Joe's Excellent Red Sox Adventure
By JoeDavis
It’s Don Zimmer bobblehead night at Tropicana Field – and I’m there! What luck!
Just kidding. The real luck was the timing of last month’s trip to visit relatives in Fort Meyers, Florida that was parlayed into an opportunity to see my Red Sox face the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Adding to that luck – we ended up staying at the same hotel as the team. With that proximity, my family of Sox fans was able to shamelessly oggle our heroes at meals, in the pool, in the elevator. You couldn’t swing a baseball bat without hitting a Boston player or one of their entourage. We overheard (not intentionally, of course!) conversations and collected autographs and got up-close and (kind of) personal with several of the Sox.
So, here’s my official giddy-fan chronology of "Run-ins With The Red Sox, 2004"
(And – dare I say — with any MORE luck I’ll be telling my grandchildren about the time I met the World Champion ’04 Red Sox.)
Saturday & Sunday are weird baseball days. I find out that the rumors are true and my dear Nomar has been traded to the Cubs for Doug Mientkewicz and Orlando Cabrera. I immediately thought, "What about pitching?" I don't understand how the Red Sox could have traded Nomar for absolutely no pitching. I'm not pleased for the whole night. On Sunday I watch Greg Maddux's bid for 300 wins, and Garciaparra's debut as a Chicago Cubbie. Strange, indeed.
Monday, August 2:
We arrive at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort to see Gabe Kapler, Doug Mirabelli and David McCarty standing outside waiting for a shuttle bus.
We leave for Tropicana field. I get my Zimmer doll and go straight to the field. The Red Sox are taking batting practice. I wait for a ball to be thrown to me, or for autographs. Nothing special happens. Ellis Burks comes over to talk to some of his friends. He tells them in two weeks that he can start doing stuff. You heard it from me first. Ellis will be able to start playing baseball in two weeks. I’m guessing he will most likely join the roster when they expand it to 40 people.
As you know the Red Sox won.
Tuesday, August 3rd:
At the pool after breakfast, my parents spot Doug Mirabelli and Kevin Millar just putting on their shirts from sun bathing, swimming, etc. Millar read something about Nomar from the newspaper. They both laughed, got up and left.
Later, I get on the elevator to hit the pool myself and on comes Terry Francona. At first, I was stunned. He asked me to press the lobby button, I did. I looked at his reflection in the mirror and I knew it was him. We got down to the lobby, I said "It's your stop," he replied, "Nah, I'm going down where you are." He got off and went down the hall.
Later on Johnny Damon stopped by the pool and everyone seemed to stop and watch him go by. He brought his two kids in the pool. He waved to people who waved to him. People came by, shook hands with him. He was very friendly. Later on, David Ortiz came out. He talked to Johnny but didn't go in the pool because he was wearing the clothes he was gonna wear to the park.
It started to rain. Johnny held his hands in the air. The rain stopped.
Ok, well maybe that didn't happen...but that was my Jesus, err Johnny Damon experience.
4:30 P.M.- As we left for the park, Theo Epstein walked behind us. We got into the elevator.
Theo said, "How are you?"
We responded, "al right"
"How is your visit so far?"
"Good."
"Going to the games?"
"Yes, we went last night and are going tonight. Not Wednesday, though."
"We miss Number Five," said my dad.
"I'm sorry," Theo replied, "It had to be done."
Theo's stop had arrived. He hurried out of the elevator, briefcase in hand.
5:15- Gates opened at the park and, again, I sprinted down to the field. This time, I went to the bullpen. Everyone was warming up in the outfield. Manny waved to everyone.
Batting practice for the Red Sox began. Manny got two ground balls to him. He threw one back in for BP, and he threw the other one to my left. I stuck out my glove as far as I could. It tipped off the end of my glove, dammit. It bounced around in peoples' hands then it dropped into my glove.
Success!
