Fenway Fun

Yesterday I sat and watched every pitch of a five-hour baseball game for probably the first time in my life. It was high adventure, especially the last inning, but not without the exquisite reward of seeing the Red Sox win in the 13^th inning on a walk off blast by the least likely of heroes. After Sunday chores were completed, I sat down to watch the Patriots, who I am rapidly losing confidence in, struggle to beat a bad Houston team. I’m guessing the only playoffs I’m going to see until the end of the NHL season is the Sox, so I tuned in for their game against Tampa Bay.

The Hero Passing in front of Sox Bench

I don’t understand all of Tampa Bay’s manager’s gymnastic changing pitchers and position players but it seemed to work throughout the year marking them as the best team in the league. The Red Sox, however seemed to have found that mojo that has eluded them for the past three months. Even though they squandered a two run lead in the 8^th inning they battled the better Rays’ team into extra innings. The weirdest play I ever seen took place in the top of the 13^th when I thought the Rays had taken the lead turned out to be just a ground rule double. This is the type of thing that used to happen to the Sox in old, pre-2004 times. It almost seemed fated then that the light hitting catcher, Vazquez, would hit a bomb (hey, it made it over the monster) to win the game in the bottom on the same inning for the beloved Sox.

Greeted at Home

It was high adventure as Fenway exploded with emotion which must have the Rays wondering what they could do if they got a fraction of what the Red Sox get from their home crowd. The place was absolutely rocking. It was testament to the love affair between this baseball team and the region.I’ve never been able to properly describe it but I know it’s real and different than all the many other places I’ve been. The family text chain also detonated with happy comments about this unlikely win, especially since the pitcher who gave up the game winning homer had dominated the Sox only a couple weeks ago. My Favorite Panamanian and I spent a good half hour just taking in the ongoing celebrations.  There was also the obligatory "Yankees Suck" cheer reverberating through the park just so those golf playing worthies understand their place on the food chain this year. They haven’t won anything yet but it was a welcome sight in treasured old Fenway.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS                                           

BR3 – granddaughter #3, BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter, ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete = my daughter in law; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Soxfather - my brother in law; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Pittsburgh College Roommate– high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd musquetera (musketeer); Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; PanaGals – female relatives /friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member, Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her single days in Brooklyn