Fenway Pahk and the Green Monstah
On Friday, June 14th I made the drive from Connecticut to Boston for a very important game: the first Red Sox-Yankees match up of the season. I was lucky enough to get to sit on the Green Monster the entire game. For those of you who don’t know the Green Monster is the big wall in the left field of Fenway. It was erected when the stadium was built in 1912 to keep outside spectators from seeing into the park. Now it is known for turning short fly balls into home runs and home runs into singles.
My night started with my friend, Ben Wagner, as we walked around Fenway and stopped at a bar before the game. We decided to go to the Bleacher Bar which is under the Fenway bleachers. From the bar you can see players and pitchers warming up in the outfield. We saw Red Sox relievers like Kenley Jansen and Brennan Bernadino and starter Brayan Bello play catch ahead of the game. It was scary how many Yankees fans were at the bar and I was very annoyed when they started playing “New York, New York” by Frank Sinatra. Sorry, this is a Red Sox bar, PLAY DIRTY WATER!
Ben and I made sure to get into the stadium as soon as we could because we had standing room only seats. We were not guaranteed a good spot on the monster, in fact we kept commenting on the people who had to stand a row or two behind others. We ended up getting a spot on a table right in the middle of the monster. The vibes were spectacular, but then there was lightning…
We were asked to leave the Monster during a rain delay, mind you they had moved this game up so Boston fans could watch the Celtics in game 4 of the NBA Finals (which is a performance we’re gonna ignore). We refused to let our spots that we came in so early for go to someone else, so we waited right by the entrance to the Monster until we were let back on. And finally, the rain gave up and baseball was underway.
The night did not go well for the Red Sox (or the Celtics). Juan Soto smoked a wall-ball double off of Bello for his first hit in Fenway as a Yankee. And two batters later, Alex Verdugo launched a first-pitch home run to dead center after being greeted with loud boos as he walked up. Sadly the Red Sox did not recover the rest of the night.
As the night went on and the Sox’s deficit increased fans in front of us began to leave. By the 9th inning Ben and I had made our way to the front row of the Monster. And right after we got up there Jose Trevino, the catcher for the Yankees, hit a home-run right over our heads. We ended up on the game highlights!
The Sox had the last laugh of the weekend as they went on to win Saturday and Sunday, taking the series. The icing on the cake is the Red Sox stole a franchise record 9 stolen bases against Trevino on Sunday night.
Being able to experience Fenway from up on the Monster was truly unbelievable. I’m still disappointed with the outcome of the game, but it was nice to cross that one off the bucket list. Now I just need to go back and sit up on the wall when the Red Sox win one!
