Fourth inning at Fenway, and it’s been an eventful day already.
First, Manny Ramirez has played two separate, relatively routine fly balls into a double and single, respectively. But, alas, Curt Schilling has bailed out the Red Sox from any damage.
But Ramirez’s level of effort really chaps my backside! I just HATE the way he plays the game — that casual indifference from a guy who has $100 million of MLB and the fans’ money in his bank account. I know his numbers indicate Cooperstown status, but he’d NEVER get my vote!
He’s one of the biggest "jakes" in the history of the game, if you ask me. He only plays hard when he wants to…and that’s unacceptable to me.
(And, he once said to me in PERFECT English, "I don’t speak English" when I approached him in the visiting clubhouse of Camden Yards back in the 1990’s.)
He’s a jerk, and I’m glad he doesn’t play for MY team!
As for the game experience, I’ve already thrown back one Fenway Frank.
For those of you who haven’t had the privilege, the Fenway Frank is a "different" kind of hot dog experience. It’s ALL in the roll — that soft, almost crustless bread. I went without sweet relish, just because the vendor didn’t have any. But my wife refused an "in the seat" hot dog, opting for the actual concession stand where relish waits in the "fix’ins" area.
And, last but not least, I ran into Fred Traube, who is one of my old buddies from the music business.
Traube is omnipresent at sporting events — I swear I’ve run into Traube "accidentally" in 20 different states. He’s like Waldo!
We met in 1987 when he was the local music rep for Geffen Records and I was the music critic for The Baltimore Evening Sun. He introduced me to Aerosmith and Don Henley back in the day. He got my wife and I into the Patriots’ team victory party after Super Bowl 38 in Houston. And he is responsible for turning the Baja Boys song, "Who Let The Dogs Out" into a major hit at stadiums around the world.
Great guy, great sports fan…one of my favorite people!
Turns out, he’s at the game with Donny Osmond, who was one of my Mom’s all-time favorites.
(I told him that my wife is a little bit country, and I’m a little bit rock and roll. He was amused!)
Turns out he was here with his son, Don, who took the above picture. We sat with him for an inning down in Dr. Charles Steinberg’s seats, right over the Red Sox dugout. Steinberg was the PR guy for the Orioles in the mid-1990’s before leaving for San Diego, and then Boston, with Larry Lucchino. I wrote about Steinberg in Chapter 12 of my baseball book.
It IS a small world after all. Osmond was a SUPER nice guy, and a big baseball fan. We discussed Salt Lake City baseball, Fenway Park and what’s wrong with the Orioles.
I’ve been hearing that I look like Donny Osmond since the third grade. I finally met him. He was cool!
Here’s the view from our seats behind home plate!
I gotta go eat some Legal’s Clam Chowder!!!!!!!
Still nil-nil…in the fourth!
