TUESDAY 29th MAY 2007 Part II
After the tour of Fenway I felt peckish but S didn't. So I went to have lunch and to finish up a little bit of shopping while S went to see "Spiderman 3".
We arranged a time to meet for a little later.
BACK AT FENWAY PARK FOR THE BOSTON RED SOX VS CLEVELAND INDIANS! starting at 7.05 pm.
Not sure how she did it since its pretty much a sell-out for every month and now I might have been spoilt for the rest of my life because I might not get seats like those again for some time. From visiting the same stadium before game time to watching the people arriving and starting to fill the stadium is always quite amazing. Its partly for that reason I like to get to football matches early too just to see the warm-ups and soak up the buzz of expectancy that comes with people arriving and getting ready to watch and support their teams.
Maybe what I like about sports is how it unifies people there's no black or white, rich or poor but a collective experience of wonder and sometimes joy or sadness that transcends all the barriers and obstacles that we find or that find us during our lives. For 90 minutes or longer we are self contained with one objective watching the possibility of unpredictability or a moment of magic that can hold a spell and fill us with awe. I'm not entirely sure what I'm trying to express here and it may sound pretentious and not everybody can find these feelings in sports either watching or participating but man needs games to release him or herself.
Back to the GAME! Enough of that transcendental mumbo jumbo of the joy of sports, it's only a game! Is it?
Watching baseball is very different from watching football as the action is stop start but each pocket carries its own drama building towards the climax. It becomes strategic as well as the game gets deeper into the innings played. At the start of the game there was an award for one of the Japanese Boston pitchers for Rookie for the Month of April. Probably most people were thinking it would be for Matsuzaka who is the player that Boston brought over with alot of fanfare and is starting to get the headlies but it was for Okajima who was something of an unknown quantity. I've seen it happen with football transfers too where two players are brought over the same country and one is seen as the 'buddy' but proves to the press actually they can play too.
Cleveland's pitchers didn't turn up for the game which brought shouts from the drunk Superman (he was wearing the T-Shirt) calling for 'Ricky Vaughn'. Bit obscure that one unless you're a movie fan, Rick Vaughn was a fictional pitcher in the film 'Major League' played by Charlie Sheen. The sights and colours that happen within the park are quite amazing from the peanut seller who insists on hurling the bags to you after you've paid from some distance, I'm not sure if he's hoping a scout is watching him but he could throw! There were others selling popcorn, cotton candy, pizza, hot dogs, not all of them throw what they're selling though!
On the field Josh Beckett was pitching for the Red Sox and very efficiently going about his business and when Boston came to bat there was always an expectancy when Manny Ramirez stepped up, famous for his antics on the field and his seemingly carefree slap dash attitude which is backed up by a talent for hitting and an arm that can hurl a ball. S and I decided that Manny must have asked for the same size uniform as one of his larger teammates. The bagginess of Manny's uniform does make it look like he's in hand me downs or pjamas! Also watching Manny on base is an adventure as well as he almost seems to be going off somewhere else while the game is going on. Then there's Youkilis with the scary biker style goatee who at the time was on a consecutive hitting streak and when he stepped up the crowd would collectively cheer although it sound more like booing...'YOOOOUK'. There's great affection for Varitek the team's catcher and captain and both Youk and Varitek hit homeruns that evening.
I remember getting sucked into watching was going on and whilst I wasn't as vocal as other fans, I sat in wonder surrounded by other vocal fans, families, a mother and daughter who had brought her daughter to her first game and became immersed.
Boston were up 4-0 until the top of the 7th inning when Cleveland scored two runs to make it 4-2.
This is when players like Okajima are brought in to secure the victory by pitching the game out to prevent anymore runs being scored. It also brought the crowd together as they started chanting 'Okajima, Okakjima, Okajima'...to shut that out while you pitch to close must be quite difficult yet flattering. I was surprised that the crowd chanted his name while he pitched expecting more a quieter mood to let him concentrate for what must also be quite a tense moment. Though the importance of closing the game out had everybody on their feet.
He bookended his night with the victory by successfully closing the game. Not bad work...pick up an award and close the game.
Like all sports rivalries despite the Yankees not even being present there was a collective singing of "Yankees Suck' much like when the chorus goes around for people to 'Stand up if you hate Man U' might go round when they're not even there.
As that final out was made, S appeared at my side to whisk me off to the bus stop before everybody spilled out as well. We got a bus with S's favourite bus driver on the #57 line. I think its his special facial hair and haircut that she likes the best, a picture would be best but I was scared of him...so I tried to do a sketch which I'll scan in at some point.
Back in Brighton we watched the highlights and I had to pack my little green bag for an early start to go to the airport.
AS A SIDE IF YOU'VE GOT THIS FAR:
Quote of the day proving I do not function fully in the morning:
On hearing the song 'Young Folks' playing in the background on the radio.
ME: Who's playing "young Folks' by Peter, Bjorn and Whassishname?'
S: (looking at me as if it's a trick question) John?
ME: Oh yeah.
We arranged a time to meet for a little later.
