I trekked up to Fenway for the first time ever last night, while spending the weekend in Rhode Island. This would be the introduction for me to Bahstan fans, in their biggest natural habitat, so I had a nervous excitement on the way there. I knew I couldn't go nuts; this wasn't Yankee Stadium where the suits that sit in the cushy suites and zillion-dollar home plate seats make business deals, and the real fans are shut out. In Fenway, the real, down-to-earth (in some extreme cases) fan is always welcome.
Concessions there, were on average four to six dollars, whereas Yankee Stadium sells you ponchos for 20 bucks while you're soaked. The ambiance around the ballpark was just like a carnival-it brought me back to the days of the old Yankee Stadium with the guy playing the flute in the tunnel and T-shirt stands outside the ballpark-everything was so intimate; it's all gone now. Across the way, on Lansdowne Street I believe, is the famous Cask 'n Flagon Bar, the House of Blues and a really cool, lit-up bowling alley. There were tons of stands with sausage and peppers (my ballpark snack of choice, owing to my Italian roots), kielbasa, steak tips. I'm a fan of the food beyond the ballpark; not just hot dogs, peanuts and Cracker Jacks. I always thought they closed Lansdowne for games, but the police were letting some traffic through "Step baack, cahs ah cum-in, get on the sidewawk!"
Self-admittedly, I'm not the type of rabid fan to bring taunting upon himself; I'm not obnoxious. I watched the Sawx play like the Bad News Bears, committing two throwing errors in the first. CC looked like CC for the first five outs or so, couldn't finish the second, and then came the awful third inning with Mike Napoli's three-run jack. I give the Yankees credit for even coming back in that game; the only solid part of that team right now is the bullpen, which only allowed two hits over five and two-thirds innings.
But the real test was how I would be treated as a Yankee fan, and honestly it wasn't that bad. Like I said before, I wasn't loud or obnoxious; I just sat there and watched the game. The game, even for a Yankee/Boston game, was SLOWWWWWW. We left after the 8th, which was around quarter to midnight.
Our view from dead center! By the way, Napoli's 11th inning walk-off landed just a few rows in front of where we were.
Final grade on Bahstan fans: B+. Were there those that were inebriated? Yep, but what city doesn't have those? I can't give 'em a perfect grade, I'm a Yankee fan ;)
Couple of thoughts--Why do we care about the baby of a couple from another country, and who don't have any political power at all?
Why is YES showing Tino's grand slam against the Padres in their "Moments of Glory?" I remember the series well, it was my first as a Yankee fan; the Yankees swept the Padres, who did put up a fight in games 1 and 3, but I think a bigger moment was Tino's home run against Arizona; just saying.
'Till Next Time!
Neil Dwyer @neildwyer1993
P.S. Look at the dumb gift I got with my scorecard.
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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)