"That's fine but ya gotta keep movin"
For the second Saturday in a row, I found myself saying, "This has been one of the best days of my life." This time it was because of my first-ever pilgrimage to Fenway Park in Boston, to see Yankees at Red Sox. No one could believe I had never been there before. Here is my admittedly boylike reaction to my first footstep into arguably the most beloved cathedral in all of sports. Seeing it a million times on TV will never take the place of being there.
Thanks to my awesome colleague Billy in Boston for the HUGE ticketing assist. It was just unforgettable.
1. Papelbon is God in the ninth inning...never have seen a sporting venue louder and more electric when he comes in to Wild Thing in the ninth and I've been around pro sports last 20+ years
2. Seeing Green Monster the first time as you walk in of course
3. Going through turnstiles and realizing you're in the park but you're actually on Yawkey Way and a big street party. Instead of going from a street party to the turnstiles...you're already there.
4. Getting up and down a 100 million times in the rickety old seats to let people out for beer/bathroom runs.
5. Even though I've seen it a trillion times on TV, being fooled the first time I saw a ball crushed for an obvious home run (Kevin Thompson) and then played on one-hop by Manny. That delayed reaction when you realize you just saw your first Monster hit instead of HR elsewhere.
6. Singing Sweet Caroline in the eighth...what I was looking forward to most.
7. Talking to other Red Sox fans and seeing on their faces how heavenly that day is.
8. The drama and cheers and boos and buzz of every pitch in a Yankees vs. Red Sox game.
9. The reddish clay color of the infield dirt.
10. How close everything is, especially going down to the Pesky Pole and seeing where Big Papi can just curl one 300 feet for a jack.
11+. Everything.
Comments