No more sunny place to be than Fenway

So it's official. Fenway Park is Diamond Disney. The lines are long, the prices steep, and it is the happiest place on Earth. These are Hub Hardball's good old days, and the ancient yard on Yawkey Way is baseball's Magic Kingdom.

There'll be another game this morning -- Fenway's annual Patriots Day breakfast club. It's one of those only-in-Boston events, like the L Street Brownies swimming on New Year's Day and the "1812 Overture" capping the Pops on the Esplanade on the Fourth of July.

Is anyone complaining? Of course not. Even David Wells says he doesn't mind the early start.

"I'll probably get there at 10:59," joked Boomer, a night crawler who has been known to leave wake-up calls later than today's scheduled first pitch.

Curt Schilling, another famously nocturnal baseball creature, will make his second start of the 2005 season. Schilling usually leaves for the ballpark five hours before the first pitch, which would put him on the road from Medfield at approximately 6 a.m. Early in his career, Schilling had difficulty in day games because he hadn't figured out how to adjust his body clock.

"I could do without the 11 a.m. start time," he said. "But I've been preparing for this for the last four days."

The early start probably took Schilling away from his little website friends late last night, but everyone's got to make sacrifices.

It's going to be a special day for the Schillings because Curt's wife, Shonda, will run the marathon for the SHADE Foundation.

Since they've been married, Shonda's never missed one of Curt's home starts, but today she goes the distance to bring attention to melanoma prevention and the fight to stamp out ALS. Mike Timlin's wife, Dawn, also is running from Hopkinton to Boston for the Angel (ALS) Fund. Timlin, who was the winning pitcher when the Sox beat the Yankees on Patriots Day last year, said he plans to be at the finish line with Schilling when their wives come down Boylston Street.

Count Terry Francona as one who enjoys Marathon Monday at Fenway.