Day 5 - Tampa Bay Devil Rays @ Boston Red Sox

Before I start, I DO plan on organizing my photos a little better. I will rotate the ones that are sideways, and make it easier to drill down into the day you want. All in good time.


Today I got up with my dad at the ungodly hour of 5:15. We caught another flight that was on time. WE have a little streak going, here. We are kinda’ due for a late flight. Earlier, there were thunder showers in Pittsburgh, so we were quite worried about what kind of weather we would encounter in Boston.

When we got into Boston, we took a walk through the Boston Common, and saw the original Cheers bar. Very nice. Then, we cabbed over to Harvard, and took a walk there, bought some t-shirts, hoodies and the most gloriously silky boxers I have ever seen. At the cash, the person at the desk actually asked for my Student ID! Do I really look that smart? And old? Maybe I shouldn’t get any ideas, as we are in a foreign country.

We went back to the hotel, and I played some pinball while my dad took a call. We went into Borders bookstore, and got a bite to eat at a pub called Kennedey’s, an Irish pub, naturally placed in Boston.

The subway to Fenway was conveniently placed and easily reachable from most places in the city. We went to a restaurant called Chicago UNO, a place that is virtually packed before every ballgame.

Then we got onto the street where concessions are sold, hats and jerseys are sold, and so on. There was music and dancing, etc. Magical. I could only imagine this place 3 years ago in the World Series. Once we got into the concourse area, images of Wrigley flashed into my head. This place is just as old as Wrigley, and designed in very much the same way.

Our seats were incredible, only 5 rows back from the center of the Red Sox dugout. The only way that you could get closer to the action is if you were to be calling the balls and strikes. These seats were simply epic. In the first inning, there was a grand slam, and the starting pitcher for the Devil Rays was pulled after only .2 innings, giving up 6 earned runs. Also, our seats were perfectly placed, in that, it was very possible to get a foul ball. While this did not happen, there were a few VERY close calls, and one foul-ball-off-the-jaw-in-other-words-watch-out-when-you-are-that-close-call. Poor woman.

Beside us, there was a mother with 5 of her 6 grown sons. These brothers knew everything there was to know about the Red Sox, the Flyers, the Bruins, Bobby Orr, and so on. Very entertaining to listen to. We told them about our trip, and they were extremely envious.

Starting in about the 4th inning, some little negligible drops of rain came down. No big deal. Then in the 6th, it came down hard. We left after the complete 7th inning, for a total of just under 3 hours, when the score was 15-4, Boston.