
by Mike Xiarhos
It was a long winter… a long winter indeed.
I love football season and going to Patriots games is a unique experience which I genuinely enjoy. The holidays with friends and family gathered together sharing food, stories, and tokens of love
(Riley with Red Sox Outfielder Jonny Gomes)
and affection are highlights of the year. Watching the ball drop and kissing my wife as the world celebrates the coming of a new year is priceless… but each of these experiences are lacking one thing, the same thing… they are not Fenway.
The night before we were married, my wife and I spent the evening at Fenway Park, a few days later when we celebrated the purchase of our new house, we did it at Fenway Park, and when she told me she was pregnant she did it by giving me baby sized Red Sox gear.
2013 was a special year for the Red Sox and for my wife and I. We went to 14 games that year, never seeing the Red Sox lose. While traveling in Spain in April we sat in our hotel room watching the news about the Boston Marathon Bombings knowing that had we not been in Spain we would have been at Fenway for the game then walked to the final stages of the Marathon route. We were sitting in the Grandstand when David Ortiz hit his Grand Slam in Game 2 of the ALCS and we were on the Budweiser Deck when Shane Victorino hit his in Game 6, punching the Red Sox ticket to the World Series.
A few days later, the World Series was set to open in Boston and we were desperate to be there. Neither of us had even been to a World Series game, and we felt that in some way we needed to be there. Twitter gave us the way. Hours before the game, the Red Sox tweeted they had tickets for the fan who gave the best reason as to why they should get to be at Game 1. My wife… my brilliant wife tweeted the Red Sox, “Give us the tickets and we will name the baby Fenway.” We sat behind Home Plate.
In the early morning of February 14, 2014 our daughter was born… Riley Fenway Xiarhos. It seemed fitting that to complete our magical 2013 season with the Red Sox we needed be at Fenway, with Fenway on Opening Day to watch the Red Sox get their World Series Championship Rings.
And so we went… Mom, Dad, and Riley Fenway. She may not remember it, and she may have slept through the pre-game ceremony, the entire game, the walk to the car, and the ride home… but she was there. Her first game at Fenway saw the Red Sox complete a journey we felt that we were intimately part of… and I can’t wait for my new little Fenway to enjoy old Fenway with Mom and Dad.
And if she is not a Red Sox fan that’s just fine… but we will always be faithful to Fenway… both of them.
Mike teaches History and Psychology at Pilgrim High School in Warwick, RI.
It was a long winter… a long winter indeed.
I love football season and going to Patriots games is a unique experience which I genuinely enjoy. The holidays with friends and family gathered together sharing food, stories, and tokens of love
(Riley with Red Sox Outfielder Jonny Gomes)
and affection are highlights of the year. Watching the ball drop and kissing my wife as the world celebrates the coming of a new year is priceless… but each of these experiences are lacking one thing, the same thing… they are not Fenway.
The night before we were married, my wife and I spent the evening at Fenway Park, a few days later when we celebrated the purchase of our new house, we did it at Fenway Park, and when she told me she was pregnant she did it by giving me baby sized Red Sox gear.
2013 was a special year for the Red Sox and for my wife and I. We went to 14 games that year, never seeing the Red Sox lose. While traveling in Spain in April we sat in our hotel room watching the news about the Boston Marathon Bombings knowing that had we not been in Spain we would have been at Fenway for the game then walked to the final stages of the Marathon route. We were sitting in the Grandstand when David Ortiz hit his Grand Slam in Game 2 of the ALCS and we were on the Budweiser Deck when Shane Victorino hit his in Game 6, punching the Red Sox ticket to the World Series.
A few days later, the World Series was set to open in Boston and we were desperate to be there. Neither of us had even been to a World Series game, and we felt that in some way we needed to be there. Twitter gave us the way. Hours before the game, the Red Sox tweeted they had tickets for the fan who gave the best reason as to why they should get to be at Game 1. My wife… my brilliant wife tweeted the Red Sox, “Give us the tickets and we will name the baby Fenway.” We sat behind Home Plate.
In the early morning of February 14, 2014 our daughter was born… Riley Fenway Xiarhos. It seemed fitting that to complete our magical 2013 season with the Red Sox we needed be at Fenway, with Fenway on Opening Day to watch the Red Sox get their World Series Championship Rings.
And so we went… Mom, Dad, and Riley Fenway. She may not remember it, and she may have slept through the pre-game ceremony, the entire game, the walk to the car, and the ride home… but she was there. Her first game at Fenway saw the Red Sox complete a journey we felt that we were intimately part of… and I can’t wait for my new little Fenway to enjoy old Fenway with Mom and Dad.
And if she is not a Red Sox fan that’s just fine… but we will always be faithful to Fenway… both of them.
Mike teaches History and Psychology at Pilgrim High School in Warwick, RI.