"The last, cool light of a long work week for the Indians and their fans gilded the upper deck of right field at sold-out Progressive Field on Friday evening. White placards, held by cheering fans, waved there and in the shadows elsewhere, all reading "Welcome Thome."

It was a bad pun on Jim Thome's name, a gesture of reconciliation in a relationship often characterized by boos and bitterness, and a chorus of "Auld Lang Syne," all in one.

Thome came home, to the city where he began his career in 1991, to the ballpark where he was a regular in the lineup for nine years beginning in 1994. One of only eight players ever to hit 600 or more home runs (334 of them, a franchise record, with the Indians), Thome brought regrets for leaving.

The fans brought roars for his return.

"Maybe I said some things that weren't right," Thome said, "Maybe you're given a second chance to say you're sorry. Maybe that's why I'm sitting here."

The Indians had been swept by Detroit last weekend and nearly swept by Seattle this week. So a desperate, nostalgic chorus of wistful cheers ushered him into the batter's box in the bottom of the second inning in a scoreless tie. The standing ovation grew. The railing of the home dugout was lined with players wearing their dark blue socks high.

It is the same retro look Thome has favored throughout his career. It recalled a gesture by the 1997 team, led by third baseman Matt Williams, in tribute to Thome's 27th birthday. That team caught fire from the candles on the cake or something and went all the way to the seventh game of the World Series. Saturday is Thome's 41st birthday.

Unfortunately, Kansas City's Felipe Paulino blew out any candles quickly.

The Indians scratched out a 2-1 victory, with no contributions from Thome.

In his first at-bat, Thome, overanxious, swung at the first pitch and nubbed a grounder 8 feet to the pitcher, choking the cheers off before they could reach a peak.

Thome took a called third strike in the fifth, and in the seventh, he struck out swinging. "Thome! Thome! Thome!" chants -- pleas, really -- went unrequited both times.

In the eighth, with the cheers muted but the signs still shaking around the park, Thome grounded out to second against reliever Blake Wood.

Frankly, Thome looked stiff, as if his troublesome back were hurting him. Also, unlike 1997, there is no Williams, Manny Ramirez, Sandy Alomar, Omar Vizquel or David Justice around him in the lineup now. Instead, because of a wave of injuries, there are Ezequiel Carrera, Cord Phelps, Shelley Duncan, Jack Hannahan and Lou Marson.

There is no early reason, given all the injuries, to give Thome a good pitch to hit in a tight game.

So if the Indians want Thome to be the straw that stirs the drink, they first must expect him, excepting Asdrubal Cabrera and Carlos Santana, to make lemonade out of the citrus grove around him. "