Fenway for the Night

Just leaving a quick note to let everyone know I'm off to Fenway Park for work tonight. Following the end of the Phish concert soon, workers will be uninstalling the floor covering the grass and the stage will be removed, so us grounds crew guys will be on hand to help oversee and work with the uninstallation. I'll be back home probably early in the morning, so I'll do another full update tomorrow. Thanks for reading, have a great night.

Crash Into Me

With another team of grounds crew guys working the concert tonight, I had a nice day off in the city. Phil and I hung out around the dorm until noon, when we headed downtown to the Prudential Center to grab lunch and do some shopping for some things. After lunch and some shopping downtown we headed back toward Fenway district. The weather was great today up here, about 75 degrees, no humidity, nice and clear. It was pretty much perfect. We came back here to the dorm, and I watched the Alabama softball game on television while working on some laundry. I ate dinner here at the dorm, then went grocery shopping to pick up some more necessities. The rest of the night we've just been hanging out, watched some more Alabama softball, and reminisced a little about the great concert we saw last night. Like I said yesterday, I'm not really a Dave Matthews Band fan, but some of his songs I really enjoy, and hearing them live was a lot of fun. I think I'm about to head to bed for the night, another full day and night of work tomorrow! Thanks for reading, happy Sunday everyone!

Concert Night in Boston

Hello everyone! Last night was the first Dave Matthews Band concert at Fenway Park for the weekend, and being a member of the grounds crew, I worked the show. Now, you're probably wondering, what could the grounds crew possibly do during a concert that is taking place on the entire outfield? Well, we were there to be an extra presence along with the hired security and event staff, but mainly our job was to help protect the infield skin and playing turf from any fans who may try and get to close. There was a guardrail barrier set up around the infield, and there were grounds crew guys stationed about 5-10 yards apart along the perimeter. I feel like I was placed at the best station, as I was standing right on behind second base, so I was standing center stage and the acoustics were great. I've never been much of a Dave Matthews fan, but the guy really did put on a great show, and some songs were played that I like and am pretty familiar with, so in all, working this concert was a win-win situation. Oh, and DMB's opening act tonight was Willie Nelson, so he came out and played a great set with some familiar songs. He's definitely a good entertainer.

One of the best parts of the night was interacting with the random fans, drunk or sober, who would come up to me to talk about the field. They'd tell me how great the field looked, asking if the grass and dirt was real or fake, and of course, ask me to grab a blade of grass or handful of dirt for them. Doing this is prohibited, so, I said no every time. I was also asked to be in a few pictures with random fans, this one group of girls came over to me and offered me a drink, and another girl would tell me to smile every time she'd walk by. It's not like I was frowning or anything, but I was standing there working while enjoying the show, hahaha. It was also cool talking to some people who were genuinely interested in the job I have of being on the grounds crew. Some wanted to know if I was formally educated in the career field or what my career goals were, it was a lot of fun.

The show ended around 10:30, and after about a half hour of fans standing around taking pictures of the park and each other, they were asked to leave and then I was able to leave work for the night. There was a change in plans with the Red Sox organization, and I'm not sure if as many of us will be working the concert tonight, I know that most of us, including me, were given tonight off after a long night yesterday. We'll see how this day goes, if not tonight I'll be back at the Park tomorrow for the Phish concert.

Hope everyone is doing well, thanks for reading!

Cold and Rainy Beantown

Sorry for just now updating the blog from last night. I had to work at the ballpark yesterday night from 4 PM until about 1:30 AM, so when I got home last night I went straight to bed. As you may be aware, we're having concerts at the ballpark this weekend, so last night there was about 6 of us Grounds Crew guys on hand to be around while the crews installed the on-field flooring for the on-field seating. The flooring is called Terraplas, and it's a pretty interesting product. Anyways, we had random jobs dealing with the installation, but for the most part work was pretty uneventful. I got a call from the Griff, the assistant Groundskeeper, this morning asking if I wanted to work during the concert tonight in addition to Saturday and Sunday, so, at 5 PM tonight I'll be heading back to Fenway Park for the first Dave Matthews Band concert. Should be a pretty sweet show, and a nice way to collect some hours for work! Until then, just hanging out around Fenway district, enjoying my summer in Boston. Hopefully this weather will clear up though, it's been misty, rainy, and cold lately. Hope everyone is having a great day, I'll be updating soon. This concert should be fun!

