At Fenway, an early Christmas for fans
Barbara Salfity thought she'd given her daughter, Michelle, a Boston EMT, the best holiday present ever by purchasing Red Sox season tickets at yesterday's inaugural "Christmas at Fenway" sales extravaganza.
But meeting Curt Schilling in the players' locker room, where the new Sox pitcher handed Michelle his gold and diamond-studded 2001 World Series ring so she could see what next season's Red Sox World Series ring might look like, sort of topped that.
"I'm, I'm, I'm in awe," stuttered Salfity, 27, after posing for a photo with her new favorite player. "I mean, this is like the best day of my life. I've always wanted to own season tickets. I got them. And on top of that, all this."
Turning to Schilling's new locker, Salfity streched out her arms and bowed in mock worship. "I'm not worthy. I'm not worthy," she chanted.
Winter in New England is just getting started, spring training is eons away, and no one knows whether Nomar Garciaparra or Alex Rodriguez will be at shortstop come April.
But none of that mattered to the several thousand Red Sox fans who flocked to snow-covered Fenway yesterday, listening to Christmas tunes and meeting Sox personnel as they waited for the chance to purchase early-bird tickets for the 2004 season.
"We just opened up an e-mail today [from the Red Sox]. It said they were having a Christmas party at Fenway," said Jen Lapham, of Newbury. "Usually we buy tickets online and you get what you get. But my husband came downstairs and said, "It says we can pick our seats this year. Let's go.' We were out the door by 7 a.m."
Red Sox President and CEO Larry Lucchino couldn't explain why the team had never before sold tickets, seemingly a natural gift item for fans, prior to Christmas. But witnessing the success of yesterday's event, in which some 120,000 tickets were expected to go by 3 p.m., including phone and internet sales, Lucchino acknowledged that Christmas at Fenway could become an annual happening.
With giant red stockings hung from atop the Green Monster as if it were a giant fireplace, and holiday ornaments adorning the warm and cozy .406 Club -- many approving fans recalled years when they shivered hours outside the park to buy tickets -- the mood was festive enough at Fenway before Schilling arrived.
But the strapping righthanded pitcher, acquired last month from the Arizona Diamondbacks, was a far bigger hit than even Santa Claus.
About 10 a.m. he surprised a group of fans who were touring the Sox locker room as a reward for purchasing season tickets.
After speaking to reporters on everything from Garciaparra and Manny Ramirez's future (he'd like to see them both stay with the Sox) to his memories of meeting Ted Williams to house hunting with his wife around Boston this weekend, he headed to the normally private .406 Club, where he fielded more questions from awestruck fans, some of whom gave him a standing ovation.
The difference between Arizona and Boston, aside from the weather and the size of the players' locker room, is immense, he said.
"You're talking fourth- and fifth-generation Red Sox fans, as opposed to fourth- and fifth-year Diamondback fans," he said. "As a player on the field, there are nights when you are in the stadium and you can feel that buzz. And this is a place where that buzz is, like, on the street. It's freakin' December and the Patriots are having a monster year and everyone is talking about the Red Sox."
Lucchino and other Sox executives, meanwhile, asked for fans' opinions about their latest Fenway innovation, a 200-seat, 50-table picnic area above the right field bleachers complete with tabletops shaped like home plates and waiter service. The area, dubbed Right Field Roof, is expected to be open by Opening Day on April 9 and will be available to all fans, not just season-ticket holders.
Tickets will be sold at Fenway from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. again today, though no players are scheduled to appear.
