Random Red Sox memories...

As the Red Sox face a critical game six tonight, I thought I'd put down on the page some of my memories from a long time of being a Sox fan:

-First game attended at Fenway: if memory serves correctly, it was 1983, and I went with my dad to see the Sox play the A's on a Saturday afternoon. It was Yaz's last season. We sat behind home plate on the first base side, up about halfway. I don't remember much, but I seem to remember Yaz coming in as a pinch hitter in the late innings.

-My first big trip into Boston without my folks was in high school, when two friends and I went to see the Sox on a weekday afternoon, and sat along the left field line. I can't remember who they played, but I remember yelling at Mike Greenwell all afternoon...

-It's not every day you get to witness history, even if it was made by the opposing team. The whole family went up to see the Sox play the Twins on a weeknight (My brother was always a big Kirby Puckett fan), and the Red Sox managed to hit into two triple plays, soomething that had never been done before, and hasn't since. They did manage to win the game at least. :)

-I've proably seen the Sox at Camden Yards more often than anywhere else, which has led to some fun memories, including both games of a doubleheader, teaching an Englishman some of the finer points of the game from the left field nosebleed section, and my favorite:

-Cal Ripken's last game. When Cal decided to retire at the end of the 2001 season, his last game was supposed to happen at Yankee Stadium. I had tickets to the last Orioles-Sox series, which was scheduled for the middle of September. Because of what happened on September 11th that year, many of the games that week were bumped. And the game I had tickets for was bumped to the very last day of the season. It's weird how fate works sometimes.

It was a very odd game- there were lots of speeches beforehand (including Bill Clinton, which brought about the very odd sight of secret service sharpshooters on the roof of a sports stadium), and for the first time in a long time, the seats at an Orioles-Sox game were mostly held by Orioles fans. The Sox won, which made it easier to sit through even more speeches afterwards, and all of the celebrations.

-Then of course, there's the little memories. I remember exactly where I was when the ball went through Buckner's legs, and where I was when the Sox won game four in St. Louis. And the names- Oil Can, El Guapo, Dewey, Nomah, and Papi.

You can't give up on your team when you've got this kind of history, can you? Nope.

Go Sox!