My Red Sox in Sacramento

I am a West Coast girl cheering for an East Coast team. That’s not unheard of, but unusual. I am a blue-and-red-capped fan in a sea of orange (SF Giants) and green (Athletics). 

But, you also need to know I am not alone: Jon is also a Red Sox Fan. And no, I am not a Red Sox Fan because of him. It’s just one of the many funny coincidences in our relationship. My first visit to the US happened to be Boston (and I fell in love with the city) and Jon’s mom was born on the East Coast (Connecticut) and Jon spent many summers on the East Coast and in Boston at Fenway Park. Imagine the surprise when we met in California and found out that we’re both Red Sox fans! 

It’s not like I’ve never seen any other Red Sox fans here before. Well, at least I thought they were all fans, until I innocently exclaimed “oh, you’re a Red Sox fan” to some of them, and they informed me that they weren’t fans. WHY THE HELL ARE THEY WEARING RED SOX HATS THEN? BAH! (I guess they just like the red-white-blue colors of my team.)

Long story short, we don’t get to see many games of our team here on the West Coast (not even on TV, unless you subscribe to MLBTV), and when I found out that they were going to play the A’s at the end of July in our local baseball park, Sutter Health Park, in West Sacramento (the A’s temporary home), I had to get tickets. 

It was such a fun night. Jon sadly ended up not going with me (maybe one of these days it’ll be easier again to get him out of the house), but that didn’t stop me from spending a night at the ballpark by myself. I was so thrilled to see so many Red Sox fans there; many more than I expected. It was a beautiful night out and I don’t know

I was going to get some ballpark food – a hotdog, or nachos, or something like that, but none of it actually looked that tasty and I ended up going with tacos (can’t really go wrong with tacos!). They were good, although I almost spent $25 for three tacos and a water. The ticket itself was reasonable for a MLB game, I thought, but parking + food and drinks add up quickly. (I honestly don’t know how people afford this on a regular basis.)

I have to confess, I wasn’t super familiar with most of the players. We haven’t paid for the MLBTV subscription for a while, so we follow the games on the app, so I knew their names but not necessarily their faces. I admit, I missed some of the old, familiar faces (like Big Papi, Dustin Pedroia (he’s from around here!), or Mookie Betts), but of course, all these new players are now my team and I was there to cheer them on!

Funny fact, there was this guy with a New York Yankees shirt and baseball cap sitting behind me (see photo). As you might know, there’s a well-known Red Sox-Yankees Rivalry and the guy was there in his shirt and baseball cap, rooting for the Athletics. RUDE! But who cares, because the Red Sox hit two home runs in a row and eventually won the game, and I had the last laugh. I mean, the Red Sox had the best July in franchise history! They’re on fire. 

I had a really fun night and I am glad I had the chance to see the Red Sox here in California! Of course, I wish Jon had been there with me, but I didn’t regret going by myself. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

Do you watch baseball? Would you have gone to a game alone?