popular thinking

TWO DAYS AT FENWAY: Well, what can you say about spending Father's Day with your father at Fenway Park when the Sox win 8-0, Clement pitches a gem, Alan Embree emerges unscathed, and the sun even appears (even if it's after the 7th inning)? Good times. Even if Matt Damon scored better seats. He probably has an in. As for me, I had to show up at 10:30 that morning to test out the "day of game" ticket release program along Lansdowne Street. I can report that it works, so long as you show up early enough. For our game Sunday, the first pitch was at 2:05 p.m., which meant the ticket window opened about two hours earlier, which meant I had to show up about two hours before that. But everything turned out well. Dad didn't want to play catch on the field afterward -- the Sox did open up Fenway to any dads who wanted to play catch with the kids, and several thousand took part (including Matt Damon with his nephew). Instead, Dad wanted to hit Nieman Marcus and catch the end of the U.S. Open. How about Tiger getting close but getting all yippy on the 16th and 17th greens? Reminded you how crazy wonderful the game of golf is, didn't it?
Anyhow.
I did say two days.
That's because tonight, I returned to Fenway as a Princeton alum for the local association's annual meeting with special guest keynote speaker/Red Sox prez Larry Lucchino '67. That .406 club is nice. Wonder who sits there on regular game days. Wonder how many special events they hold there. Wonder what it'll be like next year when they remove the glass.
Yes, my world is filled with wonder.
More on Larry later.