The Game

I haven't posted about this yet...maybe I'm not sure that I can put it into words. Maybe I’m still a little shell-shocked about how it all went down. But here it is two weeks later and it is time I share with you the single greatest moment of my life:

The Date: October 16, 2008.
The Place: Boston, Massachusetts
The Purpose: ALCS (Game 5: Boston Red Sox vs. Tampa Bay Rays)

For those that do not know I am a Boston Red Sox fan. I have been for quite sometime. I love baseball in general. In fact, one of my life goals is to watch a game in every MLB ballpark. So it probably goes without saying, Fenway Park is my Mecca. It is the Holiest of Holies. (But I digress...)

About 6 weeks ago I found out that I would be traveling to Boston for work. Of course I did a little research and found that Boston could possibly be playing while I was there, however the stars must align. Certain teams would need to win, other teams would need to lose home field advantage, Red Sox would have to advance. Long story short, I needed a miracle.

Okay, okay...I'll fast forward...

On October 16, 2008 I found myself sitting in the beating heart of baseball itself, Fenway Park, getting ready to watch the Boston Red Sox play the Tampa Bay Rays in an elimination game for the American League Championship. It was unbelievable…at first. But slowly my light was dimmed as I watched the Red Sox slowly fall into a 7-0 deficit by the bottom of the 7th. I sat in my seat trying to tell myself that the $250 I spent for the ticket was well worth it.

Then it happened...Poppy hit a home run, Yooouk drove in some runs and before I know it I am standing with my fellow Sox fans witnessing the greatest comeback of post-season history. Bottom of the 9th, all tied up, J.D. Drew steps up to the plate...MAYHEM.

I know, I know...Sox lost the next game and the Rays went on to lose in the World Series. But know this, after the pandemonium that followed the game winning run and the crowd died down a bit. I breathed in Fenway Park, beheld the fans, the team, the sheer experience of it all...and I cried. I say this with absolutely no shame, tears rolled down my cheeks.

Brynn likes to remind me that I did not shed a tear at our beautiful wedding, or at the miracle birthing of our 2 children. And I tell her this…”Things have happened in my life have brought me greater happiness than any single event ever could. But if I was to break my life down into a series of moments. A lifetime a distinct experiences or instances...then October 16, 2008, Boston Massachusetts, Fenway Park, ALCS Game 5 was the single greatest moment of my life."

To this outpouring of my soul, Brynn's response is this..."You're an idiot."