Over the past couple of weekends, we got to experience the rivalry at the major and minor league levels, as the New York Yankees invaded Fenway Park starting on July 25 and their Double-A team, the Trenton Thunder, took on the Sea Dogs at Hadlock Field the next weekend. We took in the Saturday games at each venue.
A trip to Boston's Fenway Park is always interesting and there's never more buzz than when the Yankees are in town. It doesn't really matter what the standings say, these games are like playoff games. Yankees fans come out of the woodwork, some real fans, others perhaps just contrarians!
Saturday's game had the makings of a good match-up, with Tim Wakefield taking the mound for the Red Sox against the Yankees' Andy Petitte. Both pitchers had been throwing pretty well and have enjoyed success against their rivals over the years.
The game started off well, as Wake set down the Yankees in the top of the first and the Sox put up a pair of runs in the bottom of the fame. Two runs are always good, but what made these even better was that the Sox rally was set up by an error on the part of Alex Rodriguez, that poster-child for hated Yankees. He booted Dustin Pedroia's leadoff ground ball, much to the delight of the Fenway faithful.
Alas, major league baseball games last more than one inning and the rest was pretty much downhill from there. The final score was 10-3 in favor of the Evil Empire, so the less said about the rest of the game, the better!
Apart from the game itself, there was plenty of drama behind the scenes before the game started, as speculation of the status of one Manny Ramirez ran rampant. He had not played in the first game of the series the night before, citing a bad knee, but it appears that Sox brass were not entirely convinced that Manny was unable to play. Rumor had it that they threatened to suspend the slugger if he didn't play on Saturday. He did play, but went hitless in four at bats and left five runners on base. The photo at right shows Manny in left field, literally and perhpas figuratively!
Flash-forward a few days, and Manny's out west and Jason Bay's in Boston. Seems like a good deal for both sides so far.
Meanwhile, the Trenton Thunder were playing the Portland Sea Dogs in the Double-A version of Yankees/Red Sox starting on August 1.
Due to earlier rain-outs, a double-header was scheduled for Saturday. Mother Nature was still not overly cooperative, however, and only one of the seven-inning games was able to be played.
The Thunder was not overly cooperative either, as they beat the Sea Dogs 7-3. Not much went the Sea Dogs' way, although the three runs were scored late in the game for a bit of excitement, but the
rally was not enough to offset the seven-run deficit.One aspect of the game we were looking forward to was getting a look at Lars Anderson, a big, 20-year old first baseman just called up to the Sea Dogs from the High-A Lancaster JetHawks. Here he at bat in the left photo. He's got some power!
So, how does one compare the two experiences? Well, they're certainly a lot different!
For starters, the fan excitement is certainly much higher at the major-league level, no two ways about that. Everything that happens on the field gets some sort of reaction, as the stakes are high.
Normally if a batter on the home team hits a routine grounder or makes some other sort of non-controversial out, you don't hear much noise, as the home fans don't cheer or boo. Well, the pesky Yankees fans who managed to sneak into Fenway did cheer when a Sox player was out. And not just a few. How did those Yankees fans get tickets when Sox fans have such a hard time doing so?
Down at the Double- A level, fans enjoy themselves, but don't get quite so worked up. The Sea Dogs have a strong fan base, but there are always plenty of spectators who have seemingly never been to Hadlock Field before and don't know who any of the players are. Sometimes it seems that they don't even know who they're supposed to root for!
It must be said that Fenway Park also always has a lot of non-baseball fans who have wandered in, but they know to cheer for the Red Sox and boo the other team, even of they don't know who those players are. Fenway is "the" place to be for tourists as well as locals who want to sound important by saying they go to Fenway!
Since the fans at Hadlock Field are not as invested in the outcome of the game, you tend to have less obnoxious behavior. This is partly because there usually aren't that many fans of the visiting team on hand. No doubt the Trenton Thunder have plenty of fans, but they aren't as likely to journey to Portland as Yankees fans are to visit Boston. There are always a few Yankees caps seen around Hadlock, but no more than usual when the Thunder is there. Makes us wonder if they even know who the Thunder's parent club is!
But the real Sea Dogs fans know the players and always like it when a former Sea Dog makes good with the Red Sox.
So, there's less buzz surrounding a Sea Dogs games, but you get to enjoy yourself in a more relaxed atmosphere. What about the level of play?
