My first game was June, 4, 1961 (I had to look up the exact date but everything else I remember like it was yesterday) against the Baltimore Orioles. It was won by the Sox on a two run, pinch hit single off the wall by a guy named Joe Ginsburg. It would be called a walk off hit today. They didnt walk off in 1961. We sat in right field and Jackie Jensen, who quit at the end of that year because he was afraid to fly, was playing right for the Sox and Whitey Herzog was there for the O's. A fat little right hander named Billy Muffett (#36) got the win. I didnt look it up but I think it was his only one that year against 10 losses. He did better as a pitching coach for the World Champion Cardinals 6 years later.
More than the game, I remembered the experience. You talked about that first look at Fenway. You have to remember that in 1961 the whole world was in black and white. Kids in those days didnt even know the colors of the opposing teams uniforms unless we spotted them in Sport Magazine. So that first look for me going up the ramp in right was stunningly beautiful. Like nothing I had seen in my 8 years of life to that point. My older brother and a friend of his took me. The other kid had me in stiches all day. He was of the "straws up the nostrils" school of comedy that was right in the wheelhouse of the average 8 year old.
More than anything I remember how proud I was that my older brother would take me and how much I laughed. What a great day!
Really enjoyed that story, ozzy.
Grew up a Sox fan far away from Boston and nowhere near a major league stadium. First Red Sox games was at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore on an August or September night in 1988. The O's had lost 15 games or so to begin the season and were miserable the rest of the year. The Sox were in a death struggle to win the division.
Orioles win with 2 in the bottom of the 9th on a throwing error by the Sox. My roommate (who had no rooting interest) stood up and cheered. I punched him. 2004 didn't erase the memory but removed the pain.
I don't remember much about my first game at Fenway (The Sox were playing the Rangers, and I couldn't tell you the year). My most recent game was August 16, 2004. My father and I were watching the Sox play the Jays, and just beginning to turn the season around (they went 16 for 17 starting with this game). The Sox got a lead, and held onto it for the rest of the game. What sticks out most in my mind was the guy behind us in the left field seats. We were about 5 rows back, right above where the left fielder plays. For some reason, Toronto's left fielder was named Gross. Some guy behind us with an amazing Boston accent thought this was hilarious and proceeded to heckle him for most of the game "Who fahted? That's Gross!". So it goes until the bottom of the 5th. This guy had been on a roll for most of the inning, and Gross was actually laughing into his glove. Suddenly Millar drops a double into left, which caroms off the wall and goes right by Gross. Had Gross not been distracted, he probably would have had a chance to prevent two runs from scoring. As it was, he was late to the ball and then misjudged the carom. So the Sox go up 5-1, Gross moves further out into the field, and the guy who'd been heckling him all game raises his arms in victory. Sox go on to win 8-4. My Dad and I still joke that we caused the Sox to turn the season around. And yes, I credit the guy behind us for getting Boston another run or two. Great Fenway experience.
I can honestly barely remember the five games I went to this year, though I think I went to Mo Vaughn's walk-off grand slam against (I think) Seattle. Best two games I went to were Game 4, 2003 ALDS, Ortiz's two-run double in the 8th off of Foulke; and Game 3, 2004 ALDS, Ortiz's two-run walk-off HR off Washburn to clinch the sweep.
Excellent reference to Agent Michael Scarn at the conclusion.
I'd always catalogued my first memory at Fenway as a dream, and not the mythical kind. The only thing I remember was my Dad saying, "Let's see what this Mays guy can do" before he fell asleep. Had to be dream, right? Turns out it was the 1961 All-Star game.
Next game, a trip with the JCC (Jewish Community Center) cruelly scheduled during Passover of (I think) 1964. The only memory of this game was the existential problem of whether or not to eat the forbidden hotdog bun. I did, expecting lightning bolts, and years later actually asked a Rabbi if it was OK to eat a non-Jewish girl on Passover.
