Another day, another city, another baseball game. Today was Boston! A city I visted twice last year alone but my dad had never been. My familiarity helped as we had a limited amout of free time. We stopped on our way to the city at Northeastern University. There was a site on the campus that was the location of the first World Series in 1902. It contained a statue of Ty Cobb (who pitched in the series) and a home plate plaque that was in the location of the original plate.
The bus dropped us off near Quincy Market and we had about 3 hours to do what we wanted. Dad and I grabbed lunch at the Quincy Market (he got his clam chowdah as the locals say) and then hopped on one of the trolly tours. Our first stop was the USS Constitution, also known as "Old Ironsides". We took a quick walk around the ship deck and then toured the nearby USS Caisson Young, a Navy destroyer from WWII.
We got back on the trolly and took it back into downtown and got off on the other side of Quincy Market. From there we walked through the government center to the King's Chapel and Paul Revere's grave. We realized we were already running short on time so we headed for Boston Common, Beacon Street and the famous Bull-n-Finch. You know it better as the exterior shot used in the show, Cheers. We walked through and dad got a Samual Adams and a golf ball to add to his collection.
Rather than try to rush back to Quincy Market to catch the bus to the game, we hung out in the park area and saw the swan boats and beautiful swans. We got on the Charles Street trolly stop which took us directly to Fenway Park. We got there early enough to grab a sausage sandwich at the Cask 'n Flagon. It is apparently a tough table before games but we got lucky and found one in back. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was electric.
We headed into the park about 5:30 and were able to get into the first row behind home plate during batting practice. I met one of the kids selected to be an honorary bat boy (I got his autograph!!), the wife of Red Sox manager Terry Francona's college roommate, and was near Bob Lobel, Boston Channel 4 sports director, while he did is 6:00 reports from the stadium. Our seats were OK but not great. We could see the entire field (no columns in our way) but we had to look directly in the sun for the first 2 innings and it was difficult to pick up the ball. Once the sun went down behind the stadium wall, we could see fine.
It was a great game. The Red Sox scheduled starter, Kason Gabbard, had to be scrapped since he had been traded the previous day. Julian Tavarez started in his place and struggled trough each his 5 innings. He left down 3-1. Steve Trachsel was pitching a great game for the Orioles but he started to struggle with control. He was replaced in the 6th inning and things fell apart there. The Red Sox scored 4 in the bottom of the 7th and held on for a 5-4 win. Eric Gagne was traded for and he arrived to a standing ovation when he ran out to the dugout. We also got see new Celtic, Kevin Garnett, throw out the ceremonial first pitch.
It was another great night for weather although it was a little stuffy under the upper level hangover. We are in Worcester, Mass, tonight. We get to sleep in a little before heading to Cooperstown for a casual tour. Tomorrow night we are off to Wilke's Barry. I'm hoping we get a little more hotel time so I can get pictures uploaded. Thanks!
P.S. Howard...I'm sorry your Orioles did not win. They played well although they should be a little more careful with their relief pitchers.
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