On Monday night I got to go to the Red Sox game against Kansas City. I kind of lucked out and got the ticket at the last minute thanks to my friend Ben who was unable to go. He has some great season tickets and had planned on going with our friend Peter who will soon be leaving for a small island in the Pacific. Long story short, I got to go to the game with Peter.
It was a hot and muggy night, but the seats were great. Even though it was well over 90 degrees and the seats at Fenway are small to pack the people in. It almost has a MoTab feel with hard wooden seats, no leg room and your neighbor right there. Of course you probably don't get beer spilled on you at the MoTab. Anyway, the seats were above home plate looking down the third base line towards the Green Monster. What a view. The Green Monster is definitely bigger in person than on TV.
I was thinking that it wasn't going to much of a game with KC having such a bad record. However, the Red Sox haven't been playing well since the All-Star break and they needed everything they had to pull this game out. I quickly knew the night was going to be special when the ceremonial first pitches were thrown by Meatloaf and then Will Farrell. That guy is seriously funny. Wakefield was on the mound and he started out strong. The knuckleball was on target and he quickly went through the first three batters in the first. However, I had to call Jared and rub it in that I had beat him 16-2 in our fantasy league and I was now at Fenway. I mentioned that Wakefield was throwing well when things headed south. I must have jinxed him. He hit a batter and walked in a run and soon it was 4-0 KC. Wakefield recovered and pitched a good 3 and 4 innning and I was surprised when he didn't come out for the 5 (later found he has a fractured rib). Things weren't looking good until the 7 inning when the Sox rallied, capped by Mirabelli's 3-run home run and we were tied. The crowd was going nuts. There are no fans like Red Sox fans. With 1 more run in the 8th I knew it was sealed when Big Papi stole second. It was slow motion. It seemed like he was running forever to get to second and yet the throw wasn't even there. The crowd erupted to start the 9th when Papelbon took the mound with "Wild Thing" blaring over the speakers (do you remember the movie Major League?).
I was going to call Jared again during "Sweet Caroline", but didn't have the heart. He had suffered enough and I was reveling in the moment. The only thing I forgot was the camera. Hopefully next time I will have it. Thanks Ben for some great tickets and the Red Sox for a great game.
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