Friday at Fenway

Okay, so I'm not really at Fenway tonight! Just waiting out the rain delay - and trying to spend my time productively. Been trying to organize pictures from Italy and from my recent baseball adventures...

Yes, I went to Atlanta last weekend for the 3-game Braves-Red Sox series -- and the Sox won all three games!! Yeah! In the past two years, I've been to nine Sox games. Their record at those games: 9-0. Just sayin.... Here they are celebrating victory Sunday night.And what an incredible game it was. Two out in the top of the 8th, down 5-3, and they came back with six runs!



We got to Turner Field early each day, and got to see the players up close. We saw all the pitchers warming up - here's Mike Timlin, using that very cool camo glove.

Photo by Kelly (sittingstill.net)
Oh, that Papelbon - what a cutie. Apparently, he was seen doing the "tomahawk chop" Friday night - and here he's reacting to some kidding about it.


He signed autographs every day for the large Sox crowd. Really a nice young man! It was fun to watch him interact with the crowd - tossing balls, cutting up. Such a different view of him than you see when he comes in with the game on the line - then he's intense and all business.

There was a huge number of Sox fans at each game. The Friday night crowd was the second largest in Turner Field history! I'd say it was about evenly divided in terms of loyalty. But the Sox fans were definitely more vocal - and got the "Let's Go Red Sox" chants going without any organ prompts! (We actually counted Sunday night, and there were 29 "charges" played and 27 Tomahawk chops. None spontaneous, I might add). I read later that Jeff Francouer and some of the other Braves were non-plussed by the crowd - were a tad angry about being cheered against in their own house.

Everywhere we went in Atlanta, the Sox influence was seen - be it at Centennial Park the Georgia Aquarium (which is awesome), the restaurants, downtown on Saturday night. They came from all over the Southeast, to celebrate this team, and there also seemed to be many from New England. As Kelly pointed out, for a family of four to go to Fenway for one game is not only incredibly expensive but also incredibly difficuly. It's almost easier and cheaper to fly to Atlanta, stay in an inexpensive hotel, and see all three games. I'm sure most Atlantans hated it - but the tourist industry certainly benefited.

We also ate at the ESPN Zone! Very fan-girl I know, but it was pretty cool. The World Cup Soccer was going on, so we sat in the bar and watched on the big screen tv - sitting in recliners! I also got a very cool shirt that says: Yes, I am a woman, Yes, I know the game, Yes, I watch ESPN So appropriate!!

Know I can start to get psyched about my NEXT Red Sox adventure - going to four games at the end of July, including one game in the Green Monster seats!!