Day Off in the City

So, after being at the ballpark for 9 consecutive days of work I had today off and I decided to relax and take in a little bit of the city. I slept in this morning, until 9, and watched a little bit of television before getting ready for the day. I also spent the morning catching up with my friend Jennifer back in Raleigh and then my friend and co-worker at the Red Sox, AJ, and I decided we'd spend our day off checking out the Samuel Adams Brewery here in Boston. We each ate lunch where we live and then met up at the Back Bay Fens to head toward Massachusetts Avenue where we would catch the Orange line of the subway to take us to the Brewery. We ended up taking the 1:30 tour, and let me just say, the Sam Adams Brewery is tiny! When I was younger I took a tour of an Anheuser-Busch facility in St. Louis, and while that company is way larger and produces a wider variety and quantity of product, I was shocked at how small this particular brewery was. As it turns out, the Boston brewery produces less than 1% of the product from this particular company, as breweries in Ohio and Pennsylvania make up the other 99%. We had a nice time on the tour, I learned more about the production process for the products and saw the vessels, vats, and tanks where the company does research and development for new or seasonal products. The tour ended and they gave us all a nice 7 oz. drinking glass as a souvenir, so, now I have something else to use at the dorm, haha. I came back to where I'm staying and watched the end of the Manchester United-Barcelona soccer game from Rome on ESPN, and then, when Phil got back from work, we went to dinner at some burrito shop near Harvard Medical School, which is about a block from where we live. We just got back a little while ago and we're currently watching some of the early action from the Boston Red Sox game against the Minnesota Twins in Minneapolis, but I think we're going to head toward old downtown Boston for a little bit tonight and see what's happening in the city this Wednesday night. Thanks again for reading, I'll be back soon! Oh, and if you haven't seen them yet, watch the videos in the post below, they're pretty cool!

Sunday Rain Videos

So, I spent some time tonight looking online for videos posted by fans at Fenway Park on Sunday who recorded our awesome Grounds Crew rolling out the tarp during the bad weather. These 4 videos were some of the best I could come across. I think it's awesome to have been a part of what went on at the park that afternoon, looking back it was all a lot of fun.

The first video is the initial call of the delay, with crew members running to cover the mound and also seeing crew members start to rock the tarp off the wall before the camera cuts away.

The second video is the crew covering the infield and one member working in the bullpen. The song "Love, Reign O'er Me" by The Who is playing while we pull out the tarp.

The third video is the uncovering of the infield and the work that begins to prep the infield for play again. You can hear "Thunderstruck" being pumped over the speakers.

And the final video is just showing work building up the sides of the tarp with the song "Blame it on the Rain" playing over the public address system.

In the first video I'm in dead center, which will be hard to identify me, while the tarp is being rocked to roll out. In both the second and third videos I'm in the right-of-center part of the tarp pulling the tarp. In the 4th video, I could be anywhere, we were running around like crazy!

Oh, and as I mentioned the other day, the coolest part, which you can sort of tell in these videos is the crowd reaction to our hard work. The fans, teams, and umpires really appreciated what we were doing, and you can hear the crowd volume pick up as the tarp is being fully applied and removed. What a rush.

Hope you enjoy these as much as I did! Go Red Sox! Oh, and an entry from the last 2 days was just posted below, thanks again for reading!

The Last 2 Days

Hey, so the last 2 days at the ballpark have been fairly uneventful for me as far as working on the playing surface goes. Fenway Park is hosting 3 concerts this weekend, Dave Matthews Band on Fri. and Sat. and Phish on Sun., so we've spent a lot of time overseeing and monitoring the construction of the concert stage and working in making the turf and skin as viable as possible during this week long interruption from normal management practices. I went in at 2 the past 2 days, and did many odd jobs around the ballpark, dealing with a few different things. This afternoon I helped "Nail" the baselines, in which we loosen the surface of the clay and rework the soil around, smooth it out, and apply fresh material to the surface. Other jobs included working with fieldboards and padding, and also monitoring the construction team. The stage they're building for these shows is massive, and spans from near the center of the left field wall all the way into deep center. I'm looking forward to working this weekend with the concerts, and also in working with the field in the days/weeks following the concerts, as I'm certain the playing surface will be affected by having such a stage built on it. I'm off work tomorrow, think I may spend the day with some other interns and possibly take in some sights of Boston. Hope everyone is doing well, wherever you may be. Go Sox!

Quick Update!

Hey everyone, just wanted to check in real quick with the blog. I'm about to head to work at the Park at 2 PM, so no time for an update at the moment. Later tonight I'll try and recap the last 2 days of work. Don't worry, it won't be a huge entry like yesterdays, that will probably be a rarity. There is great news today though, Phil and I now have a television for the room. A girl who lives on our floor had an extra TV being stored in her room, so she's letting us borrow it for the summer. Like I said, great news. Have a great afternoon, I'll be checking in again soon!

What a day at Fenway!

Hey! Hope everyone is having a great day. Today was a very exciting, hectic, and busy day for me and the rest of the grounds crew for the Boston Red Sox. We had rain overnight in Boston, so the tarp was put on the infield last night in anticipation for the weather. I arrived at work this morning at 6:30 AM, and the first thing we did was uncover the infield by removing the tarp. At this time there were 10 or 15 of us guys to do this job, which is so exhausting, by the way. To remove the tarp we pick up one end, sprint the length of the field to flip the tarp over and remove the standing water on top and to give us the opportunity to clean the bottom to the best of our ability using blowers. We then had a series of sprints holiding on to different sides and edges of the tarp to get it to the correct size for rolling it up, and then we went about putting it back on the roller and moving it to the side of the field where it usually stays. This initial removal of the tarp was pretty tiring in itself, but we were all anticipating potentially having to move it again later in the day.