Of course, the American League is filled with players who are much more accomplished than those in the Eastern League. It would be folly to think otherwise. However, when you match the best hitters against the best pitchers, the results aren't a lot different from when Double-A hitters face Double-A pitchers. Either way, it's a fair fight and you might get a pitchers' duel or a slugfest on any given day.
And while the minor-leaguers may not be as accomplished as their major league brethren, don't think they don't want to win. They want to show what they can do so they can keep climbing the ladder of their organization. Has a major-leaguer with a fat, guaranteed contract ever phoned it in? Perhaps, but a minor-leaguer wouldn't dare!
So, you can see a good game at both Fenway Park and Hadlock Field. How do the amenities stack up? The answer is: very differently!
Most fans are aware that Fenway Park is the oldest major league stadium still in use. It opened in 1912, right around when the Titanic sank, which makes it ancient by ballpark standards. Times have changed a lot since 1912 and Fenway has too, but it's still been left behind. And with no iceberg in sight, it will be around a while longer!
For starters, people in 1912 weren't as big and/or tall as they are now. Or maybe they didn't mind being crammed into seats with no leg room back then. Whatever the case, the seats available to the average Red Sox fans in 2008 are not comfortable. At all!
Also, in 1912, most people didn't drive cars, especially in the city. So when Fenway opened, nobody needed to park a car anywhere near there. In 2008, you'd like to be able to drive to the ballpark and park your car somewhere in the vicinity, but you really can't do it.
When you go to a Sea Dogs game on the other hand, you can park right across the street from Hadlock Field for five dollars. And when you get in, you'll have a bigger seat with much more leg room. Parking anywhere near Fenway is more than five dollars. A lot more!
It's also a lot easier to get tickets to Hadlock Field. That's a bit of an understatement, actually, as you can get tickets to Hadlock Field. And they're not expensive. Mostly less than a movie ticket these days. It's virtually impossible to get Red Sox tickets. Every game is sold out and it seems like the average fan cannot get a ticket without jumping through hoops or going through a third party. And those third parties charge plenty for even the worst seats at Fenway. So most Red Sox fans are unable to attend a Red Sox game at Fenway Park.
For a lot of fans lucky enough to secure tickets to a game, that game might be the only one they get to see that season or maybe for a few seasons. Again, that makes the stakes that much higher. If the team lays an egg, such as that Saturday, your spirits can be dampened. Or, perhaps worse, if a star player has the day off (excused or not), there goes your chance to see him in action live.
Major league parks are naturally much bigger than minor league parks, and even though Fenway isn't the biggest around, it's much larger than Hadlock Field. At Hadlock, every seat offers you a good view of the game, so you can tell what's going on. At Fenway, some seats are so far away that you'd be hard-pressed to distinguish between Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz if the announcer didn't tell you who was at bat!
The concessions at Fenway are bigger as well. There's a lot to choose from these days, as the new ownership has done a lot to improve the fan experience, with the Big Concourse helping immensely. The food's good and not really all that overpriced. You know when you go to any venue (including movie theaters) that the food and drink will be a bit more than you'd like to pay, but you deal with it.
Although not as extensive, the Sea Dogs have good concessions too, with a couple of specialty items added to the usual ballpark fare. Taking advantage of the proximity to the ocean, the fish sandwich is a popular choice. And nobody can resist a Sea Dog Biscuit, an ice cream sandwich with chocolate chip cookies.
One other difference between the major and minor leagues that we've always enjoyed is the accessibility of the players. Before that recent Sea Dogs game, we met and got an autograph from pitcher TJ Large before the game. Will he ever become a big-leaguer? Who knows, but when he came in to relieve later in the game (seen at left), it was kind of fun to know that we had just talked to him.
At a Sea Dogs game last year, we noticed that Clay Buchholz was in the stands charting pitches. Although it was a short time ago chronologically speaking, he was light years away from joining the Red Sox and throwing a no-hitter late in the season. Back then, he was just a young pitcher hoping to get to Triple-A Pawtucket. Although he was wearing street clothes, we recognized him and said hi to him when he passed our seats. He smiled and greeted us back. Now that he's with the Red Sox, security would probably toss us out if we tried to talk to him at Fenway!
We met pitcher Michael Bowden in a similar manner earlier this season, so we'll have a good story to tell when he makes his inevitable Red Sox debut (he's that good)!
So, what's the verdict? Which is better? Let's just say there's more than one reason we only go to a couple of Red Sox games each year, but catch a Sea Dogs game during every homestand!
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