The Green Monster

I grew up in north suburban Chicago as a Cubs fan. Some of my fondest childhood memories were taking the L to Wriggly Field, home of the Chicago Cubs. We usually sat in the left field bleachers. The green vines on the outfield wall, mechanical scoreboard, the absence of lights so all games were played during the day. Heck, I can still recite the entire 1969 Cubs starting lineup! There was something about Wriggly that defined what baseball was all about and which established my love, and appreciation, of the game. There’s only one other ballpark that I felt had that same mystique (or curse), so when I had a chance to visit Fenway Park, I was all in.

We were passing through Boston this past fall on our way from Maine to Cape Cod. We could have made it a longer stop, but it wasn’t in the cards. However, I could not miss my chance to visit Fenway Park, the oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball. The season was long over (longer for the Red Sox) but the daily tours of the stadium were not. Finding public transportation from the Beacon Hill area to Fenway ended up being an unsolved mystery for us. We had a reserved tour time so we set off walking. We were going at a pretty fast clip and Shannon’s bum knee had enough, she could barely walk anymore. So now I was faced with the dilemma of missing the tour of Fenway or leaving Shannon behind on a Boston street corner. Thanks to Uber, I didn’t have to make that decision (divorce lawyer averted). We arrived at the stadium in just the nick of time.

Fenway was everything I expected and more. Our tour guide was literally a walking encyclopedia of everything Boston Red Sox, so we got all of the history. The feeling I had when entering the stadium was almost like walking into a postcard. It was surreal when often these experiences don’t quite live up to the expectations. It was a different than Wriggly but similar in some ways. It’s a historic major league baseball stadium that you feel like you’re part of the game rather than watching from a far away mezzanine. No foul territory down the lines, brings you closer to the action and the short left field makes you feel like any seat in the house is a good one.

My most memorable moment was getting a chance to sit in the first row in the left field bleachers, right on top of the 37-foot high Green Monster. Wow, so many historical baseball moments took place in that stadium and in that very spot. I could have sat there all day, but they would have probably put me to work – “peanuts, popcorn, cooold beer”!

Fenway is the original home of Babe Ruth, and ultimately the Curse of the Bambino when Babe was traded to the Yankees. And then there was Ted Williams, with the longest home run ever hit as Fenway. The 502 foot blast is still marked with a red seat in the right field bleachers. And then there’s Carl Yastrzemski, Roger Clemens, Cy Young, Carleton Fisk and more recently “Big Papi” aka David Ortiz. There’s so many great players that are synonymous with the Red Sox and Fenway Park.

We caped off the tour with a cold beer and bangers across the street at Lansdowne Pub while we waited for our Uber. This was a big check off the bucket list. Getting to visit both Wriggly Field and Fenway Park in my lifetime, is something special. Just don’t ask me which one is my favorite, as you will get a very biased answer.