Game #11-Fenway Park-Oldest MLB Stadium-Red Sox vs. Blue Jays

What a fantastic visit to Boston! Jim and I were able to connect with family who live in Boston and had a great visit. We had dinner at my cousin's house where we enjoyed visiting with cousin Katrina and husband Erik, their children Sophia and Felix and my Uncle Phil and Aunt Linda. They certainly made us feel welcome with Felix entertaining us on the keyboard as we arrived and an absolutely fabulous seafood dinner! The day of the ballgame, Wednesday, May 3 we were thankful for Uncle Phil taking us to the train station so we could take the public transportation, the best way to get to Fenway Park. We arrived to Fenway Park at 4pm to take the stadium tour. We met with Dave the tour guide who gave a very detailed account of the history of Fenway Park. Fenway Park is the oldest Major League Baseball park opening in 1912. The ballpark had a major rennovation in 1934 and some more recent renovations and modifications. One of the features that really scream "I'm an old ballpark," is the hand-operated scoreboard. Seeing this really brought back memories of attending baseball games as a child. The scoreboard is updated by hand from behind the "Green Monster" wall. The upper deck of the ballpark was added in 1946 which included adding the needed large steel pillars which obstruct some of the views. In 1947 the lights were added to Fenway Park. In 1976 the first electronic message board was added over the centerfield bleachers. In 2000 a large video display was added in center field. Seats were added to the "Green Monster" in 2003. For years there have been talks of building a new Fenway Park which has been met with loads of controversy. In 2010 Fenway Park underwent a major renovation headed by Janet Marie Smith, Red Sox Vice President of Planning and Development. The Boston Globe called Smith, "the architect credited with saving Fenway Park." It is reported that Fenway Park remains usable until as late as 2062. After visiting the park and sitting in those uncomfortable yet historical seats while seeing the scoreboard changed manually, I hope this park never changes! Please keep this piece of baseball history as it is! A funny story we were told is when pitcher Roger Clemens arrived to Boston for the first time he took a taxi from the airport and was certain the driver misunderstood the directions when he thought he was bring dropped off at a warehouse. The driver pointed to the light towers of the ballpark and said no this is a ballpark. I can't describe the feeling I had when I saw the "Green Monster" for the first time! That giant left field GREEN wall is huge and felt even larger when we were taken to the terrace-style seats on top of the wall. We sat up in the seats of the Green Monster and watched batting practice hoping to catch a fly ball. One person in our tour group did catch a fly ball. Another feature at this park is the lone red seat in the right field bleachers, all the other seats are green. The red seat signifies the longest homerun hit by Ted Williams on June 9, 1946 which officially measured 502 feet. It is told that the ball hit a man on top of his head and he said, "How far must one sit to be safe in this park?" The right field foul pole is named "Pesky's Pole" after Johnny Pesky who was a light-hitting player for the Red Sox in the 1940's having hit just 6 home runs near the pole. The left-field pole was named Fisk Foul Pole in honor of Carlton Fisk. In Game 6 of the 1975 World Series with the score tied at 6 in the 12th inning, Fisk hit a long fly ball down the left field line. The ball appeared to be going foul when Fisk threw his hands in the air motioning for it to go right and the ball ricocheted off the foul pole winning the game for the Red Sox. See the pictures on our Instagram of the many beautiful and historic features of this ballpark. @ourfieldofdreams2023. The tour of the ballpark was rich with history and a time alloted for us to go on the field to watch players warming up and batting practice. While we were touring the ballpark of course Jim always looks for someone to ask, "What's the best hot dog to eat in this park?" We were told the Jumbo Fenway Frank was the best option for Jim's review. We found our way through the food concourse which has very low ceilings and dark concrete hallways. I just kept thinking about all the millions of people who have walked this concourse in search of a hot dog. We finally found the Jumbo Fenway Frank and I was even talked into getting one by the server. We made our way to the seats and Jim did his review with historic Fenway Park as a backdrop. He gave the Jumbo Fenway Frank a 7.0. I actually enjoyed the hot dog too! The drink of choice for us was HOT CHOCOLATE as it was a very chilly night. Ten dollars for a hot chocolate seemed reasonable in this cold weather. I think the Canadians brought the cold weather as there were many Blue Jays fans in the stadium. What was extremely interesting in this ballpark was the amount of food vendors in the aisleways. There was a steady steam of vendors selling food and drinks. The hot chocolate vendor was my favorite and I felt sorry for the ice cream vendor! Now on to the game. The Red Sox have been on a winning streak having won the last four games. The first score of the game came in the 2nd inning when Blue Jays Daulton Varsho homered. 1-0 Toronto. Then in the 3rd inning a rocket was launched by Blue Jays Vladimir Guerrero Jr. He hit a 450 foot homerun! 2-0 Toronto. It wasn't long for the Red Sox to answer back scoring two runs in the bottom of the 4th inning. Red Sox Jarren Duran and Triston Casas both gaining RBIs. Score now tied at 2 each. Then in the top of the 5th inning Blue Jays Kevin Kiermaier scored on a balk and the Red Sox fans went crazy! I have never heard that loud of booing! Score now 3-2 Toronto. That certainly brought some fire in the bellies of the Red Sox players because in the bottom of 5th they came out swinging. Red Sox and former Dodger Justin Turner hit a double that was close to a homerun. Bases were loaded when Triston Casas hit a single bringing in a run. Score tied at 3 a piece. There were two outs but the Red Sox were not done yet. Emmanuel Valdez hit a single bringing in two runs. The inning ended with the Red Sox up over the Blue Jays 5-3. The Blue Jays would not score again but the Red Sox had to put an exclamation point on this win adding 3 more runs. In the 6th inning Masataka Yoshida hit a screamer to hit the pitcher (OUCH) bringing in a run. Score 6-3 Red Sox. Then in the 7th inning Masataka Yoshida once again scored an RBI with a hard-hit double. Score 7-3 Red Sox. Finally in the bottom of the 8th inning, Enrique Hernandez singles driving in the final run of the game. Final score 8-3 Red Sox. We actually left the game in the 8th inning because I could not feel my toes and it began raining. I never like to leave games early but I felt like I would soon be treating frostbite if I didn't. We watched the last inning on our phone while making our way to the train station. All in all it was an absolutely magnificent experience to see a game in historic Fenway Park! And did I mention they should NEVER get rid of that ballpark! Next stop Pittsburg to see the Pittsburg Pirates take on the Toronto Blue Jays. I certainly hope those Canadians don't bring that cold weather. If they do I plan to be prepared. Until next time PLAY BALL!