6/25 – 26/24 at Fenway Park – Tempesta Photography

You’re getting a surprise entry with this one, it was a last minute decision on my end to make. It was so eventful I couldn’t typing something up for it.

Before I go too deep, I should say that this was NOT my first time at Fenway. I went 2 years prior and didn’t snag a single ball, so I came back with pure determination to get on the board.

Believe it or not, the ball snagging started a good day and a half before the game. It’s a long story, so allow me to explain.

Let’s start from the beginning. The Toronto Blue Jays were in town, and the series started Monday the 24th. That night, Vladimir Guerrero Jr did this:

He LAUNCHED a 471 foot blast OVER the Green Monster and onto Landsdowne Street. I thought that ball was sure to have been retrieved by someone the same night. Come the next morning, I decided I’d go downtown to Landsdowne and see if anything was there. And to my absolute surprise…

A ball! Just sitting there, waiting to be rescued. I quickly reached for my cup trick and pulled that ball up. Here it is after I snagged it:

The first thing I noticed was that it was mud rubbed. A game ball? Indeed, it was true. Then the thought hit me: could it be the Vlad home run?

A nuts thought, I admit, but a reasonable one at that. Think about it. That ball couldn’t have possibly been from the week prior, the Red Sox weren’t home for the 3 series prior to this one. It would have been so waterlogged that I probably wouldn’t have been able to keep it. It couldn’t have been from batting practice, brand new balls are used for that.

The gap where I found it was perfectly in line with where Vlad hit it. IT HAD TO HAVE BEEN IT!

By then, I was already shaking. Not only was it my first ball at Fenway, IT WAS A GAME HOME RUN FROM A FUTURE HALL OF FAMER. AND THE LONGEST OF HIS CAREER UP TO THAT POINT.

Here’s a better look at it:

Fast forward to the next day. This was the scene outside the monster:

With how the previous day had gone, I figured I’d test my luck outside for a solid 40 minutes before the gates officially opened. Nothing came my way, but it was still fun just to be out there.

With the pending rain storms in the area, I wasn’t quite sure if the Blue Jays would even take BP. Luckily, they were.

My first ball inside the stadium came almost instantly after arriving in right center field. One was just sitting in the bullpen positioned perfectly for the cup trick. Security is super chill with stuff like that at Fenway, so I had no problem getting it.

There were only 10 minutes left of BP by then, so I could tell the final group was starting to wind down. My second and final ball came not long after, a toss up from one of the coaches in center field. I’ll be honest, I have no clue who that was, and I don’t even have a photo of the ball. Like you could guess, it was identical to the first, so I gave it to a kid next to me.

That was basically it as far as ball hawking goes, I was unsuccessful at both the bullpens and the foul lines for warm ups. My view for the game wasn’t one to be disappointed about at all.