Making a Dry Run
Monday, April 6, 2009
Opening Day, Take 1
I made an Opening Day dry run this morning – emphasis on the word “dry,” because it wasn’t raining when I got to Fenway at 10:00. In past years, I’ve had trouble getting a parking space at a T station for weekday games. One year I was one of the last cars in the lot and wound up with my car half in a mud puddle and half in a snowbank. Another time I had to drive to a couple of different lots before I found a space. So now I always make sure to go in plenty early. Especially on Opening Day I like to walk around outside the park and see the players drive in before going inside as soon as the gates open.
So left my house at 8:15. (I checked online before I left to see if the game had been called already, in which case I would have gone to work.) I had no trouble getting a parking space, but they had raised the parking rate from $3.75 to $5.75. The Charlie cards for the T were a little more this year, too. I got off in Kenmore Square, and it was really quiet. I figured that was because it was still four hours before game time. I did get an official “K” card with “Sting the Rays” on the back. But as I walked toward the park, I heard some scalpers say, “The game’s rained out. Who wants to sell their tickets?” Uh-oh. As I got to Gate E and the start of the day-of-game ticket line, it sounded like the people who were camped out for tickets had just heard the news. I’ve done that before, and I felt bad for them. Those tickets go onsale when the gates open, so if the Red Sox had opened the gates and tried to get the game in, at least the campers would have their tickets. Now they’re going to have to wait around another cold, rainy, miserable day. A guy from the local FOX affiliate was interviewing people about their feelings on the game being rained out. I called my parents, and they confirmed that the game was postponed and rescheduled for 4:06 pm tomorrow.
I took a walk around the park just to see what was going on. As I reached the players’ parking lot, Manny Delcarmen pulled in. A couple of guys called out to him to try to get him to come over and sign autographs, but he said, “Sorry, I can’t. I have to go get ready for the game.” So they told him, “No, it’s tomorrow at 4!” He looked surprised, like he hadn’t heard the news yet, but he didn’t come over and sign. (Nice try, though!)
I ended up going straight home and logging on to work and working the rest of the day. Tomorrow I’ll go in to work in the morning, and take the afternoon off for the game.
It rained pretty hard as I arrived back home around 11:30. Then the downpours started at 2:00, and it’s rained steadily all afternoon. There’s no way they could have gotten the game in, so I’m glad they didn’t make everyone sit around for hours in the cold and rain. My seats are pretty far back in the bleachers, in the territory where it can take 20 minutes for everyone to file down to the concourse, which is not a good place to be during a sudden downpour.
And at least my bag’s already packed for tomorrow!
