BALLPARKS
BALLPARKS
Nothing like seeing your first authentic ballpark after only having been to Angel and Dodger stadium.
This was Boston, in the hot and humid summer of 1993. I was a junior in High School and headed to Boston University’s ITRP program for about a month. I could see the Citgo sign from my window, and Fenway was just around the corner.
I can’t quite remember the details, but I think a few of us went from the program. Not sure it was an official outing, or a sanctioned trip, but we we decided to go.
I remember walking through the neighborhood, and then suddenly it appeared. It wasn’t like the other huge stadiums I had been to that were in the middle of a large parking lot. This felt like it was in a neighborhood. And it almost seemed too small to be a real ballpark, because it was hard to get perspective.
The sell of the hot dog vendors hits you first. There were many of them on a side street selling dogs. First time I had seen that.
We had seats on the 1st base side, lower level. Walking into our section, the stadium looked old. Wires and pipes hung from the deck above. Very dodgy looking. And the place was packed. Every seat full. Hot, sticky, and people everywhere yelling with their Boston accents. Kind of annoying, and yet, maybe the most authentic fans I had ever seen.
The game wasn’t against the Yankees, but another semi-rival, the White Sox. Guess Boston fans don’t like that color of sox. And then the White Sox fans started getting restless a few rows behind me. Some yelling ensued, some food was thrown, maybe a few fists... Can’t quite remember the details, but four guys got ejected. That was a first for me. Usually people don’t care that much about baseball to get in a fight over it. But these are some passionate fans.
Although it would be a long time until I attended another stadium I had not been to, the memory of Fenway would ring in my memory for years. And it still does.
Boston Red Sox - Fenway Park
Tuesday, July 20, 1993