Take Me out to the Ball Game

April 27, 2002, is a very special day for me as a Red Sox fan. A few weeks earlier, my oldest daughter was quite sick and ended up spending a couple of days in the hospital. While there, my son convinced me to enter a drawing for Red Sox tickets. He was quite positive that all you had to do to was sign up, and you would recieve the tickets. I carefully explained to him that this was a drawing, and thousands of people would enter, so we would not be likely to win - so don't get his hopes up. He seemed like he understood this little lesson - that is until a couple of weeks later when someone from the Hospital called to say we had WON the tickets!!! (He still shouldn't have gotten his hopes up, because when my wife saw them she decided she would rather that I take HER instead of him.) These tickets were really good Box seats about 8 rows behind the Red Sox dugout for a game on Saturday, April 27. Another bonus - the tickets included a free parking pass at the parking lot that was a block away from Fenway park.

We went to the game - it was a beautiful Saturday afternoon. This was my wife's RedSox game and she was very excited. It was a great game too. Along about the 6th inning, a buzz started to go through the crowd. People started to notice that Derek Lowe had not yet given up any hits. As the game went on, excitement started to build. When we stood up for the 7th inning stretch, almost nobody sat back down again. 32,000 people stayed on their feet for the last 2 innings. We were now cheering each pitch. As the 9th inning started the place was in a frenzy. Every pitch was greeted with cheers that were louder than the one before. The first batter was Russ Johnson, who was quickly dispatched when his soft line drive was caught. We all held our breath when Feliz Escalona hit fly ball to Center Field, but cheered wildly when it dropped into Rickey Henderson's glove. When Jason Tyner hit the ground ball to Second Baseman Rey Sanchez for the third out, the whole stadium exploded. We knew that this was truly special moment. This was the first no-hitter at Fenway park since 1965 - witnessing it live was truly a once in a lifetime experience. After the game was over, there was none of the usual quick exodus - people pushing and shoving to get out the door faster in hopes of beating the traffic or getting to the subway before everyone else.... No, on this day every fan stood rooted to their spots cheering and screaming for at least 15 minutes as if we wanted an encore - not wanting the moment to end. Eventually it did end - Derek Lowe Did come back out and adress the crowd for a few minutes - But we all left the stadium that day feeling like we had been a part of something very special (even though - in reality - we had nothing to do with it other than just watching it).

Unfortunately, I have been paying the price for this day ever since. The Red Sox have LOST EVERY GAME that I have been to since. And not usually just any loss - most of the time it has been a blowout. We're talking the kind of blowout where the game is over by the end of the first or second inning. This season has been no exception. Last Wednesday, I went to a game and the score was 5-0 at the end of the second inning. On Saturday, I was taking my wife and the two boys, and we had amazing seats - first row of the Loge Box over by Third Base. I guess 3-0 is not quite a blowout, but it is still a loss, and the Sox were never really in it. Ah well, It was still a great time. My wife and oldest son are turning into fans as devoted as I am. My youngest son just happy to have his own seat (last year we took advantage of the "2 and under are free" policy and subsequently had to hold him in our laps the whole game). He was pretty excited about the Hot Dogs and the Ice Cream in the mini baseball helmet though. A person in one of the rows behind us commented on the folly of "wasting" such a great seat on a 3-yr old. Folly or not, it was worth it. After the game, the kids got to go down on the field and run around the bases which they thoroughly enjoyed. They also got to meet Wally the Green Monster, Lefty and Righty (socks - the new mascots), and my personal favorite -Kelly the Ball girl. Also in attendance were Pat Patriot, Blades the Bear (Bruins Mascot), and the creepy Leprechaun dude who runs around doing flips at Celtics games (not sure what his name is, but if I had a Leprechan, I would name him Larry - "Larry the Leprechaun" just has a nice ring to it doesn't it?")

All in all, a good time was had by all. I will try to post some pictures later (after I've had a chance to photoshop my Fat Butt out of them)