This past week I was in Boston on a "business trip" and it just "so happened" that the Red Sox were in town. Of course I went to a few games (3 in 3 days for those of you who are counting). The truth is I bought the tickets back in January when I found out about the business trip to Boston. I am notorious for planning my business trips around the baseball schedule. Not even the Red Sox schedule, just the baseball schedule in general.
Let me illustrate my point:
Two summers ago I had the opportunity to go on a business trip to Pittsburgh, PA. So of course I worked my butt of to make sure that the trip fell in a certain way that would allow me to maximize my baseball intake. I received permission to fly out to Pittsburgh on a Friday afternoon (my business meeting was the following Monday and Tuesday in Pittsburgh), picked up my rental car in Pittsburgh and drove as quick as I could to Cleveland to catch the 7pm Indians game that evening. After the game I drove about an hour south so I was close to Canton, OH. Saturday morning I woke up early and took a tour of the NFL Hall of Fame before driving down to Cincinnati where I caught two baseball games there (Sat and Sun). On Sunday I drove back to Pittsburgh for the "business" part of my trip and then caught two games in Pittsburgh on Monday and Tuesday. It was a great trip!! I loved every moment of it. There is just something so cathartic about watching a baseball game live and in person. This is especially true when it is a beautiful summer night or afternoon.
I haven't ever been able to explain it adequately to anyone but I just love the game and all the strategy that is involved. Many people don't know about that part of the game or don't care but it is one of the reasons I love baseball so much. There is actually a ton of strategy that goes into the game. I love to watch back at see it all play out. You usually cannot see this when watching on TV and you can only really see it all unfold when watching in person.
I only mention all of this because this past week was my first game of the year which is always a very special occasion to me. These past two years I have been fortunate enough for both of my first games of the year to take place in Fenway Park. Which is not only home to my fav baseball team but is also my "happy place." Win or lose Fenway is always a happy place to be and it is nearly impossible to be crabby when watching a game at America's Most Beloved ballpark.
The atmosphere outside the ball park, the first time you step into the stadium, see the green grass, smell the pretzels, beer and feel the buzz in the stadium. It truly is a magical moment to me and I love it. It's why I don't think I could every live overseas for more than a year or so I would miss baseball too much!
This week in Boston was just another demonstration of my passion for baseball. On Tuesday I was fortunate enough to be treated to luxury box seats courtesy of my company as we were entertaining a client. All the free lobster rolls, steak tips, Italian sausage etc that I could eat free of charge! Plus the Sox won so it was an amazing night all around! Wednesday night however I would be tested.
Wednesday night the game was suspended in the 5th inning due to rain. The game had started at 7pm and by 8:30pm it was being delayed because of the weather. It was already a cool night in Boston before the rain and it would only get cooler. Many people of course left after about 30 minutes. Many more people left after an hour. By the time two hours had passed there were probably 1000 of us left. Finally they announced the game would be starting in about 30 minutes. This meant it was going to re-start at 11:10 or so. While most rational individuals had left earlier I decided to stay and wait it out.
You don't understand, I know. The Angels had a no hitter going through 5 innings and there was NO way I was going to miss the chance to see a no hitter. Granted it would have been against my team but baseball history is baseball history, I had to stay. So I stayed. The no-hitter only lasted until the 7th inning and by then the Sox were down 2-0 but I still refused to stay. It had already been a really good game but only got better as the Sox would go on to tie the game in the bottom of the 9th. Free baseball!! Nothing is better than some extra baseball free of charge. Eventually the Red Sox would lose in the 13th after blowing a few chances to win the game outright in the 12th. The game officially ended at 2:45am. I was part of Fenway history as that was the latest a game has ever ended at Fenway (or something like that). We also were given free hot chocolate by the Red Sox!! I had a blast. The best part was that in less than 12 hours I was going to be back at Fenway for game 3 which had a 1:35pm start!
Sadly the Red Sox were crushed on the Thursday game and it wasn't very much fun to watch but it was baseball so to some degree it was still worth it.
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