(Boston Red Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet throwing the first pitch of the game to Miami Marlins second baseman Xavier Edwards on Sunday, August 17, 2025)
Today, for the first time in nearly 7 years, I attended a Boston Red Sox game at Fenway Park.
During my first stint in Boston between 2000 and 2018, I attended nearly 100 games at Fenway. For many of those years, I lived in the Fenway neighborhood and could walk to the ballpark in a matter of minutes. Prior to today, the last game I attended at Fenway Park took place on September 16, 2018, when the Red Sox beat the New York Mets 4-3.
I remember this date for two reasons. First, it was my 46th birthday. Second, it was five days before I moved from Boston to New York City. It is a time I do not remember fondly.
Of course, I would return to Boston less than three years later following a pitstop in Atlanta. But I did not resume going to Red Sox games. Since my return, I have set foot in Fenway Park only once and that was to see Paul McCartney in concert. Let's just say I liked Macca a lot more than I liked Fenway.
It's no secret that my love for baseball has also diminished considerably during the 2020s. Don't get me started on the ghost runner!!!
While I do keep an eye on the standings and on certain stories (i.e. the 2025 Colorado Rockies trying not to eclipse the 2024 Chicago White Sox as the worst team in modern MLB history), I am far less familiar with those who wear the uniforms. Not only had I not been to a ballpark during this decade, but I also scarcely watch any games on TV or listen to them on radio. Last month, I made a point of watching a game from 1980 between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Chicago White Sox on YouTube following the passing of former Blue Jays pitcher Jim Clancy who started that particular game.
Indeed, while I was at work on Friday morning, I stopped to talk with a colleague at work and noticed he had some baseball memorabilia in his office including a Gil Hodges figurine. During this conversation, I made a point of telling him I hadn't been to a game at Fenway Park since 2018 and had no plans to go back.
About an hour after this conversation, I receive a text message from my friend Bill who invited me to today's game between the Red Sox and the Miami Marlins. Bill had been scheduled to go with several of his friends from Florida. However, they had to cancel due to their daughter being ill. So, the invitation was sent my way. I made a point of sending my colleague a message on Microsoft Teams about the invite which he found quite amusing.
I should mention that I met Bill more than three years ago at the Emerson Paramount Theatre in downtown Boston to attend a screening of Fanny: The Right to Rock with June Millington in attendance. Bill has been a fan of Fanny since the early 1970s, and I quite enjoy his memories of Fanny when they were building the foundation for female rock 'n rollers.
While I had some reservations about accepting the invitation, I had not seen Bill in nearly a year and a half and thought it would be a good opportunity to catch up on things and have some good conversation. The ticket also didn't cost me anything and I bought Bill a Bud Light for his troubles.
There were some logistical complications getting into the ballpark with the tickets being on Bill's phone. Aside from having to hold my worldly possessions against my chest to pass through security, Bill had to hand me his phone so I could get admitted. There was also the question of purchasing a scorebook, finding the washroom and then settling in our seats which were in a handicapped access area which didn't lend itself to gaining access to ballpark vendors. While I was able to buy Bill the Bud Light, he had to go grab a hot dog on his own while I was unable to catch the attention of the person in charge of the lemonade.
For better or for worse, I managed to keep score of the game.
As mentioned earlier, the Red Sox were facing the Marlins. A fortnight ago, I praised the Marlins for reaching the .500 mark following a sweep of the New York Yankees. But entering today's action, the Marlins had lost 10 of their last 13 games including back-to-back games to the Red Sox on Friday and Saturday. But one would have never known the Marlins had endured such struggles by the way they played today.
Red Sox ace Garret Crochet, who entered the game tied for the AL lead in wins with 13 (along with Yankees hurler Max Fried) faced off against Marlins starter Janson Junk. Most of the game was a pitchers' duel between Crochet and Junk. The Red Sox acquired Crochet from the Chicago White Sox where he was one of the few bright spots on a team which lost a modern MLB record 121 games. Meanwhile, Junk earned a spot in the Marlins starting rotation following stints with the Los Angeles Angels, Milwaukee Brewers and the Oakland A's.
The Marlins took a 1-0 lead in the top of the 3rd on a solo HR by first baseman Eric Wagaman off Crochet. The Red Sox would respond in the bottom of the 4th with a two-run HR by right fielder Wilyar Abreu to give Boston a 2-1 lead. Abreu's Marlins counterpart Dane Myers nearly made a spectacular catch to rob the HR, but the ball popped out of his glove and into the Marlins bullpen. The HR was Abreu's 22nd of the season which leads the club.
The Red Sox would add an insurance run in the bottom of the 7th on a sacrifice fly by third baseman Abraham Toro to make it a 3-1 game. Still, Junk (contrary to his name) pitched seven quality innings giving up three runs on five hits, striking out six and walking only one. Crochet also went seven strong innings surrendering only one run on three hits, striking out eight batters while only walking one. Unfortunately, the bullpen would let Crochet down with closer Aroldis Chapman unavailable for pitching both on Friday and Saturday.
In the top of the 8th, Garrett Whitlock struggled surrendering a run on a sacrifice fly by Marlins shortstop Otto Lopez to make it a 3-2 game. Then the floodgates opened in the top of the 9th when Myers atoned for not robbing Abreu of his HR by hitting one of his own off Greg Weissert on his second pitch of the inning to make it a 3-3 tie. After getting pinch hitter Troy Johnston to ground out to short, Weissert would give up a single to Wagaman.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora pulled Weissert in favor of Steven Matz who was recently acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals. The veteran southpaw promptly surrendered a 2-run HR to Marlins centerfielder Jakob Marsee to give the Marlins a 5-3 lead. Matz would retire the next two hitters to end the inning, but the damage was done.
The Red Sox did have some life against Anthony Bender in the ninth. Alex Bregman led off with single. Bender then struck out first baseman Romy Gonzalez and got Toro to fly out to center. But then Bender walked center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela on four pitches. This brought up catcher Carlos Narvaez as the potential game winning run. But Narvaez would fly out to Myers who made a running catch to end the game and give the Fish a 5-3 win.
Well, as the song goes, if they don't win it's a shame.
I am glad to have been invited to the game, and it was a good game despite the final score. However, I am not going to go out of my way to see a Red Sox game. Going to a game is like going to the airport and I don't want to go to the airport unless it is absolutely necessary.
Don't get me wrong. I'll consider future invitations to Fenway Park to take in a game from Bill and others so inclined to issue them, and it probably won't be seven years before I go back to see the Red Sox. But attending a major league baseball game just isn't the joy it was when I arrived in Boston more than 25 years ago.
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