Sunday August 20, 1967. A 15 year old in New Bedford, obsessed with the lovely, blonde Jane Regis and this unexpectedly Magical Team. Double-header with my glamorous, convertible driving, Brookline Aunt Sally two days after Hamilton ruined Tony C. Sox crush the Angels 12-3 in the 1st game then fall behind 8 zip in the nitecap. Jerry Adair nails one into the screen in the 8th to cap the 9-8 comeback. Pandemonium.
Hooked-for-Life
I saw the Sox play on opening day, 1989 in the now razed Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Roger Clemens pitched for the Sox, who lost to Baltimore and Dave Schmidt 5-4 in 11 innings. Mike Greenwell and Cal Ripken both homered, but the moment I remember most, besides watching Clemens long toss on the outfield grass before the game, is a catch by then Orioles rookie Steve Finley.
I don't recall who hit the ball or the situation, though I'm just about positive that there were runners on and two down. The ball was crushed to right center. I was seated in the outfield bleacher seets, which in Memorial Stadium were separated from the outfield wall by a ten foot wide walkway that I guess players and grounds crew used. The result was that the outfield wall blocked your view of the field from just before the warning track to the base of the wall.
Anyway, the ball was hit and Finley went tearing after it. I saw the ball disappear, and Finley disappeared chasing it. Then I heard a smack and saw the wall itself bend towards me. The crowd roared. Somehow Finley had caught it.
I remember having front-row seats for Bob Zupcic's walk-off grand slam. I was nine and it was glorious.
July 31, 2005 Boston 3, Minnesota 2. My story falls in the Blind Luck category. This was one of only two times I've been to Fenway in the past twenty years. I bought tickets on E-Bay and originally they were for the July 30 game, but there was a mixup with the tickets and we got July 31 instead. That game was the deadline day game where the untraded Manny came out of the dugout to a roar and knocked in the winning run. We also got to see Big Papi go deep, Schilling pitch the ninth for the save, and maybe coolest of all, the debut of one Jonathan Papelbon. Sweet!
june 1978 vs. the A's. the glorious oakland green, the shift for rice, and jim ed hitting (i think) a triple and a homer.
"okay, let's go." -- my little brother after the first inning of his first game.
I have the distinction of seeing all three of Pokey Reese's homeruns that he hit in his Red Sox career. I went to three games in 2004 and he played in two of them. I'm convinced if I could've gotten season tickets, Pokey Reese would've been a .300 hitter(though that may be pushing it).
The first game was the Pokey Reese inside-the-park/outside-the-park homerun game. The most significant thing I remember from it was this one moment shortly after Pokey slide into home plate. It was this silence as everybody awaited the call of whether or not Pokey was safe or out. As soon as the umpire outstretched his arms, the entire ballpark erupted. It was really something.
The last game I went to in the 2004 season was not started by Pokey but it still had a good amount of amusements. Bronson Arroyo, before he got all rock star on us, pitched 8 shutout innings and Johnny Damon hit two homeruns in a 7-0 win. Also Kevin Millar had a really really great defensive night, which was really hard to explain to my friend(who didn't understand why I was shocked about Millar's defense) why it was so unbelieveable.
My first game ever though was I believe Kid's Opening Day in 1998. It was May 16 against the Kansas City Royals and the Red Sox shut them out 5-0. Steve Avery started and I remember booing the heck out of Jose Offerman which I had no idea why. Damon Buford and Mo Vaughn both went deep.
One more...in 2005 I saw Kazmir vs Wakefield which the Red Sox won 3-1. My fondest memory of it was looking at the scoreboard adn seeing that Kazmir was pitching a no-hitter as Edgar Renteria was up to bat. I yelled out "HE'S PITCHING A PERFECT GAME EDGAR!!" when it was somewhat quiet. On the next pitch Edgar hit a homerun.
I always had the slumping hitters have huge games whenever I've gone to Fenway...maybe Youk and Manny will bust out of it on Saturday when I'm there? One can only wonder.
