With The Padres At Fenway: Vol. 3

I knew it couldn't last. Two perfect summer days in Boston had to be followed by a cloudy, drizzly day. This isn't San Diego, after all. Consistent perfection is just not attainable.


We arrived to our seats just as the Fenway grounds crew removed the tarp. The start of the game was delayed about 30 minutes (the first of four rain delays).

MLB really wanted to get the game in yesterday, for the obvious reason that rescheduling a game between two teams in separate leagues on opposite coasts would be a logistical nightmare. They pulled the tarp while it was still sprinkling and the teams played through a steady drizzle all afternoon.

Unfortunately the steady drizzle prevented me from ever sitting in my seats. You see, I attended yesterday's game with my wife and 3 1/2-month old daughter (her first Padres game!), and apparently, at least according to my wife, it is a "bad idea" to have a "baby" "sit out in the rain" for an extended period of time.

Who knew?

This gives you a good idea of the soggy conditions. A few minutes before the first pitch and the fans still had their umbrellas up. You also never see this many empty seats at Fenway a few minutes before the first pitch.


"But Da', you said we'd sit close to the field so I could show off my pink Padres shirt and see Chase Headley field ground balls. Instead, we're standing in this hallway with loud echoes. I don't know about this baseball stuff."

Patience, young one. That was not a representative experience. Don't judge it just on that one encounter alone.

The underbelly of Fenway. Deceptively spacious and with good crowd flow.

It's not evident from the photo, but this was moments after Will Venable led off the game with a bomb. Had I been in my seats, I would have had a great view. Incidentally, the groan from Red Sox fans after Lackey gave up the bomb was palpable. They really dislike that guy.

The rain was not letting up so we left in the third inning, just before the second rain delay, and found a seat at the Cask 'n Flagon, a well-known bar next to the ballpark. Here's a view looking out the side door of the bar on Landsdowne Street.


Looking down Landsdowne St., those are the famed Monster Seats on the right. On a related note, this was as close as I got to sitting in the famed Monster Seats.

And my final view of the game on the many TVs at the Cask 'n Flagon. Clay Richard is everywhere, and nowhere. (Mind blown.)

And this is a photo of my shirt on the train ride home at the moment I heard the Padres won 5-1.

Go Padres!