I never thought I'd be the person who missed baseball season. I hadn't even been to an MLB game until Ian — a dedicated Cubs fan — and I started dating. I had fun at the games, but the appeal was mostly basking in the summer sun while indulging in ballpark food. And while we adopted the Sox as our team when we moved to Boston, I was not a fan of what home games did to my commute.
That all started to change last year, when Ian decided to get us a pack of Sox tickets for Christmas. Instead of our usual one game per season, we were going to four. Ian, the consummate sports fan, patiently answered all my questions during every game, and over the course of those four games I learned a little bit more about baseball strategy and the players on the team.
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| April 13 (marathon weekend): Sox 2, Rays 1 (10 innings) |
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| June 8: Angels 9, Sox 5 |
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| July 21: Sox 8, Yankees 7 (11 innings) |
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| September 19: Sox 3, Orioles 1 |
By the time the playoffs started, I was hooked. And when the team we knew and loved finally made it to the World Series, we couldn't stay away from Fenway. We strolled around the park before Game 1, inhaling the aroma of fried dough, Italian sausage, and roasting peanuts while bumping into thousands of beaming Sox fans. After the year we had been through, a championship felt inevitable, and the streets were full of confidence. We picked up dinner at Tasty Burger and headed to the only to the seats we could afford, on our sofa, and turned on the television.
We stayed up late for every game. By the time game 6 rolled around, we were exhausted but confident. The Sox were back at home. Of course they would win the World Series at Fenway, Boston Strong signs waving in the stands. We made sure we were home safe and sound well before the end of the game, and popped open a bottle of champagne when Koji threw the final strikeout to win the game, and opened our windows to catch the roar from Fenway.
Three days later, we tuned in on TV to see the World Series victory parade festivities at Fenway, then biked to the Cambridge side of the esplanade to catch the water portion of the duck boat parade.
Since the parade, I've been keeping my eye on the calendar for today: the Sox home opener. We don't have tickets to a slew of games this year, but I know I'll still be watching. And when the green line is packed with a sea of red and navy, I'll just remember how much fun it is to sit in the sunshine, eat Tasty Burger and soft serve ice cream out of a miniature Sox helmet, and see my team come together and win the World Series for the city they love so much. Go Sox!