Fear and Loathing on Patriot Day Weekend

Jason Varitek is familiar with the Emerald City. (SawxBlog Illustration)

We were somewhere around Yawkey Way on the edge of the ballpark when the Bud Light began to take hold. There’s nothing quite like witnessing a corral of Red Sox fans drinking two beers at a time near 9:00 AM on a Monday morning. But thus is the fantastic tradition that is Patriots Day, and in such is a snap shot of a weekend filled with Boston Sports and booze. But I’m getting a bit ahead of myself here, as this story begins back on Friday evening, where you’ll find me at quarter to six with SONY headphones strapped to my skull, and walking to the nostalgic stomp of a band name “Deer Tick”.

Boston’s best view may very well take place while walking across the Harvard Bridge on Mass Ave looking East, and this especially holds true while en route to your first Sox game of the season. The sun reflects off golden downtown skyscrapers and the Charles scurries with sails boats and Crew teams. With the Citgo sign serving as a beacon, there's no doubt what city in America you're in. So these were the positive vibrations I was faced with as I trudged forward to meet some friends at Cornwall’s in Kenmore Square. Of all the bars to meander into around Kenmore before a Sox game, my top three would be:


1. Cornwalls
2. Who’s On First
3. O’Learys

Honorable Mention: Baseball Tavern, Beacon Street Tavern, Great Bay, Lower Depths, & Boston Billiards (R.I.P)

These bars will feature fewer tourists then the likes of the Cask ‘N’ Flaggon, Game On, or Boston Beer Works, and there’ll be no line to get in, and a short line to get served. Who’s On First may indeed be to the coolest of the three because you feel like Al Capone circa the Prohibition Period as you find yourself walking down industrial style alley ways to get into the back entrance. Located just off of Brookline Ave. and down Overland St. you’re greeted with a townie vibe, sticky floors, and a whole hell of a lot of Red Sox paraphernalia. You can also enter with ticket in hand into the park right on Yawkey Way, and it's the only place in the park you can get served hard alcohol. These facts are most useful in times of rain delays or Yankee games.

Cornwall’s is a pub done in the English sense with a broader choice of beer and the option of bar games such as pool and darts. This was my destination and while walking down Comm Ave and glancing down the impossible occurred. There were two Red Sox tickets just lying there on the ground, waiting for me to pick them up, and pick them up I did. I was in disbelief and had the same sort of shock and wonder on my face as if I’d just seen a unicorn driven by a leperacaun fly by the Citgo sign on its way towards Allston. Madness. These type of things just don’t happen around here, but I was not one to complain, so I called Jeannine, had her jump on the next train to Kenmore, and walked into Cornwall’s to meet Kris, Dan, and Josh.

Walking into Fenway for the first time of the year is a festival of senses. First it’s the smells outside the park that hit you as the potent sausage, peanuts, and hotdogs permeate the air and nose. Then you have the chirping squawks of scalpers entering your ears as your auditory becomes engulfed with people yelling about programs, Jesus, tickets, and of course, the Sawx. Lastly the visuals finally start to kick in for you as the red and blue blur together and it’s almost as if you’re seeing through a purple haze. As you ascend those last few steps with the view of the field finally creeping into vision, you’re engulfed in the emerald city, and finally know what it would feels like to be Dorothy. This isn’t Oz though, it’s Heaven, or as others like to call it, Fenway Park, and you’ve finally arrived.

There was a whole long weekend of this, culminating with the bogus rain out of last night, and is right now, just too much to put down for posterity, but if you've never witnessed Boston on this sacred weekend mark my words my friend, you're missing out.

Comments

[John]

Paints an awesome picture. Supposed to move to Boston from Baton Rouge at the end of this year. Can't wait to be in a Major League town.

[Derek Hixon]

Thanks John, really appreciate it. If you make the move you'll love it here, you may even be able to embrace the winter. Baton Rouge is nice from what I hear though, and you got that good cookin' down there as well :-)

[John]

I enjoy your blog. My soon to be fiancee got accepted to BU for grad school, so the move is inevitable. Food is pimp down here. Born and raised on it tho. Are tickets hard to get for the Sox games?

[John]

Thanks for the Facebook add, Derek. I enjoy your blog very much. Quite the day, eh? Two Red Sox wins and the Bruins are moving on up. I'm sure my friends at Professor Thom's in New York tonight were really enjoying the night!

[Erik]

I'm waiting with anticipation for a write up on Ortiz calling out Joba. I also want to read anti-Yankees propaganda labeling us as headhunters and how the franchise built a stadium with fans built into it to blow only Yankees balls over the fence. (but thats a totally different story) I want to read these things. haha Obviously I am rolling my eyes. And I mean Derek you know the numbers... look up how many Yankees batters have been hit over the past decade as opposed to Red Sox batters when we play each other. It's not even close. I find it amazing how that is so easily glossed over.

Heres to the rivalry, and hoping for a nice clean sweep by my Yankees. I do have a gut feeling Ortiz will hit his 1st HR of the season in the series though. It's only fitting. He'll prob hit it against Veras in a big spot in the bottom of the 7th. The Yankees will prob be up 5-4, and will then be down 6-5... and then Swisher will hit a 3 run double off the wall in the 8th. yeah thats it... I'm playing this out in my head. Nice.

PS. Bostondirtdogs blows. I feel like an 8th grader runs that site.