Went to My First Red Sox Game Last Night...

...and what a great show. 28 hits with two Red Sox homeruns (Ortiz put one into the seats about 20 feet to my left ). What a park...ever since I can remember it was baseball=Red Sox and now I know why. They've done a great job cleaning up the park and I can see how it was probably dark and dirty in the concession areas...now light and clean. The pre-game scene on Yawkey Way was cool with entertainers and the 2004 WC Banner :wink:

Manny sucked, but the three guys they brought up from Pawtucket did well...except for the Buckner impersonation on first base :x

Wade Miller had a rough start, but Gonzalez did well.

People stood for Curt Schilling who did go to the Bullpen...that was cool.

And man, Damon is TALL! Cool to see the place in person...so much fun (but Sam Adams was expensive :beer: )

So when/what was your first MLB experience? Any good memories (Yankees fans admitted I guess :roll: :lol: ).

First MLB game

My first MLB game was at Fenway on Carl Yazstremski day. That was awesome. We had seats by third base, pretty near the field. Last summer, I had less than great seats behind the Peske pole in rightfield, stupidly ducking a Damon-hit homer. The guy behind me caught it- Nice of me to make his day. Most recently went on tickets I won in a drawing. Really good seats, especially good since they were free!

Wow - Trailboss - where you been? Just kidding, glad you had fun. Fenway is a blast. The fans go nuts when someone hits a homer - did they go crazy for Ortiz and Graffanino?

I went to my first Sox game at Fenway in August 1971 as part of a group of altar boys from my church (and no - the priests we worked with were completely OK and never did anything inappropriate). We sat out near where you did (section 5 - rotten seats) and the Sox lost to the Oakland A's, 5-4 when Reggie Jackson hit a 2-run homer over the bullpen in the top of the 9th inning. As an 11-year-old, I was bummed, but I got over it.

I've probably been to Fenway 50 times over the years, but none in the last 2 years, which sucks! Demand is too high, and I refuse to pay $150/seat to see a baseball game. But, I still watch almost every game on NESN.

I have been to many major-league parks. When I was travelling a lot, if I found myself in a major-league city and the home team was around, I tried to get to as many games as I could. My list:

Shea Stadium, NY (3)
Yankee Stadium, NY (2)
Wrigley Field, CHI (2)
New Comiskey Park, CHI (2)
Riverfront Stadium, CIN
The Big A, Anaheim
PacBell Stadium, SF (2)
Candlestick Park, SF
Kingdome, Seattle
The Coliseum, Oakland

Life is good.

Trailboss-

TB- I forgot to ask you: Did you sing Sweet Caroline with the other 34,000 people?

I think I first went to Fenway around age 4, with my Dad. I remember being awe-struck at how green the place was (as compared to watching on tv), and how electric the crowd was. I remember chanting "We want Yaz!" for a while, until he came out to pinch-hit and everyone went crazy! Little could I appreciate that I was seeing a legend at the twilight of his career.

Re: Trailboss-

noski said:

TB- I forgot to ask you: Did you sing Sweet Caroline with the other 34,000 people?

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Yes I did. What is the connection to the Sox? We were wondering that... :-?

ChileMass said:

Wow - Trailboss - where you been? Just kidding, glad you had fun. Fenway is a blast. The fans go nuts when someone hits a homer - did they go crazy for Ortiz and Graffanino?

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Yes they did and we did as well! Ortiz's hit was about 20 feet to my left! We were in Section 43, Row 13, Seats 11-12. Right above the bullpen and by the exit.

Re: Trailboss-

thetrailboss said:

noski said:

TB- I forgot to ask you: Did you sing Sweet Caroline with the other 34,000 people?

Click to expand...

Yes I did. What is the connection to the Sox? We were wondering that... :-?

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I haven't got the faintest idea, and no clue who to ask. Howzat?

First MLB game was at Fenway about 8 years ago, Sox/Yankees. Second was about a year ago, don't remember who played.
Cool park- it'd be a shame if they moved somewhere else.

Re: Trailboss-

noski said:

thetrailboss said:

noski said:

TB- I forgot to ask you: Did you sing Sweet Caroline with the other 34,000 people?

Click to expand...

Yes I did. What is the connection to the Sox? We were wondering that... :-?

Click to expand...

I haven't got the faintest idea, and no clue who to ask. Howzat?

Click to expand...

I have no idea how it got started, but the Sox have been playing "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond for years. They used to play it during the 7th-inning stretch, but I think now they play "God Bless America" like everywhere else.

The other big Fenway anthem is "Dirty Water" by the Standells, which is usually played after the last out of a win.

ctenidae said:

First MLB game was at Fenway about 8 years ago, Sox/Yankees. Second was about a year ago, don't remember who played.
Cool park- it'd be a shame if they moved somewhere else.

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Trust me - they are going nowhere. The Sox ownership would be carzy to move out of Fenway, because every baseball fan in America wants to go there someday and will pay any amount of money for the privilege. You'll see the Bunker Hill monument come down before a new ballpark in Boston.....

I want to surprise my husband w/ Sox tickets for his b-day in Sept. Do you guys have any suggestions where to get tickets a little cheaper than $150?

Thanks,
Sprite

7th inning: they played Take Me Out to the Ballgame...no God Bless America.

At some point they did do Sweet Caroline...I recall hearing Dirty Water after the game.

My first game was back at probably age 6 or 8? We used to go with the church men's guild every year - 2 busloads full from Western Mass out to sit in the grandstand up under the roof between first base and the pole. I remember two things vividly - the long ramp that used to be there that brought us from the turnstiles to the top of the grandstand, and the troughs in the bathrooms.

Last week, however, I sat here:

It was good. Oh, yes, it was good. :beer:

Michael J -

Those roof box seats are great. A buddy and I used to get similar seats on the 1st base side every year until they got too expensive. Great viewpoint on the game.....

I found that the best seats in a stadium are the ones where IF the guy in front of you yells at the home plate umpire and the umpire will hear him and turn around to give him a dirty look. I was fortunate to experience this once in Yankee stadium and once in Wrigly field. Now I don't want to sit anywere else :-? .

My first Fenway park game I snuck in. It was the 12 inning and you couldn't buy a ticket to get in. So I was walking around the stadium and there was these large doors open and people were walking out of the stadium, purchasing a hotdog from a street ventdor, and walking back into the stadium. So I purchased a hot dog, walked into Fenway park, sat down a long the 1st base side and watched the 13th, 14th, and 15th innings.