My dad and I went to the game last night at Fenway. It is tough to say why it is better to be there in person vs. watching on television. I guess it is the feeling of being a part of the game vs. just a spectator. My dad and I still have the remnants of Little League cheering in us where we constantly produce chatter for every pitcher and batter. "Come 'on Wake". "Let's go Belly - big at bat", "David - you got it!". At some level we believe they hear these cheers and hit home runs, pitch strikes, and feel good about themselves.

We went extra early walking over to the park from my condo at about 7PM. We marvelled at the potential price of our $190 tickets in Section 13 Box 106 Row MM Seat 3. My dad got them at face value because he splits season tickets with a group of people from MIT and they all got to pick which playoff games to take tickets in. He picked Game 1 and Game 7 of the World Series figuring that this was our year.

The stadium was already full of people an hour before game time. We had to fight through the crowd to get our Hill Top steak tips subs, my Guiness and my dad's Harp. As we walked through the crowd along the walkway on the first base line I overheard two people talking near the handicapped section. One man was glad that the handicapped person's seats were good. The handicapped man was glad that his friend also had good seats although he quipped "For 4 grand you should be able to sit anywhere you want."

We settled into our seats to watch a Steven Tyler do a great rendition of the National Anthem after the Drop Kick Murphy's sang Tessie with the sexy girl who sweeps the bases in a miniskirt danced on stage with them. Five F-16s blazed overhead at the finish of the anthem. The first inning went well. Wakefield was pitching well and the Sox belted three runs in.

At the bottom of the first confusion struck and people in our section were suddenly all uncertain if they were sitting in the right aisle. The problem is that Fenway doesn't clearly mark the rows well enough to determine whether you are in the right row or not. Letters like MM, NN, or KK are written in the concrete steps. It was clear that something was wrong because there was an entire empty row in front of everyone and four people were without seats. My dad and I were sure that the people in KK were sitting in LL so we moved into KK which was a four seat upgrade for us and made space for everyone else. Throughout the game we could hear murmurs from behind us justifying that the people behind us thought they were in the right row. We didn't care where we were as long as we were watching game one of the world series in Fenway park.

The Sox grabbed a big lead scoring seven runs in the first three innings. It looked like a great game for Wakefield to just hold the Cardinals. But Walker was getting a hit every at bat and the Cardinals kept creeping back into it. Wakefield faltered in the fifth and walked the bases loaded. When Arroyo relieved him he made a throwing error to first base and let all three runs score. The game actually was tied at 7. Russell, an eight year old sitting next to us offered us some Cracker Jacks. He is the son of a friend of my dad's from the lab. He kept trying to stay awake near midnight but he was too tired so he faded in and out of sleep as the game progressed. After the game he wanted to take home a sign someone had left on the ground made by an insurance company as a promotion that had a picture of a dead cardinal on it. At one point the Cards had far more runs than hits and the Sox finished the game with 4 errors.

Kelly Clarkson butchered God Bless America. Tessie or the girl who sweeps the bases came out with a mini-Tessie, a little girl who could barely throw the balls into the crowd. The Sox scored two and I thought we had the game won. The Cards scored two to tie it at the top of the eighth. Finally Bellhorn put it away with a two run home run that hit the fence on the right field pole. Foulke closed it out and the Sox had put game one in the bank.

If I need to go next week to Game 7 Halloween I will still have my tux from the wedding and I will go in some costume based on a tuxedo. Sandy, my dad's friend will go as Louis Tiant, her favorite Red Sox player and her Halloween costume throughout her youth.