The Boys of Summer and Red Sox Nation

I have a confession to make.... I'm a New Yorker who loves the Red Sox. Well I guess that's OK since I grew up as a die hard Mets fan - not a Yankee fan - so at least my father won't be turning over in his grave. Of course if the Mets ever meet the Red Sox again in a World Series my loyalty will always be with NY (Andy and I will never agree on the 1986 World Series - but that's another story to tell.).



Every time I go to Fenway I'm always amazed at the history of the stadium and ferocity of the fans. Boston is a place with lots of history and Fenway is the oldest stadium. Although Fenway has all the amenities of a modern stadium, the bones of the place hasn't changed much since Babe Ruth walked the field. It's a small stadium by modern comparison and has all the quirks of a place built in the early 1900's, including the support beams that block views of the field and the hard wooden seats. But everyone agrees - we wouldn't want to see any other way - it's perfect as it is. If you're a baseball fan you should see Fenway at least once in your life whether you're a Red Sox fan or not - it's quite an experience that you'll never forget.

Last week Andy and I went to see the Sox play Oakland. Although the outcome of the game is not what we had hoped for we still had a great time.




Here's a look at Yawkey Way with lots of fans gathering before the game.






And by luck we ran into Hall of Famer Jim Rice! How cool! Ok... Jim looks mad in this picture but that's only because I got so nervous I could barely operate the camera and the shot of him smiling with Andy came out crappy so I had to post this one - but trust me Jim was not mad he was very gracious and stopped to chat with fans.


Here's a view from our seats.



And one of us.



The famous Green Monster was directly in front of us.



And if you go to Fenway you must eat a Fenway Frank!




My favorite player - Kevin Youkilis...... Yoooooouuuuukkkkk!!!!



2 of the Red Sox owners - Larry Lucchino on the right and John Henry seated (sorry for the blurry shot - this was taken at quite a distance).



During the game we took a walk up to the Right Field Roof. What a cool place to watch the game.



The view from the Right Field Roof.



Another picture of the roof. There is a restaurant with wait service on the roof. And there's lot of room to walk around up there too as you can see below.



A look out at the giant screen from the roof view.



Of course you have to drink a cold bud while standing under the Budweiser sign while visiting the Right Field Roof.



In the Players Lounge we got to see the 2004 and 2007 championship trophies.



The Wall of Fame.



And an amazing model of Fenway Park made entirely out of Legos.



The retired numbers.



A thank you to the faithful fans.



I love this sign.... we saw it after the game. Nothing like stating the obvious.



I'm always amazed at how quickly the grounds keeping crew goes into action right after the game ends. Maybe they can stop on over to our house and do our lawn?!



The Citgo sign. This is the new one.... it's beautiful, but I still love the old one the best.



After the game we stopped by a pub called the Bleacher Bar.



It's a new pub opened by the Red Sox owners this spring. The main attraction at the bar is the huge opening that lies beneath the bleachers on center field. During a game, they close up the opening with gates and a non-breakable glass window pane. The window is one sided so the bar goers can see the game but the players can't see them and won't get distracted.



Andy in front of the gate that goes right onto center field.



Another view of the opening.