Ode to Dad by Jared Carrabis
A first-hand account of a Father's Day beat down of the Brewers at Fenway Park


It's been a year of firsts for my dad and me this year.

When the Red Sox returned to Fenway Park in April as an "0-6 long shot to make the playoffs" by all the stat geeks and odds-players out there, my dad and I went to our very first Opening Day together. Since then, the Sox have claimed the throne as the American League's best team, and we witnessed a Stanley Cup championship together for the first time this past Wednesday.

This morning, my dad opened a card that had two tickets inside. We were going to Fenway Park for the first time on Father's Day. Usually I struggle with mornings, but my mental alarm clock woke me up before the one that I had set on my phone.

It was a total role reversal from the norm. I felt like I was his dad, and I was taking my son to Fenway Park. I used my Charlie Card to swipe him through on the Orange Line, as we got to Fenway in plenty of time to see the pregame ceremony, which honored the Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins.

My dad was in all his glory. He's not a big fan of crowds, so he skipped out on the parade on Saturday. As the duck boats came out of the gates in center field, Fenway rose to its feet as one, and saluted the champions of the NHL. It was the first time that I got to see the most prestigious trophy in all of sports with my dad.

After the duck boats had made their rounds, the entire Bruins team threw out a ceremonial first pitch to the entire Red Sox team with the Stanley Cup resting stoically on the Fenway Park mound.



Surely the ceremony pumped up the Red Sox, as they went on to score six runs in the first inning. The Sox went on to clobber the Milwaukee Brewers in the series finale to take the rubber game, as Tim Wakefield pitched eight masterful innings, striking out six, and allowed just three earned runs that came on two homers to the NL's leading team in that category.

Adrian Gonzalez collected career hit number 1,000 by sending a rocket into the triangle for a triple. Believe it or not, it was his third triple of the season, tying a career high he setback in 2007, which places him just one three-bagger behind Carl Crawford for the team lead.

Continuing to sizzle back to a level that fans expect from him, Dustin Pedroia sprayed three hits on Sunday, one of which cleared the wall in dead center. Kevin Youkilis cranked a three-run bomb as part of Boston's six-run first, and Marco Scutaro joined in on the fun with a two-run rope into the Monster seats in the sixth.

The best part of the game was arguably that the Red Sox went with the Bruins' goal horn and song (Zombie Nation) every time Boston scored a run. The fans were loving every second of it, and what would have been a dull sacrifice fly in the late innings, the goal horn brought a top shelf snipe reaction from the Fenway Faithful.

I guess it goes without saying that sports memories are most enjoyable when they're shared with your old man, and vice versa.

Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there!

-Jared Carrabis

Final score: Brewers 3, Red Sox 12

Published on June 19, 2011

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