i completely missed the boat..

"Hours ago there was only one row between me and Fenway dirt. I could hear every obscenity that came out of Petey's mouth when he didnt get it done tonight. And I could hear the clap of his hands from 2nd when he did."

whoops. so, friday afternoon, i received an email from a housemate who said she had a "really good" free red sox ticket that I could have. apparently, someone she works with had 4 extras and my housemate claimed one for me. i'm not picky about my sox tickets, so i said yes and got really excited. upon arriving home (where i was going to pick up my ticket) I discovered that this seat was indeed a "really good" seat... a field box seat down the left field line. those suckers are expensive, if you dont know.
i get myself over to the park as fast as the mbta can take me, and am partaking in my typical routine of watching pregame happenings from next to the media pit down the 1st base line, watching the dugout fill and the dirt being raked and the sun gleaming (for once)... and nobody comes to kick me out of the seat i'm leaning against... and they're announcing the lineup, and still noone comes... and the players are running out onto the field, and i've sat down at this point so as not to look conspicuous, and still noone comes! so there i am, in dugout seating, with just one row in front of me, and the game has begun. i've done this plenty of times before- and the first hour is a bit nervewracking, because anyone who walks by me in the aisle could be the guy who's coming to claim his rightful spot where i'm sitting. granted, being in the second row, most people who are coming by me are vendors or waiters (yes, dugout seats, woohoo... in-seat waiter service, not that i took advantage of this). and in fact, i've only gone for a complete game in an elite-but-not-mine seat 3 or 4 times before (down in the fieldbox section).. so whenever i get the chance to sit so close, i consciously enjoy every moment, every blade of grass that i can see, every conversation from the field that i can pick up. on friday night, i enjoyed every moment of that game in the most vivid way possible. definitely in the top 5 for best seats i've sat in. i couldnt believe how many open dugout seats there were... i shared about 10 of them with two other vultures like myself.
Lester pitched admirably. Petey drove in the deciding (and only) run with a trademark double off the monster.


Paw Sox.. what a day to be at the park. It was stunningly sunny, not cool and not hot, and McCoy features an overhang that extends over almost all of the seating area down the 1st and 3rd base lines. we lost, but that tends to happen a lot in Pawtucket. after the game was over, i caught beckett pitching the last out of his shutout complete game 100th career win on a tv in the concourse. whew. what a way to hit a milestone.