Thanks to the impetus of other people and Rachel's willingness to take over for me at the old people's home I took my first trip to Fenway a few weeks ago.
We were too late to see opening ceremonies (if they have any) or the first pitch, we had standing room tickets over the White Sox dugout, it was hot and I had dressed for cold, damp weather, I missed the one Red Sox score of the game because I was in the bathroom, I missed almost every other significant play because I was distracted, when we finally did get seats, the guy a few seats down had a repetitive and offensive vocabulary, we lost 8-1, and yet.... I had a wonderful time!
I saw somebody with a רד סוקס t-shirt! Very cool.
Did you know that Fenway was so small? I think the best moment was when we first walked through the door and up into the stands. The crowds were so loud but so small- everything was close to me and there they were- right there! I mean that guy a few feet away was Ortiz! Doesn't get much better.
Did you know that a broken bat can spin off large chunks all the way past first base? How do the infielders manage stay focused?
And the Green Monster was such an odd structure. It made it really hard to tell if a ball was going to be a home run or an out.
I really know nothing about baseball game traditions- I mean, I know about the seventh inning stretch, but what was that song everybody started singing at some other point in the game? Never heard it before. And why do so many guys feel it necessary to propose to their girlfriends on the billboard? Wait... how come the White Sox lined up to high five each other, but they didn't do it with the Red Sox?
The guys selling peanuts and hot dogs were so loud! I wonder if they have to do a voice tryout before they are hired? They were also pretty clever about getting food to people down the line. Some guy ordered a hot dog and the vedor threw it to him- someone caught the outer wrap, the next person got the bun, and the third person got the hot dog. Okay, maybe it was just two people- one with the wrap and one with the hot dog, but it sounded better with three.
I think I'm glad we lost the game. If it had been a particularly exciting one, I still would have been to completely distracted by the people, the place, the noises, the wave and the people batting beach balls around to have gotten much out of it.
fascinating.
Anybody want to go with me again?
7 comments:
Hurray! I'm so happy you got to go to Fenway! I'd love to go with you again someday!
A fun memory... :)
Ew!!!! You are kidding about the guy throwing the food down the aisle to be caught by a couple different people, right? AAAUGH! My germophobic nature recoils!!!
sadly, no, I am not kidding about the food-throwing incident. I thought it was pretty funny. But then, it wasn't my hot dog.
What a great post! I loved your analysis. I, too, was astonished at how small it was:) Hurrah for one-of-a-kind Fenway!
Ahh, the sheer joy of crowd-watching! What is wrong with those folks who actually focus on the field the whole game?! I was at a football game recently where there was a great play (what it was I have no idea) and all these people around me whipped out cellphones and started making calls. 21st century fans... ya gotta love 'em. I have never been to Fenway though.
The song is "Sweet Caroline"...Not sure how the tradition started, but now they sing it every 8th inning. It's a good one (at least in my book -- but I'm biased for various reasons).
I'm so glad you got to go!!! I remember that feeling of first seeing the players close up. Somehow it made them smaller and so very...human.
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