By The Associated Press

BOSTON – A Boston Red Sox clubhouse attendant fell to his death from the sixth floor of a downtown parking garage early Sunday after attending the Celtics playoff game with many of the Red Sox players.

Bernie Logue, 30, was the primary chef in the home clubhouse and had also worked in a lounge since joining the team at the beginning of last season.

The Red Sox observed a moment of silence before the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader against the Seattle Mariners.

“We come here every day. Today, we came here to be there for each other,” clubhouse manager Joe Cochran said between games. “That room down there, that’s our little world. I think that we were thrown a curveball today.”

Police said Logue fell a few hours after the Celtics were eliminated from the playoffs in a 97-70, Game 7 loss to the Indiana Pacers. Boston police officer John Boyle said Logue’s death is under investigation, but it appears to have been an accident.

“What we do is so important to us, but when real life steps in and kind of gets in the way, I don’t think I have a very good answer,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said.

“The guys, just like we do everything, we’ll get through it together.”

Red Sox first baseman Kevin Millar said most of the team went to the Celtics game and sat in two luxury boxes.

“This kid was awesome,” Millar said. “He quit an office job and probably took a huge pay cut. But this was the greatest thing that he enjoyed was coming to (Fenway Park) and helping us. This is a tremendous shock to all of us.”

Cochran said Logue was hired to staff a new lounge that was added off the Red Sox locker room last year and became so vital to the clubhouse operation that he was brought to spring training this year.

“Players who had children felt comfortable leaving them with Bernie,” Cochran said. “He was our friend.”

Wade Miller activated

The Boston Red Sox activated right-hander Wade Miller from the disabled list on Sunday to start the second game of a doubleheader, and they also purchased the contract of righty Cla Meredith from Triple-A Pawtucket after just one appearance there.

Righty Blaine Neal was designated for assignment, and lefty Lenny DiNardo was optioned to Pawtucket.

Miller, who had not pitched since June because of a right shoulder strain, signed as a free agent during the offseason and has been in rehabilitation since then. He was 58-39 with a 3.87 ERA in his career, all with the Houston Astros.

Miller started the second game of Sunday’s doubleheader against the Seattle Mariners and broke Ichiro Suzuki’s bat on a groundout to first for the first out of the game.

Miller was also clocked at 95 mph on a strikeout of Adrian Beltre to end the first inning.

Meredith, whose name is pronounced “Clay,” was a sixth-round choice in last year’s draft.

He is 2-2 with 27 saves and a 0.76 ERA, with nine walks and 48 strikeouts in 47 2-3 innings over 2004-05, mostly at Single-A and Double-A.

Neal was 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA in eight appearances for the Red Sox this season. DiNardo worked 1 1-3 scoreless innings in two appearances with Boston.

Red Sox boost security

The Boston Red Sox have increased security, especially around beer stands, in the wake of a scuffle between New York Yankees outfielder Gary Sheffield and a fan.

The Red Sox announced Sunday that, starting with the current homestand, there will be nine supervisors monitoring alcohol consumption in Fenway Park instead of five. City police officers will also be assigned to the busiest beer stands.

The club also introduced public service announcements reminding fans to drink responsibly and avoid balls in play.

The team had previously instituted a security hotline number to allow fans to report code of conduct violations.

Crowd conduct has been under scrutiny since April 14, when Christopher House, a fan along the right-field line, reached over the wall while Sheffield was chasing Jason Varitek’s triple. Sheffield said he was hit in the face; House denied making contact.

Another fan, Matthew Donovan, spilled beer on Sheffield. He has denied doing it intentionally.

Red Sox officials revoked House’s season tickets and banned Donovan from buying tickets this season. A clerk magistrate decided not to charge the two with a misdemeanor.

Beer sales at Fenway are up since the Red Sox owners took over in 2001.

According to a published report, the volume of beer sold at Major League Baseball’s oldest and smallest stadium increased by roughly 20 percent in 2004 over the previous year.

Team officials have added at least 16 new beer stands at Fenway since 2001 and increased the size of beer cups from 12 ounces to 16 ounces, according to Boston’s Licensing Board.

“Although beer sales were higher in 2004 than in 2003, they have declined so far in 2005, relative to the same number of games in 2004,” Mike Dee, the team’s chief operating officer, said in a prepared statement Sunday.

The Licensing Board has scheduled a May 10 hearing with Red Sox officials to investigate complaints about alcohol consumption at Fenway.

AP-ES-05-08-05 1839EDT