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!