Friday, September 23, 2011
Fenway Park book giveaway
Posted by Greg Simons*Today (Friday) is the last day to submit your story for consideration!
The good folks at St. Martin's Press have been kind enough to offer three copies of their new book, Fenway Park: The Centennial: 100 Years of Red Sox Baseball (reviewed by yours truly here) to The Hardball Times' readers.
And the powers that be at THT have allowed me to determine how the recipients of those three copies will be determined.
Let's keep this simple. In the comments below, post your favorite Fenway- or Red Sox-related story. It might be an in-person account of a trip to the ballpark, a particularly memorable game you saw on TV, or perhaps a made-up scenario you have always dreamed about (a Red Sox-Cubs World Series, for example).
The three best stories—as determined by this unbiased, non-Bosox fan judge—will have their very own copies of Fenway Park: The Centennial sent their way.
Greg Simons finally, sadly has conceded that he won't have an MLB playing career. However, in his dreams, he's still the second coming of Ozzie Smith. Please don't wake him up, though you can e-mail him at gregbsimons AT yahoo DOT com.
I grew up in Maine, so it was pretty easy to decide who I was rooting for. Red Sox mania has been around for as long as I remember - in fourth grade the school PA system gave regular updates during the Bucky Bleeping Dent game.
Right around this time, my parents took us to our very first game at Fenway Park. It was also our first trip to Boston, so taking the subway and seeing Quincy Market was almost as fun. I don’t remember who played or won, but I do remember the wooden seats and getting to touch the Green Monster.
When I went to college in Boston, the Sox were in the doldrums and tickets were much easier to get than today (and we walked uphill both ways to classes in the snow, too). My roommates and I caught an afternoon game sitting right behind the bullpen. When the announcer mentioned that the second game of the double-header would start in a couple hours (we had no idea), we just wandered around below for awhile, then went further up into the bleachers to catch the night game.
When Pedro came to town, I was lucky to get tickets with a few friends one afternoon when he was pitching against the A’s. Miguel Tejada (I think) hit a foul ball, and after bouncing off someone else’s hands ended up in mine. A PEDROBALL!!! I had it for all of 30 seconds, until a young kid came over and asked for it. You have no idea how hard it was to give that up. I still wonder if I did the right thing (well, not really, but still - a PEDROBALL!)
Sorry for the stream of consciousness. Looking forward to seeing other stories.