THE WORLD DESCENDS ON FENWAY
Queue up for chance to buy last seats for main event
Red Sox Nation is migrating toward the hallowed ground of Fenway in force, determined to score tickets — and rubbing shoulders with Dodgers fans hopeful of ending their 30-year drought ahead of tonight’s World Series start.
Danielle Lawrence-Taylor, 37, of South Berwick, Maine, pulled up a folding chair and a backpack outside Gate E yesterday — the first in line, determined to get tickets for tonight. In 2013, she was caught short just nine people away from getting World Series tickets after waiting all day. She resolved to never let that happen again.
“My son was young at the time and he was crying, and I felt terrible and I felt like I let him down,” Lawrence-Taylor said. “So, I promised him that that would never happen again, so here I am at 4:30 on Monday the day before, the first in line.”
Mayor Martin J. Walsh said he is confident the Red Sox are on their way to their ninth World Series title and added that he and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti have engaged in some trash talk over voicemails. He said he stopped betting after losing his first three bets in office but plans to figure something out with Garcetti.
“We’re going back and forth a little bit,” Walsh said. “We haven’t talked yet. We’ve been trading voicemails, but I’ll get to
Eric before the night’s over. I gave him some smack talk. You have to a little bit.”
The mayor predicted a win for the Sox, but if things go south, he added that he has a secret weapon.
“If you’re watching the game, and it’s not going the way you want it, you might have to get up and walk around a little bit,” he said. “Change seats, something like that. I know when the Patriots won the Super Bowl when they played Atlanta, at halftime, I went up and changed everything and came back down and we won the game.”
A few Dodgers fans began making their appearance around the park yesterday. Joe Cardona of West Hills, Calif., there with his son Cole, said the Dodgers are due this year.
“It’s our turn,” Cardona said. “You guys have too many. We have a 30-year dry spell, so it’s time for us to get it. This is 30 years exactly since the last time we won, so hopefully we’ll make it happen.”
Also seen in the crowd was Rich Buhrke, a Chicago native who starred in the Mike Diedrich movie “Ballhawks,” which was narrated by Bill Murray. Buhrke travels to stadiums all around the country and catches balls in batting practice and games. In his lifetime, the 72-year-old has caught 3,837 balls at major league parks and 179 home run balls.
“For 30 years, I’ve been wanting to come out here,” Buhrke said. “I’m hoping that somehow, someway this could be No. 180 here.”