A matter of priorities?
"Is this section
twenty-seven?"
"Yes, it is, and I should know I
have had these seats for nearly thirty years now."
"This
is my first game. My husband, Adam, is a fan and comes often;
but you may say I am a novice. Oh, my name is Cathy."
"Glad
to meet you both; I'm David."
"David, did I hear
you say you have been coming to Fenway for thirty years? You must
have seen quite a bit. Care to do me a favor?"
"Adam,
why are you whispering? The cathedral that is Fenway does not include
a confessional!"
"Sorry. I just wanted to ask if
you can help me convince Cathy that season tickets would be a good
investment. I'm about to retire and want to see 81 home games a year;
maybe more if we are lucky and the Saux make the playoffs again."
"Cathy, listen to your husband; season tickets would be
the best thing you could ever get before or after retirement."
"See, honey, I told you! I also like coming early for
batting practice. So many empty seats before the national anthem and
so few after the umps say play ball. So David, what is your best
Fenway story?"
"Call me Dave. Let's see, once in
the early 1970's I came to Fenway for a doubleheader against of
all teams, the Seattle Mariners. Back then, the game was not as
popular as it is now, and there were plenty of
seats. It was about a week before I got married. The first game was
delayed for 90 minutes, and the second game was delayed two or three
times. Combined, I think the rain delays far exceeded the actual time
of the two games. Well, the
second game finished at three thirty in the morning. I believe that
when the second game finished, more players were on the field than
fans in the stands."
"I thought they suspended
games after midnight?"
"Normally, they do, but this
was a Sunday doubleheader in September near the end of
the season. Seattle would not be making another trip that year to
Boston, so there was pressure to complete the games. At any rate, I
missed calling my future bride due to the lateness of
the second game. She was furious the next day because she believed I
was out drinking with the guys. I will admit back then; I had a
drinking problem."
"Adam did too when he was
younger. What did your girlfriend say, and were you able to prove
that you were not out on the town drinking?"
"That
is the funny part of the
story; she would not believe me no matter
what I said. I showed her the ticket stub and the morning Boston
Globe sports page to prove the game went into the early morning
hours."
"She must have forgiven you at some point;
after all, you got married, right?"
"Yeah, all was
right in the world when her father pointed out a photo in the
newspaper of the last few
drenched fans that included me in the front row."
"Oh,
my Dave, that is very funny. Does your wife come to the games with
you now?"
"This is the first Sunday in about 15
years she has not come to the game with me. You see, she recently
passed away. This would have been her seat. I have her ticket right
here in my coat pocket."
"I'm sorry to hear that,
Dave. Could you not have found someone to use her ticket, perhaps a
friend, relative, or neighbor?"
" I did offer
the ticket to everyone we knew, but no one wanted the ticket. I guess
they all wanted to go to the funeral?"
|