After this we went about separate tasks trying to get the playing field in order for the game, and then a few of us new interns met with our bosses to get a tutorial on how to apply the tarp if necessary in a game situation. Knowing that bad weather was headed our way, I paid very close attention as to how this was done as I didn't want to be caught in the tarp in the middle of an important pull. After hearing these instructions we set up batting practice and did other things necessary for the game. The next thing we knew, 1:30 rolled around, and the game was about to begin.

Right before first pitch we were told by our boss that we were about to "get slammed with some weather" and that we needed to be ready for a tarp pull. Fairly shortly after that the rain started trickling on us, and then the raindrops became huge, it felt like water balloons, and we were certain the game was about to be delayed. And the next thing we knew, the umpire called a delay and I recalled Griff yelling "Go! Go! Go! Go!" All of us sprinted out of the alley near the first base dugout and hopped the wall on the other side of the tarp, and started to rock it back in forth to get it off the wall. After moving it we rallied behind it, and collectively 25 of us pushed the tarp across the outfield in preparation of covering the infield. It may have taken us 30-45 seconds to do this part of the pull. Then came the hard part. We all immediately spread out among the tarp and grabbed edges of it to pull it. We'd sprint and pull, sprint back into position, sprint and pull, sprint back again, and then finally, the long run across the entire infield, a sprint into placement, rotation, and tightening of the tarp. Mind you, the whole time this is going on 40,000 fans were either cheering us on or booing the delay, cameras were fixed on us, and music to pump up the crew was blasting over the speakers at the stadium. After placing down the tarp we each ran around the tarp with tarp pins to secure it to the ground. Along with this we had to run to the warehouse and grab supplies for the rain delay. This, while exhausting alone, was just the beginning. We had the tarp secured to the field in about 2 minutes. This was the most intense work experience of my life. We then went and sat in the Red Sox dugout to wait out the delay. I sat down at the end of the bench, where I sat shoulder to shoulder with Rocco Baldelli and Josh Beckett, by the way. Within 3-5 minutes of being in the dugout the rain had stopped and it was time to prep the field for play again.

Everything you've read so far is just a precursor to the most intense and exhausting experience of the afternoon. The removal of the tarp. All 25 of us guys are so winded after getting everything in place, and now we must do the rest of the process within a few minutes so play can resume. We grabbed the tarp at the side closest to the third base dugout, and within an instant we began a sprint across the infield all the way to the far right outfield wall to spread out the tarp to be rolled back up. We left the tarp, and immediately we began sprinting to the alley to grab bags of Turface to apply to the infield. These bags weigh 50 pounds each, and after all the rushing around we had done they might as well have weighed 500 pounds. I grabbed 4 bags and applied them to different areas of the infield. In total, 60 bags of the product was applied in order to absorb the standing moisture on the field. We then each grabbed scrapers to level the surface, and after this we ran into position to fold and roll the tarp. Once again, 3 consecutive sprint and sprint backs were necessary in doing this. We got it done, rolled it up, and placed the tarp back on the wall. In all, this was by far the most intense 20-30 minutes of my life.

The coolest thing about all this was the fact that so much adrenaline is running through you during something like that. I was exhausted from the work we were doing, so was everyone else, but we all knew that 40,000 fans plus countless television viewers were fixed on us, and the adrenaline pumping through us kept us going. The cheers, applause, and adoration from the crowd during it was incredible. I really felt like I was a celebrity out there instead of the athletes. Oh, another thing that was pretty cool, I got several calls and texts from people saying they saw me on television. Apparently I was visible during the tarp pulls and in laying piping for the tarp, and a TBS camera even zoomed in on me while I was spreading Turface. Definitely pretty cool.

After this, the game went on and finished pretty normal. I came home and relaxed, ready to show up at the park again tomorrow at 2 PM, should be another great week ahead. Thanks so much for reading, I know this was pretty long, I just had a lot to say! Have a great night!

Early Morning...

Hey everyone, I reported to work at Fenway Park this morning at 6:30 AM, and after a full morning of work I was off at Noon. Had a pretty nice afternoon and evening hanging out after work. I'll be adding more tomorrow after this homestand ends. Hope everyone is doing well. Miss everyone back in Cary, Raleigh, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Nashville. Oh, and any other city where you may be reading this from. Goodnight!

