Jacob George
Period: 2
Haynes
October 3, 2014
Photo Essay: Red Sox Baseball
America’s game, baseball, it’s been around since the 1800’s and one the oldest and most successful major league baseball franchises is the Boston Red Sox. There is great history in the city of Boston alone, and the history of the Boston Red Sox adds another dimension to it. Fenway Park is one of the most famous and tourist attracting baseball parks in the United States, with decades of its own history within it. With the Red Sox winning 3 World Series in the past 12 years, their already large fan base has grown even larger and more supportive of the team than ever. Stars of the team David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, and pitcher John Lester have been with the team for a while and carried them to most of their recent success. However, this year has been one to forget for the Red Sox as they’ve struggled to put together any long run of consecutive wins and rather go on runs of consecutive losses in a row, missing the playoffs this year. They have all the pieces there, but just can’t seem to utilize them in the successful way they have done in the past. I went to Boston over the summer as I do every year, and got a chance to go to Fenway Park and watch a Kansas City Royals vs. Red Sox game.
When I arrived in Boston it was just as I remembered, overcast skies with muggy humid air and noise coming from every direction. We took a cab from Boston Logan international airport to our hotel that was only 1 block away from Fenway Park; you could see the stadium from the hotel windows. Unlike California, you don’t see a huge mixture of team apparel, everybody you see in the streets is wearing red sox gear, regardless of this seasons success or lack of it. As the night drew closer the streets began to fill with red sox fans walking to the game, everywhere you looked you saw red and white. Bars and restaurants were full, scalpers pitched their ticket deals to everyone headed towards the stadium and it seemed like all of Boston was flocking to Fenway. 7 o’ clock came around; we punched our tickets, walked into the stadium and found our seats.
Before the game started they draped a huge American flag across the infamous green monster in left field and a veteran and his family was brought to the pitcher’s mound for the first pitch. They threw the pitch, sang the national anthem, and the game was under way. It looked ugly for the red sox at first, giving up a run in the second inning off of consecutive walks then a base hit. The red sox then tied the game in the fourth and took the lead in the 8th with a three run home run by Johnny Gomes over the Green Monster. The Red sox played well, held the lead, and won the game to complete the series sweep of the Royals, the first one they’ve had in a while. They played “Dirty Water” as the crowd cheerfully sang along and left the stadium. Outside the stadium we took a left and ended up by the player parking garage, Where you are able to see almost every player leave the stadium in their cars, and some even on foot. It was a fun experience like it is every year, and gives me a chance to have a home town feeling away from home.