Family Outing to Fenway Ballpark

In February, the gods smiled on Britt, and he was able to buy four tickets to a Red Sox game at Fenway for Saturday, April 12. So after soccer practice and karate class, we drove into Boston for a day game at "America's Most Beloved Ballpark" (that's what the lighted display in the picture below says) to watch the Red Sox play their rivals: the Yankees (the gods had smiled twice).



First pitch was scheduled for 4 pm, but, of course, we went early -- 2 pm -- to watch batting practice. I dropped off Britt and the kids (here fawning over the statue of Ted Williams) and went to park the car (for free) back on "our side" of the river (in Cambridge).



Our seats were in the right field bleachers, and very high up, but we were not far from "the red seat," shown here with Beau's bottom parked in it. This seat denotes the longest measurable homerun at Fenway: 502 feet by Ted Williams off of Detroit's Fred Hutchinson on June 9, 1946.



The game got underway at 4 pm (or so), and was a pretty fast game. By 6:30, the game was already in the top of the 8th inning with two outs. Beckett pitched well; Delcarmen pitched the last out of the seventh inning. Okajima got two outs in the eighth inning, but allowed two men on with Alex Rodriguez (I'm told: arguably the best player in baseball) up next. Time for everyone's favorite closer, Jonathan Papelbon, to take over. As he walked to the mound, the rain came...and...officials called for a rain delay...



Yep, there's a tarp to cover the infield.



Once the rain turned heavy, we retreated to under the bleachers and snacked on crappy ballpark food for entertainment.

About 7:30, the heavy rain had passed, the field was uncovered, Pabelbon returned to the bullpen to warm up...But before the game resumed, the rain returned. This time with lightening. By now we'd been at the ballpark for 5-1/2 hours. The kids were tired and cold and ready to go home. Luckily, the car was half a mile away -- no way we could get to it in a lightening storm. So we waited another hour under the bleachers with several thousand of our good friends and fellow Red Sox fans (and a few misguided Yankees fans).



Eventually, the tarp was rolled up for good.



And pitcher Mike Timlin came to the bullpen to warm up. Papelbon had already warmed up twice, so it seemed we wouldn't get to see him close.



But, in fact, it was Papelbon who eventually came to the mound and struck out A-Rod. (And finally, fans got to sing Sweet Caroline.) Next the Red Sox had their ups, then Papelbon finished the 9th inning: two strike outs and a final ground out for the Sox to win 4 to 3. And the tired but happy Rideout Family staggered home -- back across that dirty water.