If only marathons allowed for a seventh inning stretch: Stop the clocks when a runner needs to break, maybe stretch sore calf muscles, chow down a gel without its contents sloshing through your system, visit a porta-pottie. But alas, that's not the case, and my reference to the famed chorus that reverberates through the stands at a baseball game refers not only to Opening Day of the 2009 baseball season but to an event that coincides with Boston Marathon race day.While the runners travel from Hopkinton to Copley Square, they know they'll pass through several towns; the campuses of Boston College, Boston University and Wellesley; and pass by Fenway Park and the Citgo sign that dot Boston culture. But what you might not know is that the marathon isn't the only event taking place on Patriots' Day in Beantown...Fenway is packed to the rafters with Red Sox fans for a special midday game that typically wraps up as the marathoners are making their way into Boston proper. The crowds thicken, adding to the race fever, and the cheers roar on.
Local legend--or one passionate fan--professes that the Red Sox have played on their home turf every Patriots' Day since 1960, with the exception of off days in 1965 and 1967 and the players' strike in 1995. They're also the only team in major league baseball to host a morning game, a tradition they've stuck to since 1903--at least for the most part since they had to share daytime rights with the Braves when Boston was still a two-team town. The game starts at 11:05 a.m. and spectators flood into Kenmore Square to watch the runners afterward.
The Red Sox record on Patriots' Day stands at 65-48 through 2008. In 2008, the Sox won 8-3 against the Texas Rangers. This year, they're set to play the Baltimore Orioles. And the stakes are on the line for the Sox to keep up their winning streak: They haven't lost on Patriots' Day since 2003, and the streak started with a win against the Yankees in 2004. Photo grabbed from Claire A Taiwan. Posted by Kate
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