Peaks Red Sox Nation

Yes, Red Sox Nation has a strong presence on the Island. Many Islanders have lived in other places but The Nation has definitely followed us all here. And yes, there are two or three Yankee fanatics, but they are tolerated in the interests of achieving Island diversity.

I've been a Red Sox follower since the 1953 season. I got hooked while delivering newspapers in my central Massachusetts home town of Hopedale. I just read the sports page while walking my paper route which lead to many nights listening to the Sox on my little radio in my bedroom. Of course between 1953 and 1967 I have no memory of ever moving out of the bottom of the American League. All during high school and college I managed to make five or six games a season at Fenway and have fond memories of watching Ted Williams and many others play, not all of them majestically.

Today's pictures reflect a magical trip made by our oldest son Sean and I to his first Sox game in about 1977. He was desperate to make the trek so one day off we went to Boston arriving at the Park around 12:30 for a 1pm game. Unfortunately, the starting time had been kicked back to 2pm for television reasons. So we sat, watched batting practice, jogging in the outfield and ate hot dogs and ice cream. About 1:45, the fans filled the old ballpark and the noise seriously increased as the Sox took the field. Poor Sean at the ripe old age of 6, turned to me and said "Dad, it's too noisy, I'm scared, can we go home now?" A major ethical dilemma but I said, of course we can go home so we left. I parked the car in our Hub Furniture parking lot as the last out was made. It was an absolute memory maker, at least for me.

In the 2004, League Championship Series we were in Boulder visiting Sean and we all watched games four and five. While Sean's interests today mainly lie in the Colorado Avalanche hockey team and the Denver Broncos football team, some inner Sox heartbeat was restarted and he was going crazy with the rest of us as inning after inning piled up and the Sox managed to come back from a 3-0 deficit to take the series and advance to the World Series. Red Sox attire now resides in Boulder just as it always has on Peaks Island.

Yes, the Red Sox Nation is alive and well in Maine and in Colorado!!