BWSC On Game 1

We arrived at the ballpark around 5:00 and there was a noticeable feeling of excitement all around. I had been to Fenway a bunch of times before but this occasion was unique. Getting off "The T" (that's what they call the subway...does it stand for "train?" I felt like if I asked, it would be insulting if the answer was "yes") a guy joked how jealous he was that we were going to the game. He told me he seriously considered buying tickets but that they were more than his rent. To compensate, he said he would have moved out and lived with a friend for a few months.

Why is this important you may ask?

Because he wasn't lying.

He certainly wasn't joking or seeking laughter in response to his comment. It's also funny how your average Boston guy a) loves sports and b) talks exactly like Ben Affleck (I thought I saw him 3 times on our way to Fenway.)

Anyway, as we walked around the stadium there were all kind of handouts from local media stations- signs, posters, fliers, etc. and almost an equal amount of guys trying to buy tickets. There certainly were a lot of guys asking for tickets, but I didn't see one person selling tickets. I wondered if these guys who were trying to buy tickets were holding tons of cash. On Stubhub the cheapest seats I saw were close to $1000. Did that mean those guys had nearly that much in their pocket, possibly more if they want to buy mulitple seats? Also if I were going to sell my tickets, I would have performed the transaction online, to avoid confronting possibly a shady guy and having to exchange thousands of dollars in cash. Maybe I am crazy for thinking this, but this could explain why there were no sellers.

Oh, also another reason for the lack of sellers could be because it was a freaking World Series game at Fenway Park...

It was during this time that we met Joe Morgan. He was just walking around outside the stadium and seemed to be a pretty nice guy. If he was playing, America would have gotten a free taco, because he could have easliy stolen a base off Francis. He told us this in "past, future tense." I dont know if that exists, but he was telling us what he could, and pretty much did do, in a situation that hadn't happened yet. So anyway, despite the fact that previously I wasn't a huge fan, overall Mr. Morgan seemed like a pretty good guy. Even though he initially declined, he couldn't resist my smile and agreed to snap a quick picture with me, which in hindsight (too bad I didn't tell him in "past, future tense" that he was setting a dangerous precedent) forced him to take pics with other fans.

After checking out all the gear at the shops around the stadium, we wanted to get something to eat. Because all the bars immediately outside the stadium were jammed with waiting lines of easily more than 50 people, we walked a block and a half and found a bar that was only sort-of crowded. This had to be the most prepared bar I had ever been in, as our burgers arrived in seriously less than 4 minutes (this may have bothered me if I got something other than a burger.)

We watched some pregame coverage and probably 45 minutes later we left. The walk out was at least 5 times more difficult than the walk in, because at this point, the place was packed- something we didn't realize from our table in the very back. The same had happened outside the bar. It was crowded earlier, but now it was jam-packed. It was like your favorite college bar at 2:30 in the morning, when you can't move without squeezing through the crowd, but this was a city street. Morgan (my wife, not Joe) picked up a free Red Bull from the Red Bull truck and we walked around the stadium to our entrance at Gate C.

We waited in line for about 10 minutes and then we were in. I couldn't resist the temptation and we immediately went out to watch the Rockies hit batting practice. We were in the row behind the Red Sox bullpen while the first group of Colorado hitters took some swings. I was mostly distracted by the staduim (even though I have been there many times) and felt like a tourist as I snapped pictures of everything.

After settling in, we moved around to the right field corner to get even closer to the field. It was at this time that Matt Holliday starting hitting. What a treat. This guy was UN-believable. I am fairly certain (it was hard to keep track exactly) that on 2 separate occasions he hit 5 balls out in a row. And these weren't just home runs. They easily cleared the Green Monster, peppering the Coke bottles and Volvo sign...and those were the ones that didn't leave the stadium all together.

At this point we gravitated even further around the field, ending up behind the Red Sox bullpen. We were a few rows from the FOX pregame cast, and snapped some good pictures of Chris Myers and Harold Reynolds. Iam not scared to judge guys, and Chris Myers looks much better on TV than he does in person. The opposite might be true for HR. Both seemed to be enjoying themselves. A few minutes later, some other TV guys, headlined by Chris Berman, stopped by.

At this time I noticed the guy who was hitting...one Troy Tulowitzki. His performance was very much like Holliday in that he was hitting bombs. It was borderline absurd. Maybe it was because other Rockies hitters are easy to overlook, but when both of these guys hit (side note they probably got like 3 or 4 full rounds, which seemed much more than a normal game) it was really obvious how locked-in they were.

