We got downtown early, in time to see Aunt Laila, who walked around the ballpark with us. We were there before gates were opened, and stood in line on the Boylston side of Yawkey Way for about a half hour, while we watched some stooges roll out a portable metal detector that was probably no more effective than wanding people.
When we got in, we went to the Souvenir Store and got Xan a new t-shirt (a green shirt that says Green Monster on it, get it?) and a pack of assorted baseball cards (he played with them for about an hour this morning - he got a 1990 Wade Boggs Fleer card). We then walked into the ballpark - he was very excited to finally go inside, as we've been on Yawkey Way outside of the ballpark a few times before. We ventured down the walkway behind home plate, and as we started down the concourse to right field while the Orioles were taking batting practice, I pointed out a few things -- the bases, where the Green Monster starts and ends, where our seats were, etc.
Our seats are out near the triangle in center field. They provide a great view of the entire ballpark, though you do have to stand up to see the big jumbotron, which is less of a big deal than you would imagine it being. Before we walked up to our seats, we got dinner -- Fenway Franks for each of us, and fries and a pretzel to split, and a large Poland Spring water. We settled into our seats and devoured our Fenway Franks, and then consumed the fries and pretzel. A meal heavy on carbohydrates, it was.
We still had just under an hour until game time, so we walked the underneath concourse some more. I went and showed him all the different logos the team has had over their century-plus of baseball -- his favorite was the block Red Sox, because it was one of the first words he learned how to spell. Then, we went and got a program, with a paper scorecard. I told the gentleman who sold them to us that it was my son's first game, and he instructed us to go to the information table, where they would give Xander some "first game" goodies. And they did -- a button, a sticker and a Red Sox Nation wristband. I didn't care much for the wristband, but the sticker, and especially the button, were great.
As we settled into our seats, we still had half an hour until first pitch. Xander busied himself with writing the names of his favorite players -- Xander Bogaerts, Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz -- on his scorecard. We also received our customary visit from my colleague, David Laurila.
After the national anthem, David headed back up to the press box, and the game began. In truth, Xander didn't pay a great deal of attention to things that weren't Pedroia, Ortiz or Bogaerts' plate appearances, and unfortunately, none of them obliged with a hit. Bogaerts produced a looping fly ball to the warning track in left, but otherwise this was another forgettable performance in what has been a forgettable season for the Sox.
After the third inning, we went and got ice cream. Xander got his first helmet ice cream -- vanilla -- and he finished it in the bottom of the fifth. Up to that point, the game was moving briskly, but in the sixth inning, Joe Kelly remembered that he was Joe Kelly, and the Orioles' promptly put a lengthy rally together. It more or less tuckered Xander out, who at that point became keen on heading home to see his mother. We stayed through the bottom of the sixth -- Pedroia and Ortiz were hitting one more time, and I had the faintest hope that one of them would do something memorable. Pedroia did, sort of -- he grounded into his second double play of the game (at least he hit the ball hard this time). After Ortiz struck out to end the frame, we got the folks behind us to take one more picture of us, and then we headed down the tunnel.
Underneath, we took pictures with a ceramic Wally -- Xander was a little bit of afraid of him, and had to be coaxed into sitting next to him, even though he loves Wally -- and with his favorite logo, and then we headed out to Gate A, through the parking lot on Brookline, and then up to Beacon Street towards the car.
At this juncture, Xander loves everything about baseball, the Red Sox and Fenway Park, except for the actual baseball itself. That will change in the coming years, and it will be fun to watch him grow, and grow with the game. But last night, it didn't matter. I got to take my son to Fenway Park.