I know it's probably just a typo, but I think you meant the 2003 ALDS, not the ALCS. Harden didn't play for the Yanks.
Growing up in CT (with Yankee fans for brothers) and then living in Florida, there haven't been as many trips to Fenway as I'd have liked.
First visit came in July of 1990. A buddy from college came to visit and we made the four hour drive to Boston, hoping to score tickets after cruising around the town. Funny thing was, we ended up at the Commons with a fairly rudimentary map. I made a left at one end - saw the Cheers restaurant, made another left and followed that street, which turned out to be just the way to get there. Spotted the Citgo sign, made a left into a side street, paid the man $10 to park and we were there. For several visits after that, (remember this was pre-MapQuest), I needed to navigate to the Commons in order to know how to get to the park. Anyway, even at 4 pm tickets weren't hard to come by and we had seats right near the Pesky Pole. Strongest memories: McGuire and Canseco putting on a show during batting practice; Tom Brunansky taking fielding practice and throwing strikes to home; and giving a big hand to Jeff Gray as he came out of the bullpen and telling my buddy how great this kid has been pitching. Little did we know that within a week or two he'd have that stroke. Oh, and here's a fun fact: this was my first opportunity to buy Bosox-wear. The bike short that I bought wore out several years ago, but I am right now wearing the Red Sox t-shirt I bought. The emblem has flaked a lot over almost twenty years, but it still fits and no holes, so no problem.
Nothing very memorable about the handful of times between then and now except for 2005, when my wife and I decided that we had to make a pilgrimage to Fenway while the World Champion banner was flying. We scored tickets to two games against Cincinnati, first game super close to the plate, second game in the Monster Seats. The URL I've entered under home page has a link to a photosharing site with the best of the photos I took. A great time was had; unfortunately we had no idea that mid-June could feature upper 40 degree temps.
Hey Chad,
Didn't read the Ryan piece but some may wonder how you remember such details about the games.
Did you do what I do? Here's the deal. I've kept most every ticket stub to any event I've ever gone to. There are websites now where you can get box scores of any game. I've stapled those to my tickets. Now, when I go to a game, I cut out the box score and staple it to the ticket.
I didn't remember what happened in the games I saw as a kid. I learned I saw some good shit and many now HOFers. Pretty cool.
Soog,
I have a ratty old ziploc bag tucked away in a book case in my home office with the ticket stub from just about every Sox game (not mention Maine Guides) I ever went to - so yeah, my system is pretty similar to yours. I also saved a few of the game stories - the Jefferson one and the Twins day game one, as well as a gloomy Pedro start against the Phillies that didn't make the cut for this piece - and all of that made it really easy to find what I was looking for on baseball reference when it came to filling in the blanks. It also helps having access to the Globe archives. But mostly, I have just a ridiculous memory when it comes to this stuff and the small details. I wish I could use it for something more lucrative and useful (and evil), but apparently every stupid detailed anecdote I remember vividly from my childhood relates to baseball. Which is probably why I do what I do.
Actually, there was one game I wanted to write about but couldn't because I couldn't pin down which exact game it was. I know it was from '96 or '97, the Sox played Texas, and Troy O'Leary homered. That's about all I could recall, probably because I consumed more than a few beverages that night. Oh, and I knew Clemens pitched, because my buddy spent the better part of the game inexplicably yelling, "Wakefield, you suck!" at the top of his lungs at Clemens on the mound. I guess you had to be there, but that lasted until about the seventh inning or so, when a guy behind us turns to his friend and says, "Wakefield? I thought Clemens was pitching tonight." Did I mentioned that buddy is a doctor now? If his patients knew what I know . . .
And by the way, I've really enjoyed reading these, as well as all the ones you guys emailed me and posted on the Boston.com board. It's made me really glad I wrote this post.
Right on Chad. Great column. My first game was in '91 I think. It will forever be remembered as the day of the Q, when Carlos Quantana (the first baseman between Nick Esasky and Mo Vaughn for those keeping score at home) did the improbable and drove in 10 runs. I think that was the last anyone ever heard of him. I also was at the game in '03 at the vet where Nomah went 6 for 6 and the sox still lost in 13 innings. Thank you Rudy Seanez. what a bum.
