Bahhhhston Red Sahhhhx

A's/Red Sox - Fenway Park Photos

In the morning after eating some fresh bagels and finally meeting Bob Petrocelli for the first time, we left for the train station in Stamford, CT to catch the train to Boston. We got to the station in time to make the train but couldn’t find a kiosk to print out our actual tickets, so as the train gets into the station, we’re printing out our tickets and literally running down the stairs and across the platform to get on board. We made the train at the absolute last second. Missing that train might have made for a slightly crappy day. The trip took about three hours to get to Boston. We got word from Greg and Alison, who flew from Atlanta just for this game, that it was going to be Fan Appreciation Day at Fenway, which meant fans could go on the field to meet and take pictures with some of the players, so we took a cab from the station to Fenway as fast as possible. Mike Olano of the Red Sox front office let us in and we moved right down to the field. Being on the field there was as much of a thrill as being on the field at Wrigley. Standing on the field, I couldn’t help but think about seeing Ted Williams at the plate hitting .406 in 1941, Carlton Fisk willing his home run ball fair in the 12th inning of the '75 World Series, and Carl Yastrzemski, Roger Clemens, Jim Rice, and on and on and on. The place is just oozing with history and it was absolutely amazing and a huge thrill for me.

On the field, we waited in front of the Green Monster as a lot of the players paraded by, taking pictures and shaking hands with everyone. The list included 2008 AL MVP Dustin Pedroia, Jason Varitek, Jeremy Hermida, Manny Delcarmen, Adrian Beltre, Hideki Okajima, Bill Hall, Ramon Ramirez, and a few others. After we took all the obligatory photos with the players, we were whisked to the relatively new seats on top of the Green Monster for the coolest view of the park and Lansdowne Street. We also got to got through the suite area where there are plaques of all former Red Sox who are in the Hall of Fame as well as Red Sox pitchers who have won Cy Young awards, most notably Clemens and Pedro. After that, we went to the new club level above right field, where there is a bar made from the lanes of the bowling alley that used to be beneath Fenway Park. And how long is the bar? Sixty feet, six inches. Symmetry meets irony.

Our seats were in section 29 down the left field line. The roof on top of us provided some shade but did obscure the view of the top of the Monster and the scoreboard in Center Field. The seats at Fenway are ridiculously small and close together, but I guess that's paht of the chahhm of it all.

The game was an absolute slugfest, with 17 runs, 32 hits, and 6 home runs. Unfortunately for the home team, the A's won 9-8. That brings the home team's record to 4-3 as we hit the halfway point.

After the game, we walked to our hotel in downtown Beantown, generously provided by Neil Kelley, a colleague of Jay's coworker. The hotel was pretty swanky, and on the 29th floor no less. I don't think I've ever stayed above the second floor of a motel before...

Since Game 1 of the NBA Finals was being played that night in LA with the Celtics obviously being involved, we went to dinner and wanted to experience the game with everyone in Boston. After dinner, we went to a friend of Alison's, who just so happens to be the co-founder of the "Life is Good" brand, so of course he had a fantastic place with a hot tub on the roof. We didn't get in, but it's nice to mention anyway. The place had a fantastic view of the city and river and was absolutely insane on the inside. My favorite thing about the entire place was this picture of Teddy Ballgame:

One of my absolute favorite players of all time. I'd kill to have a painting like that. After finally retiring to the hotel, we left in the morning at 6:15 to make the train back to Stamford. No issues this time rushing to make it onboard.

Currently we're in Philly and I'll get something up on the Phillies/Padres game as soon as I can. Exhaustion is slowly gaining on me...