 I really love the sky at Fenway. I think I took more of these photos last night than of the players. |
On Sunday at the game I’ll finally get to meet MetsGrrl. I’m looking forward to it. She’s funny and nice and she’s quite knowledgeable about baseball. Plus, she writes wonderfully. I have a couple of other online Mets fan friends who I get to talk baseball and other things with so I have no hard feelings towards Mets fans in general. And when they aren’t playing the Red Sox, I like (most of) the Mets. So I didn’t go into this weekend thinking “I’m going to get into a fight with the first Mets fan I see!”. But twice last night there was a moment when, were I a different type of person, I probably could have put myself in a position to not only get in a fight of some sort but most definitely to get thrown out of the park.
I’m not holding it against all Mets fans. When we were at CitiField the fans were fine. But I was reminded last night that the ones who travel seem to get a little bit of (liquid?) courage because I was in a near fight with one last time too.
Last night, the first incident happened while I was waiting in line for ice cream. (I have a sore throat that’s killing me. It was nice to be sitting relatively close to the soft serve ice cream stand!) A group of Mets fans walked by and one of the lovelies decided to bellow “Red Sox Suck!” as she walked by. I literally spun around to see who would yell such a dumbass thing in Fenway and was genuinely surprised that it wasn’t just some Red Sox fan fooling around. No, it was a Mets fan, decked out in all their gear (including the David Wright jersey), stumbling a bit and laughing her ass off. Definitely not worth my tripping her and getting myself thrown out of the game before it was even midway over.
Then in the fifth, Santana hits Youk. I’m not sure ANYONE thought it was intentional (even Youk) but it obviously hurt and Youk made that clear as he walked up the first base line. Santana jawed back at him and it was over. The the guy behind me started yelling (and I mean YELLING) to Youk and using the word “A-hole” (in its entirety). Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but if I went to CitiField and Gary Sheffield took exception to being hit by Josh Beckett and I started calling Sheffield an “ass”, I’d probably get in some kind of trouble. At the very least I’d be outed as a total horse’s ass, yes? This same guy (in Mets jersey and cap) started barking at Big Papi during his next at bat. The word “jerk” was used this time. I’m sorry, this is unacceptable behavior to me.
Cheering for your team is one thing. Heck the Sox and Mets fans (as they did at CitiField) had the “Let’s go Red Sox! Let’s go Mets!” chants going many times over. The woman in front of me (in one of many Jose Reyes jerseys I saw that night) cheered every time her team did something well. Unlike the guys in front of HER, she didn’t stand up and puff out her chest and tug on her jersey. There’s a way to act when you’re at someone else’s house and while I don’t expect fans to just shut up and sit there (I actually enjoy the park having opposing fans in it) I also don’t expect you to insult the team while you’re here.
I’ve been known to get into it with folks at games. Usually, though, it’s Red Sox fans booing their own that I get into it with. Last night I decided to let it go. No sense getting booted out of a game I really want to be at. But on Sunday I’ll really not have much to lose. If I end up near any of the obnoxious Mets fans, all bets are probably off.
Oh, I forgot to mention the guy (who has to be the same guy we saw at CitiField, right?) in the Mets jersey with “Buckner” and “86” on the back. I admit to absolutely wanting to go over and dump a beer on him. But KellyO, my usually rational friend, pointed out that my reaction was exactly what he was looking for and no reaction was the best way to get back at him. Kelly also touched on something I agree with. If he’s wearing a Mets jersey with the name of a player who didn’t play for them, what is that saying? Does he believe the ’86 Mets sucked and only won the World Series because of Buckner? What kind of fan is that?
I ended up concluding that the Buckner ’86 guy was a sad (or pathetic. Take your pick.) Red Sox have won two World Series titles since 1986. What have the Mets done, darling?
The day held a lot of good. Got to meet up with friends for the first day of our weekend and go on the Fenway tour. Sadly, the best part of the tour was seeing Mike Lowell and his young son playing ball on the field (Lowell’s son was wearing a Sox uniform. The jersey he wore? Why Dustin Pedroia’s of course! “But dad! HE’S the MVP!!!”). Someone really needs to tell Dora the Explorer (otherwise known as the gal giving the tour who felt the need to SCREAM even though she was mic’d up) that Harry Frazee didn’t sell Babe Ruth to finance “No, No, Nanette”. It’s embarrassing to hear that story told at Fenway Park by someone paid by the Red Sox. Standing with Donna and Ted for that “lesson” and Donna wanted me to correct her while Ted wanted Donna to stop egging me on. I stayed silent. It wasn’t easy. Wikipedia has Leigh Montville’s version of the “real” story:
It also turns out that there was a solid basis for the No, No, Nanette story. As Leigh Montville discovered during research for his book, The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth (Random House, 2006, p.161-164), No, No, Nanette had originated as a non-musical stage play called My Lady Friends, which opened on Broadway in December 1919. His research indicated that that play had, indeed, been financed as a direct result of the Ruth sale to the Yankees.
I’d say “solid basis” is stretching it. Bottom line is he wasn’t sold for “No, No, Nanette” and the Sox should stop telling that story. Yes, it’s supposed to be “amusing”. “Oh he sold the best player in baseball for a play with a funny name that failed!”. It’s not amusing, it’s stupid. And it’s lazy to just trot out the same old story. On the whole, I was disappointed with the Fenway tour. There’s so much more they could have done with it. It really isn’t much of a tour at all.
It was great to see Daisuke back. (I’ve complained a lot in this entry already. Is now a good time to wonder again why people feel the need to write “Dice-K” when it is pronounced the same as his actual name? Is it that much more difficult to write “Daisuke”?) The pitching line for him last night wasn’t horrible and I was encouraged. Aside from Santana’s 8 strike outs, the pitching lines weren’t all that different for both teams. In 7 innings, Santana gave up 7 hits and 3 runs, walked 1 and gave up a home run. In 5 innings, Matsuzaka gave up 5 hits and 4 runs, walked 2 and gave up a home run. Given it was his first start back, Tito pulled Daisuke at 80 pitches while Santana stayed in for 118. This game could have gone either way. Once finding out that the Jays and the Yankees both lost their games so the Sox lost no ground last night, I was able to come away pleased with our pitching and the way the team played in general.
I’m not getting my sweep so I’ll settle for the series win, fellas!