Monday, May 25, 2009

BLUE SUNDAY. [5-24-09]

We got to Fenway early on Sunday, forgetting that it was a 1:30 start and not a 1:10 start - this was fine because this was our day to walk around the ballpark. But once we emerged in the outfield, I was slightly distressed to discover that the Mets were taking BP. A day game after a night game, no one expects them to take BP; however, while I was irked I wasn’t behind the dugout shooting, as a fan I was thrilled to see the extra effort - and got some good shots anyway.

[more after the jump]

Our seats were in the bleachers on Sunday; miraculously, a colleague who has season tickets offered them to us at face value - a miracle compared to the $260 we dropped on the secondary market for Saturday’s infield Grandstand tickets (although those were worth every penny, and their equivalent would have been more expensive at Citi Field at face value).

We could see the rain clouds and the lightning bolts behind Fenway before the game even started, and were kind of surprised they didn’t just wait for the rain to blow through. The rain was fine until it turned into hail, and when we got up and cleared the bleachers, Fenway security told us that it wasn’t the rain that was the problem (although I beg to differ - those were the largest raindrops I had ever seen), it was the lightning. Luckily, with the renovations and expansion of Fenway, there was somewhere for everyone to go and stay dry, and as you know, the rain blew through quickly and the game got underway in no time.

We had the oddest people around us. In front of us, a self-proclaimed Yankees fan, stating he was there because the tickets were free. Behind us, a guy wearing a Marlins hat and Marlins jersey, who felt the need to educate us regarding the Marlins heritage of any player - except for the fact that TBF knew more about it than he did. This seemed to annoy him (the Marlins fan; TBF could care less). We had Mets fans on either side of us, and we felt bad when they told us how much they had paid for their seats (4 times what we did).

The Sox fans that were near us seemed odd. They were overly into the game, but yet couldn’t tell me who was warming up in the bullpen right in front of us (we know most of the Sox bullpen, but definitely not all of them). We had no trouble recognizing Delcarmen, for example,  but couldn’t place Daniel Bard’s #60. Neither could the Sox fans. Nor did they want to answer a basic question. That was odd to me - everywhere else we have ever been, people were happy to answer legitimate, friendly questions about their team - especially once they see TBF is scoring.

I was proud of the Mets fans in our immediate vicinity. No one was obnoxious. No one cheered out of proportion for the few things that were worth cheering - I mean, take a look for yourself:

Kevin Burkhardt out changing the scoreboard:

I was excited to see the Red Sox bullpen mascot in person, as well as the actual mascot:

I was not excited to see the game take a turn for the worse, and watch Tim Redding allow George Kottaras, the backup catcher (because Veritek can’t or won’t catch Wakefield’s knuckleball) double his lifetime stats in this one game. TBF kept saying, “This guy’s hitting .134, Tim,” and that’s about when he’d hit another double.

We were excited to see Frankie walking back to the bullpen - all the Mets fans who noticed gave him a nice ovation:

And all and all, despite the loss - again, we did win the first two games - it was a relatively pleasant afternoon in the scorching sunshine at Fenway.

But the more runs the Red Sox got, the worst things got with the fans. Mets fans were sitting quietly, or leaving early, or doing whatever. We were reasonably calm and nonplussed; after all, we had already won the series. We are generally calm, polite, quiet people when we’re at road games. TBF keeps score, I am taking notes and photos. We don’t drink at games. We don’t cheer every tiny accomplishment, we only stand up to applaud home runs or RBI’s.  All of this is well within the polite visiting fan code of conduct. However, the sun and the beer seemed to get the Red Sox fans way more worked up than they needed to be. Guys, you *were* winning.

Red Sox fans: “What happened, you were up 5 to 3!” (or some variation thereof)
“We did win the first two games.”
“When was the last time you were in the World Series, huh?”
“How many years did it take you to get there?”
*fingers in ears, makes “I can’t hear you” face.
“Sure, don’t let the facts get in the way of your argument.”
Repeat ad nauseum, complete with out-of-proportion vitriol from Sox fans.

It got to the point that I had to make TBF promise he wouldn’t get into a fight while he was going to be waiting for me to get out of the Ladies’ room once the game ended.  Now, I realize that some Mets fans were terrible at Fenway, too; but honestly, given the horrible reputation of Red Sox fans on the road, where they literally take over the opposing team’s park (I’m watching my Twins blogger friends talking today) I think this is a case of the pot calling the kettle black. Treat obnoxious fans on a case by case basis, but don’t say that all fans deserve to be treated badly because of the way a few idiots acted. Overall, we had a great time at Fenway; we just found the fan experience to be truly odd, given the really great Red Sox fans that I know.

MORE::
Sunday BP photos
Sunday game photos
Saturday BP photos
Saturday 9th inning photos
Saturday game photos