I began talking to a man from Youngstown, Ohio. This is where Mark Malaska, a Red Sox reliever is from. He had a sign that said he was from Youngstown, Ohio. He came over to talk to the man I had been talking to. They talked about their parents, etc. The man next to me asked for my sharpie so Malaska could sign his sign. I gave him the sharpie and asked the man if he could get me Malaska's autograph. Malaska said he'd be back in a few minutes.
15 minutes later, Doug Mirabelli began to sign autographs. I got Mirabelli to sign my ball. Malaska came by, signed the ball. Then Bronson Arroyo came by. I thought, "I'll get him to sign my YankeesSuck.com bumper sticker (Thanks Beth and Lefty)."
I gave him the sticker. He signed it. I knew he was laughing inside. He smiled at the sticker and handed it back to me.
Curt Schilling came over the bullpen. He meant business and had his head down. He only said two words, "Not today," when he answered to his 10 year old fans begging for autographs.
I went back to my seat. And I watched Jason Varitek hit a home run, and Curt Schilling throw his 3rd complete game of the year. This was the second complete game I've seen Curt pitching this year (May 8th). Not to mention, Manny Ramirez's awesome catch in left field.
We went back to the hotel and ordered late-night pizza. While going to the front desk, I passed Manny Ramirez. He was smiling and laughing as usual. Everyone called out "nice catch!"
While at the desk, Millar and Kapler walked by as did Don Orsillo and Terry Francona. Bronson Arroyo went to go get drinks for his family. Arroyo was raised in Key West, Florida. Tim Wakefield was cradling his baby in the lobby. Wakefield, who resides in Florida now, was also born and raised in Florida.
Wednesday, August 3rd:
After finishing breakfast, I was walking back to the room. I had brought a sharpie and items for signing just in case I saw someone. Good thing I did, as Gabe Kapler was walking down from the pool. I called out "GABE!" He stopped turned and I asked him to sign the YankeesSuck.com bumper sticker. He laughed and I told him that I wrote for the site. I said thank you and walked away.
While we were checking out, in walked Jason Varitek. I was stunned. He was on his cellphone. I waited until he got off and I rummaged through my bag and got my Ted Williams biography out. I took out the YankeesSuck.com bumper sticker and asked him to sign. He accepted. I said thank you and he got in the elevator. My dad said, "Next time, hit A-Rod a little harder so he can miss some time." He laughed and he was gone.
I was excited because my souvenir was complete: I had the Trio! Arroyo, Varitek, and Kapler: the bad boys of brawling against A-Rod and his posse. I’m getting it framed.
After we checked out, we went to Dan Marino's restaurant. Who did we happen to see on the balcony of Marino's? Who else, but Jason Varitek. He was on the cell again. We walked inside and got seated. I looked over to the HD TV, and not one but 5 members of the Red Sox were dining. At one table: Kevin Millar, Doug Mirabelli, Gabe Kapler, and Orlando Cabrera. At the other, Andy Dominique, later joined by Jason Varitek. It also looked like Jason had brought friends along ,too.
I didn't bother them however. I didn't want to ask Kapler, Varitek and Mirabelli to sign when I had already gotten their autographs. I really don't like Kevin Millar, and Dominique and Cabrera I didn't really care for.
I had a couple bad experiences. On the Monday night game, there were a bunch of Tampa Bay fans who started a 1918 chant with the other 15 Devil Ray fans. They then proceded to try to call the "Brett" Boone ALCS Game 7 home run. If you saw the game, these were the people that were in hats and had Devil Rays written across their chests.
Some fan had 1918 signs...How original. I doubt they were really Devil Ray fans. They were just disguised - and they were Yankee fans. That would explain the fight in picnic area on the 3rd base side. Proceded with a classic version of "Yankees Suck."
It was neat, however. I'd suggest this trip to any Red Sox fan or any fan of baseball to see their team play in Tampa Bay.
Well, that is my trip. If you want to see my snapshots, go to the photo page on this site: http://community.webshots.com/album/171554808KSSbha?148
