As if fans of the cellar-dwelling Boston Red Sox aren't downtrodden enough, for a spell on Friday the costume of Wally the Green Monster, the team's popular mascot, was missing. Fearing it was swiped, the team alerted the police.

A security guard at Fenway Park thought he saw a thief in the emerald green outfit getting away. On the Red Sox' website, Wally is described as "pretty big" - no matter who is wearing the outfit.

The timing of the incident inspired recurring mid-summer conspiracy theories. Some fans feared that Wally's disappearance was just another way to unsettle the Red Sox as they head into a crucial series against arch-rivals the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium that begins Friday night.