Opening Day

Ashley and I had tickets to opening day at Fenway Park which was originally scheduled for last Monday afternoon. She had spent Sunday night at our place and we were just getting ready to head downtown on Monday when word came through that the game was postponed until Tuesday. Since she had to work on Tuesday, Doug bought her ticket and Ashley went home disappointed.

Tuesday morning, Ashley was moping around her office so they took pity on her and told her to take the afternoon off. Doug decided that since he already had the day off, he’d still go down to Fenway with us and try to score a ticket.

Doug and I got to Fenway in the early afternoon and decided to have lunch at the new House of Blues. We’ve never had a bad meal at any of the HOBs and this one was good too. After lunch, we took a walk around the park and Doug asked a few scalpers if they were selling single tickets. Only one guy had a single bleacher seat for $80. Even Ace Ticket didn’t have any singles available so Doug decided to buy the $80 ticket.

Meanwhile, Ashley took the train to the park and we met up with her right outside the gates. While we were waiting for her, a police escorted caravan of vans pulled up right next to us. We thought we had a great vantage point to get a glimpse of who we assumed would be Ted Kennedy arriving to throw out the first pitch. The crowd was buzzing… until the Boston Pops piled out of the vans. It quickly became obvious who was scheduled to perform the National Anthem.

We entered the park about an hour before the game and went right up to our seats in the Roof Box to enjoy the pre-game festivities. We sat up there once last year and it’s really not a bad view.

The player introductions were uniquely presented – they all entered the field by walking through the stands, high-fiving fans along the way. Ted Kennedy threw out the ceremonial first pitch to Jim Rice. Kennedy was obviously having fun as he bounced a short toss to Rice, then requested a second throw and hit Rice's mitt on the second try. Fun fact: When Fenway Park opened in April of 1912, Ted Kennedy's grandfather, John Fitzgerald, threw out the first pitch. To cap off the opening ceremonies, four F-15 fighter jets flew over the park.

The game was a keeper -- Josh Beckett threw seven innings of two-hit ball, Dustin Pedroia kicked off his season with a first-inning homer, Jason Varitek hit a Pesky Pole-bending homer, every member of the Sox lineup except Jacoby Ellsbury managed at least one hit, and Jonathan Papelbon sealed the deal in the 9^th.

A great kick-off to what should be another fantastic season. Doug and I will be back at Fenway next week and then we have standing-room Green Monster seats for later in the season.