As BP was winding down we made our way back to our seats, located in deep right center field- row 29 to be exact (the same secion as those guys with the B-E-C-K-K-K-E-T-T guys, just a few rows in front of them and towards right field a little bit...maybe 10 or so seats). As we found our seats and met our neighbors, my eyes were mostly on the Jumbotron. It played a video about the Red Sox postseason history and included the good and the bad, and helped remind me how lucky I was to be at Fenway Park for a World Series game. There is so much history and you could just feel how much it meant to all the fans.

As the game got closer, they played another video and this one was even better. This went through all the Red Sox post season success. It was sort of Pulp Fiction style in that the chronology was a bit out of order and it was cut up into a lot of snippets. Of course the main theme (or baseline if you will) was the '04 postseason and it was all played to music, apparently with music composed or written by the guy from the Boston Pops. Iguess he has written some memorable scores, all of which were used during this video. I was pretty sure my eyes were a tiny, tiny bit watery when they showed Dave Roberts stealing second and then scoring to keep the Red Sox alive in Game 5. Anyway, there's no sense in retelling the '04 playoffs, but the point is I thought the video was very well made and had the desired affect on the crowd of 36,000 plus, all of whom were now in their seats and ready for the game.

After a giant American flag fell over the Monster and the national anthem was played, some jets did a fly-by. Unlike other pregame fly-bys I had witnessed, it was very, very loud and easily seen by all. After this, a lucky 10-year-old got on the mic and said the two words that everyone had been waiting for, "play ball!"

Beckett took the mound and made short work of the Rockies. I guess hitting the Rockies coach in BP was nothing like hitting Beckett in the playoffs. Everyone in the stadium was excited to see that Beckett had his electric and nearly unhittable stuff working. The only question was if the Red Sox hitters would bring their bats.

That question was quickly answered as Pedroia went deep on the second pitch from the Rockies' "ace" Francis. That started an historic evening at the plate for the Sox, who I think, scored every other run with two outs. I won't get too into the details of what all happened, but there is one other thing worth noting that may not have been covered by FOX, and that was the intensity of the crowd.

Every time there was two strikes, everyone stood....no exceptions. And it wasn't because everyone else was doing it, or because anyone said to do it. I honestly felt like everyone in the stands was rooting, pulling, actually needing, a third strike. Luckily for them, on this night, more often than not, they got it. Any time a Bo Sox batter had 3 balls, the same thing happened. This is not to say they weren't enthusiastic the entire time, because they were. I am just saying it was different than most other baseball games.

I remember the first hit the Rockies got off Beckett. After pretty much whiffing everyone he faced, he gave up a double to Troy T (not surprising based on his round in the batting cage before the game). After the double, Morgan (again, my wife, not Joe) turned to me and asked what happened. I told her he doubled and she said she asked because she didn't know why everyone got really quiet, as if something else had happened. That was it, just a double, and this same thing happened any time the Rockies did anything. It was almost an uncomfortable silence. There were 36K+ fans screaming their heads off a majority of the time, but any time the Rockies did something, it was alsoutely slient. It was a pleasant treat to be at a sporting event where everyone was actually watching the game.

The other thing I noticed fans doing that showed that they 'get it' was the respect for others. Any time a person left to get refreshments, treats, or to use the bathroom, they were courteous to their neighbors. Many fans waited at the bottom of the section (at the tunnel to the concourse) for the end of the inning. And those who made their way back to their seats sat in the aisle. They would sit on the dirty wet concrete steps and wait for the inning to end before disrupting the fans in their row I can't say that every single person followed this rule, but it was certainly the case for the majority of fans.

The only real evidence suggesting otherwise was the guy who was sitting next to me. It seemed like he was ripping a beer every time there was an extra base hit. He told me in the first inning he didn't know many Rockies players, but he wished he did. The only thing he did that was actually annoying was call Kaz Matsui "Kenny Lofton." His justification was a fairly fast left handed hitter who wore number 7. I assume that Lofton wears number 7 for the indians, but I am not even certain. In any case it was 5% comical that he stuck to it the entire game. And i guess the only reason it was semi-funny was because he wasn't doing it to be funny. He, himself didn't think it was funny, and wouldn't have even understood why it might be funny if I told him.

Anyway, that was my experience at Game 1. I hope to get my pictures onto the Baseblogg soon.

-BWSC