Full Friday at Fenway

Hey everyone, this update should be pretty quick tonight. Had a great but long day at the ballpark today. I arrived at work at 8 AM, and after some usual jobs, I was told to work on patching the mound for the game tonight. It was definitely a pretty tough job, but rebuilding the mound at Fenway Park was also pretty incredible. After I had been working on it a little while it kind of hit me that that particular mound has had so many great pitchers throw from it, and that my work in the morning would be important for a Major League Baseball game at night. I loved it. Along with that, Weston, in telling me to work this particular task said, "Wes, help me with this and then finish up working on your mound." So yes, this makes it official, as long as I'm alive I'll be referring to the pitching mound at Fenway Park as my mound. Maybe there's some official way for the Red Sox to declare it "Wes Eppele Mound", hmm, I'll have to look into that. After lunch I helped set up Batting Practice, went to MLB/Boston Red Sox Skin Cancer Screening, and then after eating dinner in the team Dining Hall helped set up during pregame. This was my first game actually working on the field before first pitch, and it's really exciting to work in front of 40,000 excited fans. One of them being a guy named Ty that I know from living in the Quad at NC State, pretty crazy seeing him at the ballpark tonight. Oh, there was one funny thing that happened during pregame. I was helping Griff spread some turface in the infield, and as some advertisement for an airline was playing on the videoboard in center field, Griff said "Welcome Aboard!" I understood him saying that as him welcoming me to working my first game, so I replied "Thanks a lot!" Apparently Griff was just imitating what is said in the commercial, and after he told me that he said, "Hahaha, yeah Wes, welcome aboard." Anyway,I left work right before the game began, and came back to the room. I'll probably be going to bed soon, have to be back at the park at 6:30 AM. So, it's a short night for me tonight, but I'm not sure if I'd have it any other way after a great day at work.

Two Non-Stop Days

Hello again. I'm back for a quick update after being pretty busy with work and other things the last two days. Anyways, yesterday was a pretty hectic day at the ballpark. I went into work at 8 AM, and had tasks of setting up stanchions in the warning track in front of the Green Monster, cleaning up some debris around the warning track, sweeping baselines, and helping our head groundskeeper water the infield. Although this may not seem like too much, it took pretty much all morning until my lunch break. After lunch, I, along with some other crew members, set up batting practice for the Toronto Blue Jays. The Jays decided to have an early batting practice yesterday, so we had all the screens in place and the cage ready for hitting by 2 PM. While batting practice was going on I worked on cleaning the Simplicity mower we have and also some other simple maintenance things around the grounds crew area. At 4 PM I clocked out for the day, but because I had been there all day I was invited to stay for dinner at 4:30 in the media/team dining hall at the top of Fenway Park. Phil, my roommate, and I decided to wait for dinner, and we went up to the dining room at the appropriate time. The guy working the team sign-in desk had a little trouble understanding me when I told him my last name "Eppele", said I had a little too much drawl in it, hahaha. Eating dinner up there was pretty cool. Dennis Eckersley, a former MLB pitcher who starred with the Athletics in the 80's was seated a few tables away from me. Oh, another thing that was cool about eating up there, all the placeware had the Red Sox logos on them. Anyways, after dinner and getting back to the dorm I went back to Fenway Park and met up with a family friend from Raleigh to catch the game for the night. We had a great time watching the game, the Sox were dominant with many home runs, and I even got video of David Ortiz's first home run of the season. Jason then went back to his hotel after the game, I headed back to Emmanuel and caught some sleep. Today my routine was pretty much the same as yesterday. I had a few assignments today that were different than yesterday, but many things were the same. Batting practice was neat to be around today as the Boston Red Sox have Interleague play this weekend against the New York Mets. The Sox pitchers were in the batting cage, learning how to hit again. Dennis Eckersley was around the ballpark again, and I also was about 2 or 3 feet away from Scott Rolen and Vernon Wells this afternoon out in the hallway near the Visitor Clubhouse. After work and dinner tonight at Fenway Park I came back to the room and cleaned up and I just recently got finished watching the Hurricanes-Penguins game. Now, time to sleep again and do it again tomorrow! Thanks for reading, I know this was pretty verbose, hopefully there won't be many more days where I can't share something. Catch ya later!

Scorcher in New England

This is just a quick update, I didn't have time to update last night, and I'm about to leave for work this morning, but hopefully tonight I will be able to write in the blog about today and yesterday. Work is going well, looks like today could be pretty hot here in Boston. The forecast is calling for a high of 89 today. Guess I better stay hydrated, haha. Have a great day, I'll be back soon.

Gameday in Boston

Today was a pretty hectic day at Fenway Park. Today was the first day of a 6-day, 6-game homestand with the first half of the week against AL East foe Toronto and the weekend series against the New York Mets of the NL East in Interleague Play. I arrived to work at 11 AM today, and my day consisted of a variety of different jobs. I had to spend part of my day readying the camera pits next to the dugouts, making sure they were suitable for use, and I also spent some time in the morning readying the Visitor dugout, making sure it was up to Blue Jays standards. Along with working in the turf warehouse where I cleaned some equipment and the work area, I worked in the infield, readied the bases for batting practice, and set up the screens for batting practice. Other work on the field included some edging and manicuring of the turf around the Coaches box on both the first and third baselines. I got off work a little after 3 PM, and came back to Emmanuel, relaxed, took a shower, and ran some errands before the game. I had the game off tonight, so I met up with Phil, Kevin, and AJ, three of the other interns on the crew, at a restaurant located right behind Fenway Park to relax and watch some of the game. It was pretty cool watching the game on television and looking out the window and seeing Fenway Park. It's still nice having my roommate here as he's someone to adjust to the job and the city with. Phil and I actually both go into work at 8 AM tomorrow morning, so I imagine we'll both be off before gametime. A family friend of mine from Raleigh is supposed to be in town tomorrow night, so hopefully we'll be able to meet up and watch the Sox game together. I think that's all for tonight though, thanks a lot for reading. Go Red Sox!

