Sunday

 

 

Let me make one thing clear, yes it was terrific that the Red Sox won the series, but this whole episode goes far deeper than just another championship. The Red Sox were playing while the marathon was in progress. Traditionally the Red Sox play an 11:00 a.m. game on Patriots Day, a local holiday, the players were watching the marathon from time to time when they were at bat. Many of the players who live within walking distance of the park, were going to go to the marathon with there families after the game. Fenway Park is within walking distance of the marathon finish line. It made them stop and think.  The next home game the team paid tribute to the victims who were killed or maimed by the explosions. Three people died, people lost all or part of their limbs. David Ortiz of the Red Sox grabbed a mike and rallied everybody in the park and in New England. He used some salty language but he spoke from the heart. The players took it upon themselves to help the city and the area heal from this tragedy. The Boston Marathon is very special to Boston. It's the oldest marathon in the world and as you may have guessed we around here have much pride in all the things that we have. The Red Sox recognized this and made it their mission to win the whole thing. They carried a special Red Sox Jersey they had made honoring the victims to every park they played in.

After all the hoopla of winning they had a victory parade through the city on the Duck Boats which eventually ended up in the Charles River. The weather was perfect tickling 70 degrees. I work pretty near the river and if I was off I would have parked there and walked down to the river to the same spot where Arlene and I took the Charles River/Boston Harbor tour on the very same Duck Boats a couple of months ago. Of course we would have had to get there early as there were an estimated two million people lining the parade route.    

None of these photos are mine. These are the Duck Boats at Fenway Park before the parade.
 

The Duck Boats make their way out of the park and down the streets of Boston.

Johnny Gomes places the trophy covered with the team jersey that they hung in every park they played in, on the marathon finish line.
There they had a ceremony and an opera singer sang God Bless America and the crowd joined in.

So in the end, as much as it was fun to follow this team and watch it win it all again it really wasn't about another sports championship. Not this time. It was about an organization and group of 40 guys who never gave up and helped a wounded city heal.

Now apart from all that on Sunday Arlene and I went out to a local sporting goods store so she could buy some World Series mementos to send to family she has around the country. Once a Sox fan always a Sox fan. I on the other hand didn't buy anything. Some of the t-shirts weren't bad at $20 but $40 for a World Series cap, forget about it. After that we went to our favorite restaurant, Raso's.
Arlene had a dish similar to eggplant parmesan. It was quite tasty. I decided to get something I haven't had in many years veal masala on a bed of linguine. All I can say is wow! After that we just went back to Arlene's and watched the Patriots game.

Apart from a couple of loads of laundry I plan to hunker down and relax today (Monday). I had a rough week at work. That's it. Over and out.

I'm outta here.