Fenway Night Fights

My fifteen minutes of fame have arrived; see the pictures on my web page!

Last night I met my brother, Adam, and some of his buds (Tim and Matt) up at Fenway for the Yankee/Sox game. As I was getting ready to leave I almost left my camera at home. But the 2004 Championship banner called out to be photographed and the camera came along.

During the early innings it felt a bit different than a normal Sox/Yanks game, and not just because of great seats in the Right Field Box near the Bullpen. Everyone was in a good mood and even the razzing of the Yank fans in our vicinity was good natured. It wasn't until the fourth inning until the awful "Yankee Sucks" chant started. At least we were playing the Yanks when those idiots started chanting it and it quickly ended. That all changed in the eight inning.

It started innocently enough with a Jason Varitek shot into right field, our entire section jumped up and I lost sight of the ball as it rolled along the wall. Gary Sheffield disappeared while chasing after the ball, after a few seconds the ball was thrown towards the infield while V-tek was motoring towards third. My only thought was "Boy, it took awhile for Sheff to get that ball in..."

Little did I know, the next thing I saw was Sheffield coming back towards our section and started yelling, his mustache twisted in rage. "What the f...” I thought before going for my camera. As he approached our area, and it looked like he was coming Into the stands, I turned on my camera and prepared to take a shot but was shoved out of the way as the Boston Police came pouring down towards the field and separated the Yankees, who had run out to Right Field, and those of us in the crowd. No one in my immediate area knew what had happened and the rumors started.
"Someone threw a beer at Sheffield"
"He just flipped out and went after an innocent guy"
"A guy was going for the ball and punched Sheffield"
"Sheffield punched a guy in the face"
"Sheffield got punched in the face."
During all of this, I grabbed some pictures of the Yankees restraining Sheffield and the Boston PD sorting things out. All the while exchanging a couple text messages with Sara, who was watching the game at home, trying to figure out exactly what happened.

After a few minutes we learned what really happened; a fan in the front row, fueled on booze, took a swipe at Sheffield during the play. You know the rest by now, if not read it here.

The fun was just beginning for our area. Boston Sportswriters descended to our box and started asking questions. Some guy right next noticed Gordon Edes of the Boston Globe and started shouting out, in a thick Boston Accent:
"Hey Gordon! I feared for my life!"
"Hey Gordon! He said when he was done with me, my family was next!"
"It was 'roid rage Gordon, 'roid rage! You could see it in his eyes!"
"Hey Gordon, before you quote me make sure you call my agent!"
"GORDON! I thought I saw a knife in his pocket!"
Once Gordon got his (legitimate) information, he turned around and smiled at the guy. Oh but this guy wasn't done yet. He noticed that some other reporters were taking notes and interviewing people.
"Hey boys! You better speed it up; Gordon is beating you to the scoop!"
"Hey guys! Gordon's typing already!"

All that I can say about the game... Good Times!