First Game Today!

As the title for this post suggests, today will be the first Red Sox home game since my arrival to Boston 8 days ago. We have 6-game homestand this week, hosting the Toronto Blue Jays during the week and the New York Mets this weekend. I'm excited about seeing the Red Sox buzz around Boston with the team being in town, I hear it's a pretty cool environment. Yesterday was a pretty quick day at the ballpark, worked on a variety of random jobs preparing for the homestand. The guys who worked on the mowing pattern for this week did an incredible job, it should look great on television. I think we're on local TV through the week, but if I'm not mistaken we'll be on national telecast on TBS Sunday at 1:35 PM. I'm sure I'll find out more about that later. After a nice day of work yesterday, I came back to Emmanuel College where my roommate for the summer, Phil, had just arrived. We had a nice afternoon and evening of getting him settled into the room and I did my best to a quick guided tour of our side of Boston, meaning from our dorm to the stadium. It's good to have him here, things are definitely more lively with two people in the room. Oh, one other thing, hope you had a great 21st birthday Scott Bearden, I'm glad you made it this far, haha. Okay, I better go, I'm supposed to be at work in 52 minutes, and should be a pretty busy day ahead. Thanks again for reading, I appreciate it. And since it's gameday in Boston, Go Red Sox!

Back in Boston

Well, I'm back in Boston after a very nice weekend with my friends in Western Massachusetts. We had a change in plans on Saturday night, after checking the weather for Boston we decided that we'd avoid the rain at the lacrosse game and stay in Westfield for another night. We hung out, played lacrosse in the backyard for a little while, and then went out and saw the new movie "Angels & Demons." In all, we had a great night. Sunday morning we woke up and went to church in Westfield and after church Matt's family, Tim, and I packed up to bring me back to Boston. We grabbed lunch together and then I was dropped back off at Emmanuel College. I just kind of hung out last night, caught up with some friends online and relaxed before what will probably be a pretty busy week with six home games. I'm looking forward to later today when my roommate for the summer will be arriving from Springfield, Missouri. It'll be nice to have someone else around who is adjusting to the city and interested in seeing all that Boston has to offer. So, welcome Phil! I'm glad you're almost here! I think that's about it for now, I have to be at Fenway Park at noon to start work for the day, so, I guess I better get everything in order for work. Oh, and Mom, Dad, I got the packages this morning, thanks so much for sending that stuff, and Leanna, thanks for the card! Thanks for reading, should be an exciting week! Oh, and one more thing, I uploaded some pictures from my first few days in Boston into a facebook album. If you're a friend of mine on facebook feel free to go to my page and check them out if you'd like, and if you're not on facebook, you can follow this link to see the pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2352233&id=2728421&l=c75218d4b5

Weekend in Westfield

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, two of my friends from LSU, Matt and Tim, came into Boston yesterday to visit. We spent the day taking in some of the sights, as I'm still trying to learn the city and Tim had never visited the city before. One of the places we went was the TD Banknorth Garden again, as Tim wanted to get his brother a Celtics Glen "Big Baby" Davis jersey, since Davis played at LSU. Well, the Celtics and Bruins share the arena store, so I saw some items from the Bruins-Hurricanes series that just ended. Turns out, all the items from that series were marked down to 99 cents, so I picked up 2 lapel pins and 2 hockey pucks with the series logo on it. Not a bad find for a 'Canes fan, and I'm sure no Bruins fan would want them. We did a few other things around the city, and after riding the T back to my part of town, we left the city and drove out to Westfield, MA, where Matt lives with his family. We had a fun night playing pool and watching the movie "Taken", and I also enjoyed getting out of the city for a little while. After breakfast this morning we decided to go to Six Flags New England for a few hours where we rode a few roller coasters and other rides. In all it's been a good day so far. I think we're going to eat lunch/dinner here pretty soon and then head back to Boston this evening, where we'll be going to the Boston Cannons-Long Island Lizards lacrosse game at Harvard University. Should be a fun night. I guess that's it for now. Thanks for reading!

Let's Go 'Canes!

