The Red Sox were in Houston this past week for a three game series, and I attended two of the games. I enjoy seeing games at Minute Maid Park in Houston, but it can’t compare to Fenway Park, one of my favorite places on earth.
My baseball memories start at an earlier age. I was five years old the first time my dad took me to Fenway Park. My most vivid recollections from that game are of everything being so green… the stadium itself, of course the huge wall in left field, and walking out of the concourse and seeing the green, green grass.
It wasn’t the friendly Fenway that we know now. Part of the reason seeing the field for the first time made such an impact was because the concourse areas were so dark. The concourses reeked of stale beer, dirt and urine. It seemed like there was a fight at every game. Still, for me Fenway was love at first sight.
I saw a grand slam in my very first game, hit by an unlikely player. Gary Allenson only hit 19 career home runs, all with the Red Sox, and only two grand slams. I was present for one of them on my very first trip to a professional baseball game. When I looked closely at Gary Allenson’s baseball card, I noticed he and I shared a birthday. This coincidence seemed only right for a baseball obsessed kid like me.
I’ll always remember my first visit to Fenway. Photo by Kelly O’Connor
With the wonder of Baseball Reference, I can actually go back and find the date of that first game. It was September 23, 1981 and Frank Tanana started for the Sox against the Milwaukee Brewers. I had always thought that Allenson hit the grand slam against the Angels, but it turns out I was remembering a different game from 1982 that I also attended.
My dad grew up outside of Boston and was a huge Red Sox fan. I’ve been a Red Sox fan for as long as I can remember, so he did a good job of raising me. I think of him every time I go to a game, although those memories are bittersweet now. He passed away in 2003, a little over a year before the Red Sox won the World Series for the first time in 86 years. I still wish he had been able to see it.
I also think of my brother when I go to games, and remember how many he’s been at with me. I asked him one time if he remembered how he became a Red Sox fan. He said he didn’t have a choice, if he hadn’t liked the Red Sox he wouldn’t have had anything to talk about with me and our Dad.
My brother and his wife just had a baby boy, and now going to a game makes me think about seeing a Red Sox game with my brother and my nephew when he’s old enough.
I’ve already converted my wife and daughter. They got to see Fenway Park for the first time in 2004, although we had already been to Red Sox games in Baltimore. My daughter was five when she went to her first game, and her favorite player was number five, Nomar Garciaparra. He signed a ball for her at her first Sox game, a moment she will always remember.
These memories of baseball are what make the game so special to me. It’s all the years of rooting for the Red Sox, of collecting baseball cards, of looking up boxscores in the newspaper or now online. Each game brings back a specific time in my life, and each new game is different because my life keeps changing.
Experiencing these games with my family and friends has kept baseball fresh and new for my each season. You also never know what you might see when you attend a game. I’ve gone to games for over 30 years, and this year I’ve seen live a player hit for the cycle and a umpire allow a manager make two pitching changes without the first pitcher facing a batter.
Every time I attend a game I try to remember to savor the time with the people I care about. Baselball has always been in my life, and memories of the game are intertwined with memories of my family. Each time I go, I remember the wonder and awe I felt seeing Fenway for the first time at five years old.