Take me out to the Ballgame

My favorite team growing up in Houston was the Cardinals because the Houston Buffaloes was their farm team. It was fitting I got a picture of a cardinal since we were going to Fenway to a Red Sox game.

There was even a red goblet and mug worth imaging today.


So off we rode with Jim Driving to the game through Boston...


... and it's plethora of brick apartment/condo buildings...


... with a few bikers riding alongside...


... some churches like this stone covered synagogue.


Some of the architecture was old but beautiful with rounded sections...


... that must be great for the views afforded the resident.


Suddenly there it was the edifice that symbolizes the hopes and dreams...


... of young baseball players - Fenway Park.


As Doreen and Sharyn walked onto ...


... Yawkey Way and the entrance, Jim and I waited for Michelle and her friend Taylor.


Waiting was an interesting experience watching the traffic...


... on Brookline at Yawkey Way as well as hundreds of frenzied fans of the Sox.


Walking in behind Taylor, I got as shot of her ticket being scanned by and official...



... the crowded pedestrian street ...


... full of sports gift stores like the curio shops of Red Sox ...


... a great street band and ...


... a tall Sox guy on stilts.


Of course there was the balloon man and ...


... the always present food booths.


Then we were inside and a look at the field ...


... that was as exciting as the first visit years ago.


As the players warmed up we could see the date August 18, 2010.


Walking to the box seats we could see "The Baseball Tavern" a local landmark...


... much like the Citgo sign.


The Honor guard came onto the field with the flags ...


... and the singer of the night sang the national anthem.

Baseball is something dear to me for so many reasons and I love some of the movies about baseball because they are always tied to life and living. Because of this I'll add quotes from some of my favorites for awhile.

"What new rules? There hasn't been any rules changes since the Black Sox Scandal, 1919. Big League Tegwar's Big League Tegwar known to every big-time ballplayer from Boston to California." ~ Phil Foster as Joe Jaros in "Bang the Drum Slowly"

What does TEGWAR mean The Exciting Game Without Any Rules

"My life didn't turn out the way I expected." ~ Robert Redford as Roy Hobbs in "The Natural"

Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer. ~Ted Williams

"Haywood swings and crushes this one toward South America. Tomlinson is gonna need a Visa to catch this one, it is out of here, and there is nothing left but a vapor trail" ~ Bob Uker as Harry Doyle in the movie "Major League"

"This quitting thing, it's a hard habit to break once you start. " ~Walter Matthau as Morris Buttermaker in "Bad News Bears"

"You get out there, and the stands are full and everybody's cheerin'. It's like everybody in the world come to see you. And inside of that there's the players, they're yakkin' it up. The pitcher throws and you look for that pill... suddenly there's nothing else in the ballpark but you and it. Sometimes, when you feel right, there's a groove there, and the bat just eases into it and meets that ball. When the bat meets that ball and you feel that ball just give, you know it's going to go a long way. Damn, if you don't feel like you're going to live forever." John Cusack as Buck Weaver in "Eight Men Out"

"Remember kid, there's heroes and there's legends. Heroes get remembered but legends never die, follow your heart kid, and you'll never go wrong." ~ Art LaFleur as "The Babe" in "The Sandlot"

"I never got to bat in the major leagues. I would have liked to have had that chance. Just once. To stare down a big league pitcher. To stare him down, and just as he goes into his windup, wink. Make him think you know something he doesn't. That's what I wish for. Chance to squint at a sky so blue that it hurts your eyes just to look at it. To feel the tingling in your arm as you connect with the ball. To run the bases - stretch a double into a triple, and flop face-first into third, wrap your arms around the bag." ~ Burt Lancaster as Doc Graham in "Field of Dreams"

Fenway Park is special only a few ball parks not only have great fans but this kind of time honored tradition ...


The sun set over the stadium must have signaled the uprising ...


... egged on by the fans...


... because after being behind the Red Sox rallied like so many teams of the past.

"People have to live their own lives. Nobody can live it for you. Nobody could have made a baseball player out of Uncle Otto, and nobody can make anything but a baseball player out of me." ~ Gary Cooper as Lou Gehrig in "Pride of the Yankees"

Making a perfect field the grounds keepers were great...


... and the photographers and press had long lenses I envied greatly.

"Know what the difference between hitting .250 and .300 is? It's 25 hits. 25 hits in 500 at bats is 50 points, okay? There's 6 months in a season, that's about 25 weeks. That means if you get just one extra flare a week - just one - a gorp... you get a groundball, you get a groundball with eyes... you get a dying quail, just one more dying quail a week... and you're in Yankee Stadium." ~ Kevin Costner as Crash Davis in "Bull Durham"

There are the close calls like this one and tonight he was safe.


Have you ever been hit by a 92mph fastball? This one helped win the game.

Are you crying? Are you crying? ARE YOU CRYING? There's no crying! THERE'S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL! ~ Tom Hanks as Jimmy Dugan in the movie "A League of their Own"

The view of Boston at night was pretty special from the walkway at Fenway.


Fans sit in the crowd seeing themselves winning the game.

Game over: Red Sox 7, Angels 5

Papelbon locked it down for his 30th save. He struck out Kendrick and Napoli before pinch hitter Erick Aybar struck out looking. Sox pitchers did not allow a hit in the final four innings.

Thank you Hamilton Brook Smith Reynolds for the hospitality and a great time at Fenway - great hosts for a great game.


Go Red Sox

Quote of the Day ~

"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." ~A. Bartlett Giamatti, "The Green Fields of the Mind,"