Hello! Yesterday was a pretty great day for me here in the city of Boston. I started work at 8 AM, and after a morning shift at the ballpark, I got off work at 12:30 PM. I was a tad tired after my first few days and came back to my room and napped for a few hours after taking care of some quick errands. Last night I went out to the TD Banknorth Garden, home of the Boston Bruins and Boston Celtics, in hopes of maybe finding a ticket for game 7 last night against my Hurricanes. I didn't have much luck in finding one, so around puck-drop I headed back toward my side of town, grabbed dinner, and watched through the second period at Cask 'N Flagon, the sports pub right behind Fenway Park. As I walked into the restaurant and the bouncer checked my ID, he made a remark about the Hurricanes scoring, and I made a sarcastic comment in response, playing along with him. He then saw my ID, shook his head, gave me a smirk, and waved me through. I came back to my room to watch the final period with 2 guys who live on my floor, Aaron and Gavin. They're both Bruins fans, but we had a good time watching the game together. Well, I had a good time, considering the Hurricanes won. I'm not so sure they were exactly thrilled with the outcome. Anyway, the first 3 days at the ballpark were great, and now I have today, Saturday, and Sunday off before returning to work on Monday at noon. I'm really excited about the free weekend, hopefully giving me an opportunity to do a little more exploring around the city and check out some of my surroundings. One of my good friends from LSU, Matt, lives about 45 minutes south of Boston on the Massachusetts/Connecticut border, and today he's coming into town with another friend from LSU, Tim. It'll be nice again to see a familiar face, especially since I haven't hung out with the guy since last December in Baton Rouge. I think we're going to check out some stuff around the city, maybe even a Boston Cannons lacrosse game, and then head back to Westfield, his hometown, until Sunday. I met Matt's dad when he visited Baton Rouge back in the fall, so it'll be nice to see him again as well. The Red Sox host the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Mets this upcoming week, so I'm sure once I get back to work on Monday I'll have plenty of work to do preparing for and with the homestand. I'm going to try and post pictures on my Facebook profile from my first few days in Boston sometime this weekend, and I think there is a way for me to post some in my blog entries. Oh well, I'll figure all that out. Thanks for reading, I'll be updating again soon. Let's go 'Canes! Woo!

Second Day of Work

Well, this has been a pretty full and exhausting day, so this entry probably won't be nearly as long as recent days. I got to work this morning at 8 AM, and for the first time in person I met my boss and the Red Sox head groundskeeper, Dave Mellor. Dave is one of the best in the business, is very well respected, and has written many books and done consultant work with and for many well known companies. Working for him this summer should be an awesome opportunity for me and I'm looking forward to learning a lot from him. Anyways, today was really busy at the park. Today the field was aerated and topdressed, so much of the day was spent removing cores from the playing surface. This process, while not necessarily painstaking, was definitely time consuming, but at the end of the day it was great to see the final product and have a playing field that is well manicured and in great condition. After the removal of the cores was completed, there were some other odd jobs that had to be completed before I could head on out, but I ended up leaving the park around 5:15 PM. On the way home I went to a local supermarket and loaded up on some essentials for the room and also for packing my lunch in the upcoming days. After getting cleaned up and grabbing dinner I spent some time talking to a friend here at Emmanuel College, getting to know some of the people I'll be living with for the next 3 months. And after this quick update, I'll be heading to bed, got to do it all over again tomorrow at 8 AM. However, after tomorrow I think I'll have the weekend off, which could be a great time to explore the city a little more and taken in some of the things that Boston has to offer. Maybe even a trip to the arena tomorrow night for the 'Canes-Bruins game? Hmm, I'd love nothing more than to see the boys from Raleigh steal game 7 here in Boston! Thanks for reading, goodnight!