BACK AT FENWAY PARK FOR THE BOSTON RED SOX VS CLEVELAND INDIANS! starting at 7.05 pm.
Not sure how she did it since its pretty much a sell-out for every month and now I might have been spoilt for the rest of my life because I might not get seats like those again for some time. From visiting the same stadium before game time to watching the people arriving and starting to fill the stadium is always quite amazing. Its partly for that reason I like to get to football matches early too just to see the warm-ups and soak up the buzz of expectancy that comes with people arriving and getting ready to watch and support their teams.
Maybe what I like about sports is how it unifies people there's no black or white, rich or poor but a collective experience of wonder and sometimes joy or sadness that transcends all the barriers and obstacles that we find or that find us during our lives. For 90 minutes or longer we are self contained with one objective watching the possibility of unpredictability or a moment of magic that can hold a spell and fill us with awe. I'm not entirely sure what I'm trying to express here and it may sound pretentious and not everybody can find these feelings in sports either watching or participating but man needs games to release him or herself.
Back to the GAME! Enough of that transcendental mumbo jumbo of the joy of sports, it's only a game! Is it?
Watching baseball is very different from watching football as the action is stop start but each pocket carries its own drama building towards the climax. It becomes strategic as well as the game gets deeper into the innings played. At the start of the game there was an award for one of the Japanese Boston pitchers for Rookie for the Month of April. Probably most people were thinking it would be for Matsuzaka who is the player that Boston brought over with alot of fanfare and is starting to get the headlies but it was for Okajima who was something of an unknown quantity. I've seen it happen with football transfers too where two players are brought over the same country and one is seen as the 'buddy' but proves to the press actually they can play too.
Cleveland's pitchers didn't turn up for the game which brought shouts from the drunk Superman (he was wearing the T-Shirt) calling for 'Ricky Vaughn'. Bit obscure that one unless you're a movie fan, Rick Vaughn was a fictional pitcher in the film 'Major League' played by Charlie Sheen. The sights and colours that happen within the park are quite amazing from the peanut seller who insists on hurling the bags to you after you've paid from some distance, I'm not sure if he's hoping a scout is watching him but he could throw! There were others selling popcorn, cotton candy, pizza, hot dogs, not all of them throw what they're selling though!
On the field Josh Beckett was pitching for the Red Sox and very efficiently going about his business and when Boston came to bat there was always an expectancy when Manny Ramirez stepped up, famous for his antics on the field and his seemingly carefree slap dash attitude which is backed up by a talent for hitting and an arm that can hurl a ball. S and I decided that Manny must have asked for the same size uniform as one of his larger teammates. The bagginess of Manny's uniform does make it look like he's in hand me downs or pjamas! Also watching Manny on base is an adventure as well as he almost seems to be going off somewhere else while the game is going on. Then there's Youkilis with the scary biker style goatee who at the time was on a consecutive hitting streak and when he stepped up the crowd would collectively cheer although it sound more like booing...'YOOOOUK'. There's great affection for Varitek the team's catcher and captain and both Youk and Varitek hit homeruns that evening.
I remember getting sucked into watching was going on and whilst I wasn't as vocal as other fans, I sat in wonder surrounded by other vocal fans, families, a mother and daughter who had brought her daughter to her first game and became immersed.
Boston were up 4-0 until the top of the 7th inning when Cleveland scored two runs to make it 4-2.
This is when players like Okajima are brought in to secure the victory by pitching the game out to prevent anymore runs being scored. It also brought the crowd together as they started chanting 'Okajima, Okakjima, Okajima'...to shut that out while you pitch to close must be quite difficult yet flattering. I was surprised that the crowd chanted his name while he pitched expecting more a quieter mood to let him concentrate for what must also be quite a tense moment. Though the importance of closing the game out had everybody on their feet.
He bookended his night with the victory by successfully closing the game. Not bad work...pick up an award and close the game.
Like all sports rivalries despite the Yankees not even being present there was a collective singing of "Yankees Suck' much like when the chorus goes around for people to 'Stand up if you hate Man U' might go round when they're not even there.
As that final out was made, S appeared at my side to whisk me off to the bus stop before everybody spilled out as well. We got a bus with S's favourite bus driver on the #57 line. I think its his special facial hair and haircut that she likes the best, a picture would be best but I was scared of him...so I tried to do a sketch which I'll scan in at some point.
Back in Brighton we watched the highlights and I had to pack my little green bag for an early start to go to the airport.
AS A SIDE IF YOU'VE GOT THIS FAR:
Quote of the day proving I do not function fully in the morning:
On hearing the song 'Young Folks' playing in the background on the radio.
ME: Who's playing "young Folks' by Peter, Bjorn and Whassishname?'
S: (looking at me as if it's a trick question) John?
ME: Oh yeah.
posted by fb at
11:31 PM
1 Comments:
You're talking about Mascherano, right? I can see through you...
I don't know if I could get excited over a baseball game, I just don't understand a single thing.
But over here in the stadium it's the same thing - every type of person is there but there's an enormous sense of community just by being there supporting the same club.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home