a small part of him is smiling on the inside.

``Nope," he said.

Not even a little?

``No."

Come on.

``No. No. No."

If anything, the 26-year-old empathizes with Varitek, who will undergo arthroscopic surgery to repair cartilage in his left knee.

``It's unfortunate for Tek," said Shoppach, a second-round pick by the Sox in 2001. ``He's going to be fine. I'm sure he'll be fine. He's one of the toughest men I've ever met.

``I just feel bad that he's hurting real bad, because you don't wish that for anybody, regardless if you were there and you didn't get an opportunity because of him or not."

Shoppach was drafted out of Baylor, touted for his glove and arm, a catcher who hit for direction and power even if he did have an affinity for the strikeout. He was Boston's catcher of the future, but with Varitek behind the plate, tomorrow never came.

He twiddled his thumbs in the minors for four seasons, hitting .271 his first season in Single A Sarasota, then .282 in Portland. In two seasons at Triple A Pawtucket, he smacked 48 home runs, drove in 139 runs, and made the All-Star team twice. But he made it to Fenway only twice before being traded to the Indians in the deal that brought Coco Crisp to Boston.

Rather than be bitter, he realizes that he could still be in Pawtucket twiddling, and compared with Pawtucket, Cleveland rocks.

``I'm kind of thankful," he said. ``The opportunity was over here. I didn't feel like there was that great of an opportunity."

What did bug Shoppach, at least a little, was the way he went out at Fenway.

Shoppach went hitless in his nine games, striking out in seven of his 15 at-bats and reaching base only when a pitch hit him. (He did manage to score his first major league run once he got on the basepaths.)

The lore and energy of Fenway Park served as a sort of double-edged sword, he said.

``It's kind of overwhelming," he said. ``You look forward to it because it's the big leagues, and at the same time, you feel a little nervous because it's the big leagues. You're expected [to perform].

``Boston's not a place where you get a chance to get better in the big leagues. You either produce or you go home. It's been that way for a while, and that's a lot of pressure to have."

He was back in that situation Monday night, with a chance to get the hit he couldn't the first time around, and he did it in a hurry, plating Jhonny Peralta and Hector Luna with a double to center in the second inning.

``The way they treated me when I was here, the fans all the way through the minor leagues that were always supportive, you know, it's good to be back," he said. ``It was kind of nice to be back here and get a hit.

``I know these people didn't really like me here, but hopefully somewhere they were glad to finally see me get a hit in front of them. I'm blessed and fortunate to have an opportunity to be here. I don't try to take that for granted. Regardless of what team you're with."