The Red Sox are not one of the teams I follow (nor are the Cubs who they played last night). I wanted to go for the park, for the history. There are only two classic ballparks left in the country (and I have already been to a few games at Wrigley). The new parks just don't quite have the same charm as the classics (I am happy to say I also went to Tiger Stadium and Yankee Stadium before they were replaced).
I walked down to Fenway last night. Much to my surprise, tickets were still available at the game day ticket sale window. They sell standing room tickets, but I sprung the extra $10 for a seat in the right field grandstand, lower level. I was sitting under the upper deck as you can see from the pic. At first, I thought about walking up top to look for a seat in the open but a breeze was kicking up and some fog/mist rolled in and I was happy to have the extra shelter. By the fifth inning, lots of people in the upper deck had left due to the weather but they played on.
The picture is from the first pitch ceremony. The man in the uniform who threw the first pitch is Lou Zamperini. He finished 8th in the 5000 meters at the 1936 Olympics. As a runner, I thought that was uber cool. He joined the air force in 1941, was shot down, spent 47 days adrift at sea before being captured by the Japanese. Amazing story. The woman was introduced as "The daughter or Red Sox legend Babe Ruth". Funny that I don't normally associate Babe Ruth with being a Red Sox legend.Sponsorship is everywhere in the games. Even the game time temperature was "sponsored" by Dunkin' Donuts (funny, I thought the temperature just existed regardless of sponsorship!) This is the first time the Cubs have played at Fenway since the 1918 world series so the theme of the night was rolling back the clock to 1918. The teams wore throwback jerseys and the even put an image of a 1918 scorecard on the jumbotron (jumbotron circa 1918). No 1918 prices at the concession stands, though. Guess they can only rollback so much.
David Ortiz hit a home run (his 300th as a member of the Red Sox) over the green monster, something you want to see at Fenway. I thought about leaving after the seventh inning stretch with the Red Sox up 3-1. Glad I didn't as a wild top of the eight saw the Cubs score seven runs with two Red Sox errors thrown in (a misjudged fly ball was dropped and the Red Sox had a runner trapped between third and home...one of their throws was errant which allowed two runs to score). Cubs went on to win 9-3.
So a little item has been checked off the bucket list, one that every baseball fan (even casual fans) should do.
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6 comments:
When I was a kid, I saw the then Milwaukee Braves play at what I think was County Stadium. Is that where they played back then (50's)? And I saw the Cubs play at Wrigley Field when I lived in Chicago (80's). But I'm not even a casual fan.
It's cool that you've been able to visit the historic ballparks, hale, while they existed. I don't know about Fenway, but I can't imagine them tearing down Wrigley Field. There's no room to expand, though. I suppose they could build a new stadium elsewhere, but the neighborhood would be crushed. Loyal Cubs fans would scream bloody murder, too, if they moved.
What a great performance!! Wake has his ups and downs but he is such an important part of the Red Sox over all the years. He is the ideal team member and will do whatever it takes. Never complains...just does what we need to help the team win...!!
Come on guys lets blow em’ out!
Who are those peoples?
My guess they are fans of hale-bopp.
Who is jed? ;>
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