"Hello, world, I'm a Boston Red Sox fan. For better for worse, I'm a Red Sox fan. . . .Same as it ever was. So bring on the Yankees, and may Alex Rodriguez bat .240." Stephen King--Faithful (2004).
Mr. King's words hit the nail on the head when describing our addicition to our beloved Boston Red Sox. My sister and I thought we would have to perform CPR on Mom Christmas Day 2008 when I first surprised her with Spring Training Tickets for St. Patrick's Day against the Twins, and Erika gave Mom a really expensive Red Sox jersey. Mom and I were really excited to be going to the ball game, and Mom joked about not having any trouble to find something to wear for the game. Me?! I had to figure out which of my eight Red Sox t-shirts would be making the trip south for the game. I finally settled on driving down to Fort Myers in my gray 2007 World Champions t-shirt Mom's family gave me followed by my red 2007 World Champions t-shirt that has all of the players' names on the back followed by my "Size Doesn't Matter! Dustin Destroia" t-shirt for the ride home. Addicted to the Red Sox? You betcha! Take away our Red Sox games during the season is like taking booze from a drunk. Just ask that representative from Direct TV when Mom eviscerated him for cutting off Bill Buckner making his triumphant return to Fenway Park for Opening Day 2008 after his self-imposed exile in Idaho after the 1986 World Series Gaffe Heard Round Red Sox Nation!
After a good night's rest after the hellacious ride from Pensacola to Fort Myers, Mom and I were ready for action the next morning. I wanted to get an early start to the ball park to get good parking, watch batting practice, and the possibility to get autographs from some players. I was like a little kid jumping up and down with nervous energy, and Mom was excited in a calmer way. After the easiest ride on the whole trip to City of Palms Park, we spent a little time looking for free parking. Not going to happen. Many businesses had their parking lots blocked off, and the neighborhood the park is located in is a little shady. Not wanting to walk too far on a hot March day, I bit the bullet and paid $7 for parking right next to City of Palms Park. Being St. Patrick's Day, Mom and I took a razzing from the parking lot attendant for not wearing green (we didn't think our Celtics shirts were appropriate for a Red Sox game), we were on the way into the ballpark.
The ballpark didn't open until 10:30 a.m., but there were several Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins' fans waiting to get inside. The usher at the gate was very nice and chatted with us while we waited to get inside. One family was from Connecticut and had been to the day before's game and the husband was wearing a St. Patty's Day t-shirt with the Boston Red Sox on it.
HOA! The Minnesota Twins team bus pulled into the parking lot coming in from their facility across town, and we see Justin Morneau (their first baseman and 2006 AL MVP) saunter into the visitors' locker room with other members of the team. People called out to them, but they weren't signing autographs then.
10:30 comes, and the usher lets us in. Mom and I look around the outside of the park at the many shops and food stands and decide to do some window shopping and browzing before braving the sun and heat of the field itself. We stop at one stand for a Red Sox program. For $5, it's well worth it with several stories of the Red Sox past and present and a comprehensive listing of the 40-man roster and Spring Training invitees. I had forgotten my scorepad at home and scrambled to find the program's lineup sheet before giving up to browze more. The program salesman says "Enjoy the game!" and I say "You, too!" "I wish!", the guy said, and bummer, the poor guy doesn't have a TV to watch the game in his stand!
Mom wants to get a Boston Red Sox license plate for the front of the car, and I want a bumper sticker for the back of the car and maybe a patch for my jacket if they aren't too expensive. We find the plates in the smaller Boston Red Sox shop and at $11, it's cheaper than on-line. SOLD! I get a $3 bumper sticker but pass on the patches because they are too much for this time around. "Check on-line", I note to myself. After paying the lady, Mom and I look around the shop more. A TV is playing the highlights from the 2004 ALCS between the Red Sox and Yankees. My heart does the mamba watching it all over again, and Mom and I leave the shop to look around more. "They will have no problem finding my car in the parking lot at work!", I joke to Mom.
We were interested in Red Sox earrings, but we couldn't find any in the larger Red Sox shop further down the concourse of shops and look for something to eat before making it up the stairs to the park to watch batting practice. Man! The price of food and drink is pretty expensive with bottled water being $4.75 a bottle. I am glad I brought a couple of bottles with us because I spend that much on a 24-pack of Dasani at the grocery store! Mom and I are not that hungry and settle for vanilla ice cream cones and happily lick those while walking around a little more. We spy the lineup on a chart before the stairs to the field, and Mom writes it down in her notepad she keeps in her purse for me to copy into the scoresheet whenever I find it in the program. After one more lap up and down the shops, Mom and I make our way up the stairs to the field itself and to see "our boys" taking Batting Practice.
Dianne has to run now and go watch the Red Sox/Yankees Spring Training game on TV. This journal will be continued in a few more entries in this journal! Enjoy!