| With Beth graduating from B.U. in May 2001, I had only a few precious weeks to enjoy all that Boston has to offer. After three and a half years there as an undergraduate, and three more as the boyfriend of an undergraduate there, spring 2001 would be my last hurrah. To go out with a bang, I paid scalper's prices ($50 each) for bleacher seats at Fenway to see the back-to-back-to-back World Champion Yankees come to Beantown. Thea and Justin joined me and Beth, and we were fortunate enough to be blessed with perhaps the pitching matchup in Fenway's 89-year-old history. |
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| Wearing the enemy's colors (or lack thereof), Beth and I got our share
of heckles. But every time the Boston bleachers came up with their brilliant
mantra, "Yankees Suck!" we countered with our own chant: "1918!" Although
after winning four of the last five world series, no rebuttal is really
even necessary. Still, the four of us had a lot of fun antagonizing the
Red Sox suckers.
With the former Red Sox-great Roger Clemens and the current Red Sox-great Pedro Martinez meeting up (see the bullpen, below), we were witnessing history. Not only were we seeing the two best AL pitchers in my lifetime (Greg Maddux ranks up there in the NL), we saw a combined 8 Cy Youngs take the mound that sunny Saturday afternoon. Roger's five is more than anyone in history, and Pedro is at three and counting. |
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| The day couldn't have been more perfect. It was about 75 and sunny,
with a slight breeze. Pedro and Roger were true to their reputation, matching
zeros for the first third of the game. An Alfonso Soriano mental error
gave the Red Sox a 2-0 lead, which looked like a 10-0 lead with Mr. Martinez
on the mound. (The rookie was late covering second, and he missed getting
the third out in the fourth.) In the seventh, Soriano atoned for his mistake
with some nifty base running. Stealing second with one out, and then third
with two outs, I turned to Beth and said, "That doesn't really matter unless
Pedro throws a wild pitch." The next pitch bounced three feet in front
of the plate, rolled to the backstop, and Soriano trotted home to plate
the tie run. A new game by the seventh inning stretch.
In line for some brews, Bethy was harassed by some disgruntled Sox fans. Seeing her navy blue baseball cap with the famous "NY" stitched on it, a man said to her, "I feel sorry that you are the person that you are." When she told me that, I had to ask, "Is he sorry that you've been able to taste the joy of victory so many times?" |
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| Red Sox fans are so painfully devoted. I swear, I think the loser in
them is inscribed in their DNA. I saw television footage of an elderly
woman who had gone to practically every Red Sox game since 1925. She said
that she's going to stay alive to see the Red Sox win it all, even if she
had to live to 150. Unless modern medicine can cure the curse of the Bambino,
that poor lady is going to face an un-satisfying end.
Once the Yanks tied up the score, I knew the game was over. And the so-called Fenway Faithful had a feeling, too. They quieted down, and our corner of the bleachers became the loudest part of the section. Pedro left the game in the eight. We cheered on Scott Brosius, playing center field while Bernie was in Puerto Rico visiting his ailing father. With Chuck Knoblauch in left field, I wondered aloud if we witnessed the first time that two gold-glove infielders were playing the outfield. Odd. |
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| I was afraid that since our seats were in the back of the bleachers, we would
be too far from the action. On the contrary, our view of the ballpark
was perfect. The home-plate cameras were set up just 25 feet away. We
had a great view of the nasty pitches thrown by both teams, and we were
just able to catch Soriano's ninth-inning fly ball scrape the top of the
Green Monster before skipping into the net for the go-ahead home run.
The stadium went quiet. We became very loud.
With only a 33,371-person capacity, Fenway is an intimate ballpark. (It's the smallest in the bigs.) There is only a small upper deck, and foul balls routinely clear the fences and land in the streets. Pennants adorn the green facade of the deck, including five World Series banners from 1901 to 1918. Wow! I guess the Sox are great, after all. |
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| With Pedro destined for another no-decision, the Yankees took the lead in the ninth. Mariano Rivera came in to close the door, and it was a quick 1-2-3 inning. It was a fine ending to a fine ball game. And even though it would be the only victory the Yankees would take home from Fenway, we got to make fun of their fans all day. In the end, isn't that all that matters? |
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| With the Sox fans walking out into Kenmore Square dejected, we strutted triumphantly. In fact, there were a number of Yankees fans hollering and honking, and we felt on top of the world. It was almost as nice as the Subway Series. No, actually, it wasn't that good. But it was a pretty damn fine day in the land of beans and the world of baseball. |