Thanks for the great article. I love reading about past Red Sox teams and having a chuckle over names like Reggie Jefferson.
I remember my first game only in blurry snap shots. I was four years old and remember being mesmorized by the giant scoreboard and tickled at the fact that I could throw my peanut shells on the ground. My memory has decided that they were playing the Blue Jays, but I'll never know for sure.
I went to at least a game a year when I still lived on the east coast, and the memories are blurry about those games too. I remember leaving in the 7th inning of a game in the mid-1990s, having decided the Beaneaters would never come back from the 10-3 (or so) deficit, only to find out on the drive home that they did indeed come back, and Trot Nixon won it on a game ending grand slam.
I also remember a game in the early 2000s wherein Trot Nixon flipped the ball into the stands after recording the 3rd out, only to realize afterwards that it was actually the 2nd out, and Blue Jays players were still running the bases. I joined the chorus of BOOs intended towards Trot for the mistake, only to then join the chorus of cheers that were drowning out the BOOs, reminding RSN that Trot was still our guy.
My clearest and most recent memory was from the Red Sox vs. Yankees game on April 20th of this year. It was my first visit since moving to Chicago 5 years ago, and I still got the same chills when I walked into the stadium. I was accompanied by some friends who had never been to Fenway before. What better way to initiate them than to witness a huge come from behind victory against the MFY, topped off by Coco Crisp's game winning triple and the emergence of Okajima, who shut down the Yanks in the 9th.
Going back in my memory I am struck by how far off my memory of my first game was. I could have sworn it was John Tudor's first ML win, in 1978 against the Oakland A's. Problem is, Tudor's first win was in 79 against the Tigers. Cliff Johnson wasn't with the A's at that time. So I'm sure my first game was sometime in the late 70's.
My most memorable game, however, was my son's first major league game on July 19, 2005 against the Devil Rays. It was oppressively hot, but we got into town early to take the tour of Fenway. As we headed up to the .406 Club (remember that?) we looked down to the players' parking lot, where we saw Johnny Damon pulling out on a motorcycle we'd seen Gabe Kapler pull in on earlier.
While up in the .406 Club, we could see Orsillo down on the field with someone we later figured out to be Tim Wakefield, shooting the August "Announcer Boy" spot for NESN.
By gametime, it looked like rain, but the players still warmed up. My son and I went down by the left field line to watch the Devil Rays long toss. Ben was looking at the Monster in awe, when we heard a voice below holler, "Hey, little man!" I'm not a little man, but for a second I thought he might have been calling to me. It was Joe Borowski, who had just come over to the Devil Rays. He tossed a ball up to my son. I said "you're Joe Borowski, right?" He said "yep." I wished him luck and we both thanked him. I still have a soft spot in my heart for Borowski.
Then we went down by the Rays' dugout where Ben got autographs from Aubrey Huff, Scott Kazmir, Jonny Gomes, and Joey Gathright. Then the rain began to fall and the tarp went on the field. But that wasn't the end of the fun, as Eduardo Perez held court with all the kids, cracking jokes and asking them Red Sox trivia questions. I also have a soft spot in my heart for Perez, and think he would have been a great bench guy for the Red Sox.
Fossum went for the Red Sox and Arroyo got the win for the Sox. It was the game when Schilling came back from his injury to be the closer, and he got the save.
It was a truly great first game experience for my son (and my daughter, who didn't get into it quite as much, but came away from the Red Sox store with a cool Red Sox cheering outfit.)
i ask you again, kind sirs, if we offer them lester do you think texas would take gagne?
(i'm pinin' for larry andersen and jeff robberson, for the sake of pete)
me: "wakefield, you suck!!!!!"
guy in front of us: "wakefield's pitching?"
in the words of the immortal:
'nuff said.
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