Task 33 - Catch 2 Live Sporting Events (Boston Red Sox vs. Baltimore Orioles)

(33) Catch 2 Live Sporting Events (3/2)

Last night the Boston Red Sox hosted their second game of the season at Fenway Park against the Baltimore Orioles. We arrived at Yawkey Way about 6:00 and grabbed a couple Fenway Franks before taking to our seats in Field Box 37. As start time drew closer it was obviously not a packed stadium. I had heard rumors before coming out that the Boston Red Sox’s streak of sold-out home games was coming to an end and it showed.

We settled into our seats as the players began warming up. It didn’t take long before the festivities of a pregame ritual ran their course with the ceremonial first pitch and the amazing Star Spangled Banner being sung by a local school teacher. She did a fantastic job.

There was a moment of silence before the game for Dave O’Hara, the former New England sports editor for the Associated Press in Boston, who died Tuesday at the age of 86. Even the jumbotron went black as a gesture of respect.

With all of that done the game and the rain started like clockwork at 7:10 pm. The game got off to a pretty slow start with Baltimore Orioles scoring 1 run in the first inning. Boston managed to tie it up in the second and take a small 3-1 lead in the third. The Orioles fought back in the fourth to tie the game up and as the fourth inning ended the skies really started to open up and the rain came down hard.

While we were having a great time the weather got the best of us and we decided to call it a night. Had the weather been better I am sure it would have been a far more enjoyable experience and we would have easily made it to the end of the game.

One thing I can’t resist commenting on is how expensive it is to attend a game. While our seats were pretty good they at $130 a ticket they weren’t cheap. With 4 of us in attendance it was $520 before we even left the house. Another $35 to park, $5 per Fenway Frank, $4.75 a soda and $7.25 a beer it was an over $600 dollar night pretty quickly. With prices like that it doesn’t surprise me that the Sell-out streak came to an end last night. With the economy still in rough shape I can’t understand how they have kept the stands so full for so long especially since the storied team is in a season of rebuilding after several season of high profile departures by some big name players.

It is a great experience for anyone who can afford to attend but for the average Joe it might be better to save your cash this season and watch from the comfort of home on your big screen TV.