Return To Fenway

 

By: Connor Lenahan

Despite the fact that I’ve been living in Boston since mid-May for the summer I have not attended any games since the opening weekend of the season. This is especially odd given that the dorm I am staying in is quite literally across the street from Fenway Park.  The longest part of walking to the game is waiting at street crossings. I’m pretty much as close to living in Fenway as possible without taking up residence on the field itself. For the record, the right field corner would make a delightful breakfast nook.

Yesterday I went to see the Red Sox play the New York Yankees with my friend Laura LaBrecque. She had never been to a Yankee-Red Sox game. I, meanwhile, have been fortunate enough to witness this rivalry in both Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park. It was interesting during the game with regards to reactions as Laura pointed out to me that the attendance was seemingly closer to 50/50 than she had been expecting. This was true. Turn your head for one missed pitch and it was impossible to tell what happened from the noise around you. If either team had a player strike out there were cheers. It was disorienting.

This was a fun game so see for a few reasons. First, this marked the Red Sox debut of Yoenis Cespedes in left field. Just the other day I wrote about my unhealthy man crush on him and my excitement that his cannon arm would be taking up residence near my home. My only concern about Cespedes was when my brother informed me of his inability to travel with the Sox “because they can’t allow his arm on the plane because it’s a deadly weapon.” Thankfully he didn’t have to travel for this game and got to debut in front of a packed house. I ended up getting a Cespedes jersey t-shirt before the game, which is incredibly impressive given that he was only traded to the Sox two days prior, yet his shirts were available immediately. While he did not smash a home run into outer space, nor did he throw out someone attempting to jaywalk in traffic six blocks away, it was awesome to see him.

Second, this was most likely the last time I will ever see Derek Jeter play in person. He played pretty well too – 2 for 5 with 2 RBI and a run scored. Jeter’s final season actually will conclude at Fenway this fall, but the asking price for what are normally the cheapest tickets available for Sox games cost in the range of my fall tuition at Boston University. Despite my pleas to my parents to let me go, they refuse. I see their logic entirely. It was nice to be able to once more stand and clap when Jeter came to bat. It was sweet to hear the entire stadium cheering for him. The respect for the man is real regardless of locale. Given that he is my favorite athlete of all time, really with no close contender for second, it meant a lot for me to catch him one last time.

Third, it was nice to be around baseball again. I have free time in the summer but less than I realize. I get busy with different things. It’s tough to carve out three hours for a baseball game sometimes. I wish that the Sox played more summer games around 3PM, because in that case I would go regardless of opponent. Getting caught up with projects and articles has left me incapable of venturing over to one of my favorite places in Boston over the past few months. While a large part of this is my fault, and there certainly are more factors – like my unwillingness to pay large sums of money to watch a fairly mediocre team lose when I don’t have the funds to do so regularly, nor the time – it is still delightful to roll down Yawkey Way into the madness that is Fenway and see the Sox play. With the fall closely approaching, and less than 22 days until I move in for the fall semester, it’s time I got back into the game. Yesterday marked my return to Fenway. Now it’s time to get back into my groove.

Connor Lenahan (@ConnorLenahan) is a sophomore at Boston University, majoring in journalism.