Yankees 9 – Redsox 6

We left the hotel and stopped off for late tea at California Pizza Kitchen and then walked up to Fenway Park for 7pm. You could see people streaming in from all directions much the same as football in England. We found our seats with relative ease and they were superb just as advertised. There’s always a feeling of trepidation when you hand over the printed tickets purchased through an intermediary such as StubHub that they won’t scan at the gate and there were a few attempts on the first one. The seats were excellent – in line with 3rd base about 30 rows from the front – really close to the action. During the 6th inning break I went to get a beer only to be refused since I couldn’t provide id (I’ve still got my youthful looks!).

What a fantastic game – it had almost everything a good game could have in it – totally thrilling; runs scored through out; 15 runs  in total (a lot for baseball); 28 hits; both teams taking the lead; 2 home runs; double plays; batter hit by the pitcher; manager-umpire nose to nose screaming at each other; a tense finish. The finish was one of those fairly rare win it or lose it situations;  9-6 down at the bottom of the 9th [there are nine innings so this is our last go], 2 outs [3 outs and the innings and therefore game is over]; full count [3 balls 2 strikes]; 2 bases loaded. So for the entire 3rd batter he can either be out and the Redsox lose or he can score a home run and tie the game. One more runner on base and a home run wins the game. This is why baseball is so exciting and unlike any other sport really.

The near punch up mid way through the match was pretty energising too. Alex Rodriguez is currently appealing a 211 game match suspension for taking performance enhancing drugs and can play while appealing. The crowd hated him – chanting “you’re a cheater” and booing every time he took the bat. The pitcher hit him during his first at bat and it seemed likely (denied of course) that he did it deliberately. The entire bench from both teams stormed on, numerous security, the bullpens emptied on as well [where the relief pitchers warm up] and the Yankee manager was furious at the umpire for only warning him – he was ejected form the game as a consequence. The crowd went crazy. A-Rod, as he’s called, got his own back in the 6th with a home run but that’s okay, I was being refused a beer.

It would have been great if the Redsox had won, but the game had so much action throughout that we all felt pretty thrilled by the experience. The game lasted 4h 10m which is fairly lengthy (think value for money) and we left the stadium at 20 past midnight. We got back in double quick time catching the T and were in the hotel well before 1am.

Now then, if you like statistics, just look at the records to see how far the US analyse what happened during our 4 hours. Unbelievable.