First Day at Fenway

Well, as the title of this entry suggests, today was my first day of work with the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. I arrived at the ballpark about 7:45 AM, and met up with the other assistant groundskeeper, Jason, and two other grounds crew members, Jack and Jedi. Shortly after my arrival, another intern showed up at the park. This guy, AJ, is a turf student from one of the Univ. of Minnesota branches and grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Jason split us into two groups of two, and while Jack and AJ went to work in the visitor bullpen, Jedi and I worked on the 1st and 3rd basepath. After finishing up with these tasks and a quick break, the four of us worked in setting up a platform for delivery of the sand that would arrive later in the afternoon for the aerating and topdressing which will occur at another time. After that, Jason, AJ, Jack, and I went to lunch at Cask 'n Flagon, a sports pub located behind the Green Monster. The four of us shot the breeze about sports and whatever, and Jason (an avid Bruins fan) and I (an avid Hurricanes fan) jabbed each other about the current playoff series. Following lunch we went back to the park and worked on some other random tasks. By the way, I definitely had another "I work for the Red Sox" moment today. I was helping Jason and AJ water around home plate, and I was holding the hose on the pitching mound while the other guys were standing in different areas. A few seconds after standing there I realized, "I'm on the mound at Fenway!", and I looked up around the stadium, and up in the Press Box was a group of people touring the ballpark staring at the field, watching us work. It was a pretty surreal and incredible moment. Anyways, before AJ and I could leave the park though we had to get some materials required for our employment. Along with a really sweet team ID badge with our name and "Grounds Crew' on it, we were given rainwear, shorts, work shirts, a sweatshirt, and a jacket for use on the job. Getting these pretty cool Red Sox items was a lot of fun, and it's definitely pretty cool to have some items that are only available to employees of the team and members of the grounds crew. I got back from work about 3:30, and after cleaning up, I went back out about the neighborhood I'm in to get some items for the room. This meant another trip to Bed, Bath, and Beyond, who I'm practically advertising for by mentioning so often, a quick trip to Staples, and also down to CVS. After getting some things squared away for the day, I was ready for dinner and excited about watching game 6 of the 'Canes-Bruins series. Elizabeth, one of closest friends at NCSU, is from Boston, and although she will be in Raleigh this summer, she happened to be back home for a few days, so her and I decided to hang out tonight. She came over to my dorm room, and from there the two of us headed toward downtown to find a bite to eat and a place to watch the game. We walked from Emmanuel to the Kenmore train station, and we rode the Eastbound train to the Park Street station. We got off at Park Street, and Elizabeth started to show me some cool parts of that area of downtown. We walked through Boston Gardens, down to the Frog Pond, and up in front of the Massachusetts State House. Two huge banners, one for the Celtics and one for the Bruins were hanging from the State House, and I took a picture in front of the two, in hopes that the Bruins one would be taken down tomorrow morning. We continued walking through downtown, and went to Quincy Market. While walking into Quincy Market we noticed partitions and what appeared to be a film crew setting up to film or filming something while we were there. Turns out it was the television game show "Wheel of Fortune" that was setting up to film a promotional commercial for an upcoming trip to the city. Elizabeth and I decided we'd eat and watch the game at "Cheers", you know, "Where Everybody Knows Your Name", but apparently we were getting there as they were closing and we had to change plans. With this change in plans we went to the Hard Rock Cafe where we settled into a back room where all the televisions were turned to the game. We enjoyed a nice dinner, and I ended up talking to some Bruins fans who were watching the game at the bar, and proceeded to tell them, that no, not everyone in North Carolina is hockey illiterate, and Raleigh, while definitely a southern city, does love the Hurricanes hockey team. These guys were real ice and although the 'Canes ended up losing, they were fun to watch the game with. Following dinner, and the 'Canes loss, we left the restaurant and headed back through Quincy Market to where we needed to be. Oh, and remember that film crew I metioned earlier? Well, the "Wheel of Fortune" guys weren't done, and at this point in time, 2 hours from when we first saw them, there was a familiar face in the shoot. Vanna White was standing in the commons and the crew was filming the commercial! Elizabeth and I were maybe 10 yards away from her, and wow, she's still got it. I don't know what "it" is, but yeah, she's got it. Anyways, Elizabeth and I headed back to the Park Street station, where I got on the Green line back to Fenway while Elizabeth caught the Red line back to her part of town. It was really nice having a close friend and such a familiar face with me in the city. She'll be back in Raleigh tomorrow until late June, but whenever she gets back here will be awesome, she is a great guide! I just got back to the dorm a while ago, and after catching the tail end of the Celtics game in the lobby with some Bostonians, and updating this blog, I am pretty exhausted. I guess it's about time for me to go to bed tonight, do it all over again tomorrow! I had a great first day of work, and I'm really excited about the rest of the summer. Thanks for checking in with me. By the way, the Red Sox are tied at 1 with the LA Angels in the bottom of the 4th on the west coast, let's see if they/we can't pull out a win tonight! Hahaha, goodnight!

First Day in Boston

After months of school and waiting for this summer so I could finally start my internship with the Red Sox, the day has arrived and I am in Boston! I woke up this morning about 6 o'clock and headed to RDU International Airport at around 7:45 AM, with my flight leaving the airport for Boston, MA at 9:30 AM. I was very exhausted from the night before and having woken up early, and pretty much fell asleep as soon as I sat down on the airplane. However, I was lucky enough to wake up just in time to see New York City as we flew over/past. I woke up as we were flying over NYC and we were at a pretty good distance so I had a hard time making out some of the buildings, but seeing the huge city from the air was definitely a treat. I arrived in Boston at 11:30 AM and took a shuttle from Logan Airport to Emmanuel College. After getting my Emmanuel ID card I checked into my room in St. Joseph's Hall, and decided to go grab lunch and see what is in the vicinity of where I'll be living. I walked down to a very nice food court near the school and bought lunch, and headed back to my room to eat and settle in. Right after I finished eating I got a phone call from Kevin, another grounds crew intern, from Atlanta, saying that he was out and about Boston with two of his roommates, Drew, from Washington State, and Josh, from U. of Arkansas, and wanted to know if I wanted to meet up. We decided to meet up at the huge 3-story Apple store and after meeting, the 4 of us spent a little while just hanging out downtown. After we left the Apple store, we decided today was a great day to go to the observatory at the top of the Prudential Center. We spent a while up at the top of this skyscraper taking in the sights, seeing some pretty awesome Boston landmarks, including my place of work for the next 3 months, Fenway Park. After leaving the Prudential Center, Drew and Josh decided to head back to their townhome while Kevin and I headed over to Fenway Park. This was it, my first time going to the ballpark. As we approached the ballpark I started to notice things I had seen before on television and in movies about the historic ballpark. Large banners and flags lining Yawkey Way, the brick and green facade to the old stadium, the enormous CITGO sign that is so easily seen above the Green Monster, it was amazing. Kevin and I walked into the ballpark, and after walking through the concourse, we went past a gated area with a sign that read "Employees Only". I suppose this was another moment where I was reminded that I was an intern for the Boston Red Sox. We went into the Grounds Crew office, where there I met Assistant Groundskeeper Weston, and after talking in the office for a few minutes, he decided to show me around the park. Weston showed me the Grounds Crew locker room and the areas where the turf equpment and materials are stored. He then asked me if I had "gone to field level" yet, and after telling him I hadn't, Weston took me out to the playing surface. We walked out of the concourse to the seating area, and then we went down to the field. As we were heading that way, my thoughts were put into words by Weston who said, "Looks a lot bigger on TV, doesn't it?". I laughed a little bit, but it's so true, Fenway Park is so much smaller in person than it is on ESPN. We walked out onto the field, where some group was playing a softball game as a fundraiser, and we talked about the job and Boston for a little while. Weston then left to take care of some business, while Kevin showed me around the field. We walked into the home dugout, around the warning track in front of the home and visitor bullpens, and then crossed in front of the Green Monster. That whole experience of initially walking the field where so many great ballplayers had played was pretty amazing, and I'm sure I won't ever forget it. Kevin and I left shortly after this, and we split ways for the night. I came back to Emmanuel to settle into my dorm and make my bedroom up a little bit. I had a late dinner and made a quick run to Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and now, I'm sitting in the lobby of the residence hall on a lobby computer as I don't yet have internet access in my room. In all, it's been a great first day. So far everyone I met has been very nice and welcoming. I'm looking forward to having Phil, my roommate, arrive next Monday as maybe that will make dorm life a little more interesting. So far, simply put about Boston, I LOVE IT. This should be a great summer. And although it's early, only 9:20ish, I think it's about time for me to settle in for the night, first day of work is tomorrow, gotta be there by 8 AM. That's right, Tuesday, 8 AM, FENWAY PARK. Goodnight!

