Red Sox tickets

A friend who has season tickets to the Red Sox cannot go tonight.  So I with my buddy Ken will be at Fenway Park to see the home town team.  A few weeks ago, a colleague who also has season tickets asked me and another colleague to join him.  I accepted.

If this seems as if I only go to the Red Sox when someone gives me a ticket, that is how it should seem.  The fellow who invited me a few weeks back has to be paying 200 bucks a seat for his really special seats.  I have the tickets for tonight's game in my pocket.  They are a bargain at 28 dollars.  (They are 28 and not 48 because they are in the non alcohol section. People do not want to sit in the non alcohol section because they cannot pay 10 dollars for a light beer in the section).

When people kvetch about the economy I hope they will consider these realities.

•  If someone takes a spouse and a child to see the Red Sox tonight--
• even in the non alcohol section
• and even if they abstain from buying popcorn and a soft drink or a hot dog
• and even if they don't have to park their car near the stadium and just take the subway
• this trio is paying 100 dollars for the privilege of watching the game.
• And if someone sits in the alcohol sections
•  and buys a malt beverage for the couple
•  and a bag of peanuts for the kid
• and has to park the car, 
• we are talking about a 200 dollar night.

How bad can the economy be?

The Sox are, as my father would say, "from hunger" this year.  They cannot hit a lick.  They are as bad this year as they were good last year. The pitcher tonight takes a month between pitches.  The one slugger is surrounded by players who can barely hit their weight. (This, for the uninitiated, means that their batting average is less than what their scale reads.  A good hitter in baseball averages 28 hits for every 100 at bats, or averages .280. Most athletes weigh about 200-220).

Still the place will be packed tonight. 37,000 plus.  When I found out I had the tickets I was buoyed like a kid. When I e-mailed my buddy with the news that I had a free ticket he accepted instantly.

So the Red Sox are in last place; I can read War and Peace in between Clay Bucholz's pitches; if the Sox score 5 runs it will be an aberration.  They will likely lose.  When I went a few weeks ago and sat in my colleague's 200 dollar seat, the Sox lost 14-1.

Can't wait to get to the park.

We will be sitting down the left field line near the foul pole.  It is a good spot to catch a ball. Damn. I forgot to bring my glove to work.