I lived in New England 5 different times before my 30th birthday. Despite living away from New England for longer than i actually lived there, i have been a rabid Red Sox fan for two thirds of my life, since late one October night in 1975. It's not the players, or the won/loss record or even, to a lesser degree, the city. I am a fan of the team.
Since at the moment there aren't any players who i am devoted to, i was given to wondering, just what ties me to this team, outside of my happy memories of New England and painful memories of several post-seasons? Often it was indeed players: Marty Barrett, Dewey, The Spaceman, Fisk, Oil Can, Yaz, to name only the most significant. With each of these players, i wondered if i would continue to be so passionate in my devotion to The Townies when he retired, was traded (or discarded). In each case, sad as i was to see them go, my loyalty remained fully intact.
The conclusion i have come to is that, currently, as well as the entire two decades i have been a fan, my favorite player on the Red Sox is the ballpark. I cannot imagine following, or even caring about a team, that played in the 'Gorman Dome' out in Newton or whatever -- or even a wonderful Camden Yards style ballpark in the city.
Fenway Park is the Red Sox. It is a deeply moving experience to just walk through a tunnel into the magnificent green ballpark. I still remember when my prep school English teacher (in Maine) asked us to tell him what was beautiful to us. I immediately shouted out "Fenway Park". All the other guys giggled, but i was too proud to even be embarrassed.
I now only get the opportunity to attend a ballgame in at the church of baseball in Boston every couple of years; i don't have to go to a 80 year old ballpark daily, or not go, due to availability of tickets. And while i don't have the intimate knowledge of how nice, perhaps, a new stadium might be, i cannot see any legitimate reason for moving from Fenway; it would be worse than... trading Clemens. Or Ruth.
The Red Sox without Fenway -- just wouldn't be an interesting, enjoyable team. I suspect i would just lose interest. I don't think it would be betraying my beloved, i think they just wouldn't exist anymore.
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Wed, 30 Mar 94 02:18 EST Jeffrey Scott Kreisler
Well put. I never really thought of how
much the park makes this team. I'll be honest, I've always, always, always
loved and cherished Fenway, but I think I've taken it for granted as being the
one true constant in Red Sox baseball. As much as I'm love following Mo and
Clemens etc..., I think you're right when you say its the park that makes it
special. I cant get as into a televised game on the road as I do all games at
Fenway. Is it the mystique? the chance that something very strange will happen?
the history? Who knows.
Once again, well put Mark. You gave us
something to think about and reminded us how lucky we are to be Red Sox fans.
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Wed, 30 Mar 94 11:19 PST Jad DeFanti
Power to you both; I'd like to third the
motion. If anyone else out there isn't convinced, try going to games regularly
at other parks, and you'll find that Fenway is one of the last "Field of
Dreams".
Since Mark has already stated so eloquently
what's special about Fenway, I won't bother to restate it here. Thank God
baseball started on the East Coast.