Final Night In Raleigh

Well, this post is coming a little after midnight on Monday, May 11, and I've just finished hanging out with my closest friends at my house in Cary. Earlier this evening, toward the end of the Carolina Hurricanes game, Scott Reintgen and Laney Bolick came over, followed by Scott Bearden, Grant Kennedy, and Dan Fox. My sister, Leanna, and my parents were also here. We all just kind of hung out and had a fun night together, oh, and Leanna and my Mom made beignets for us to eat. Beignets, for those who are unaware, are french doughnuts covered in powdered sugar. The Eppele 5 thoroughly enjoyed these delicious treats on our last night together for the summer. Thanks guys for coming over, it means a lot to me, and Leanna and my folks for everything too. Hard to believe the time to go on up there has finally arrived, it seems like yesterday I was in my dorm room in Blake Hall at LSU conducting a phone interview with the Red Sox in hopes of landing this internship. This entire summer should be great for me, and also for my friends who I spent time with tonight. I guess I'm going to go ahead and get some sleep with the early morning ahead of me. Hopefully my next post will be from Boston! Thanks again for everything , I look forward to sharing this experience with you all.

4...

Well, I had a pretty great day today spending my last Thursday in North Carolina before heading to Beantown for the summer. I spent the day down at Wrightsville Beach, NC with 3 of my friends, playing beach football, swimming, and having some nice downtime relaxing before the bulk of packing begins. Nice day at the beach, the weather was great. It was a little overcast for the first hour of the day, but from 1 until 5 the shun was out and things were great. After grabbing dinner at Red Robin in Wilmington, Scott, Scott, Dan, and I headed home. Oh, and the best part of the day, I finally got to catch up with my best friend in Louisiana after a few long weeks of being out of touch. However, the best news of the day is that I received my summer housing confirmation from Emmanuel College today, and I'm set to move in on Monday. I'll be living in St. Joseph's Hall on the campus and in case you're wondering, I will be able to receive mail over the summer. I'll list my mailing address at the end of this entry, and apparently for mail to be properly distributed in the College, packages and letters MUST be addressed as follows:

Wesley Eppele
Summer Resident
Emmanuel College
400 The Fenway
Boston, MA 02115

So, please, feel free to send me notes, letters, or packages, anything, I would love to get mail this summer! Thanks so much for reading, 3 more nights and I'll have an entry from Boston! Goodnight.

Final 5 Nights

So, final exams for my spring semester classes at NC State have ended, I've moved out of my room in Bagwell Hall back to my house in Cary, and I'm entering my final weekend in Raleigh before heading up to Boston for the summer. Five nights, including tonight, left before I get to get started on this great opportunity and experience with the Red Sox. The last few days I had been feeling anxious about everything dealing with leaving NC again and being in Massachusetts for the summer, but with school over and my departure date so soon, my anxiety has started to go away and the level of excitement is definitely picking up. I'm looking forward to tomorrow with some of my friends, spend a day down at the North Carolina coast and celebrate the end of Junior year and the start of what should be a great summer for everyone. I guess that's all for tonight, thanks a lot if you're reading this. Hopefully these posts will become more interesting in the next week or so. Oh, and GO CAROLINA HURRICANES! Great win tonight over the Bruins. Hmm, maybe I should get that out of my system before next week, I don't need to make any enemies so early into the summer. Haha, goodnight.