How old are you?
- Thread starter jose melendez
- Start date
I know I’m one of those members that mainly reads around here, but I’ll be 43 in around a month. My maternal grandmother & mother put the Redsox and watching other baseball gene in me since birth. My 1st game was at Fenway was when I was 10 in ‘92, still have the tickets as a momenta type thing. Got to see & have a picture with the trophy in 2004 when they toured it around Massachusetts after the win. I think also too, in ‘07 I got to take my grandmother (who’s also in the picture) to her first game at Fenway Park.
Geez, I'm old. I was born a few months before Pearl Harbor. My first game was on 28 April, 1949 against the first iteration of the Philadelphia, Kansas City, Oakland, Sacramento, Las Vegas A's/Athletics. The Sox won and the Kid hit the big blow, a homer. I must have been really small. My father's boss had a Great Dane when we stopped by his house that day. It looked like a horse to me. My Dad, of sainted memory, wanted to buy me a Red Sox pennant but I said, "No, No, I want the Indian," and I took home a Boston Braves pennant. I'm so old that I can remember Red Sox games on the radio before Curt Gowdy joined them. I remember Jim Britt who broadcast the home games of both the Red Sox and the Braves. As I recall there was no live broadcast of the last game against the Yankees that decided the 1949 pennant, just sad updates from the Stadium during the broadcast of the Braves game.
I remember in 1950 sitting in the lower bleachers between my grandfather and my dad at a game with the Tigers and Dizzy Trout. In 1977 I sat in the bleachers between my father and my son for a wind blown game against the Twins. In 2022 I watched a three game series with the Pirates - this time at PNC Park - sitting next to my son and each night a different grandchild, two of them granddaughters. I remember in 1986 my daughter and my best friend calling in distress moments after Buckner's bobble and I remember in 2004 my son and daughter each coming some distance to sit with me in suburban Virginia during the golden run to the championship. I saw Nomo's no hitter on April 4, 2001 in Baltimore. I remember taking a much younger woman who would become my wife to a great matchup at Fenway in 1999 between Pedro and a young Tim Hudson and an irreverent usher congratulating me on taking my daughter to the game. When that marriage broke up almost 20 years later I remember moving from South Carolina to my current abode in Wisconsin while each night on the road watching the Red Sox trounce the Dodgers and realizing that my son in law after many years had indeed become a baseball fan. I remember a series in Kansas City in 2022 talking to Red Sox fans from Arkansas and Mississippi who had no connection with New England and realizing that the Red Sox had become a kind of America's Team.
So the Red Sox have been a constant thread through a long life, right down to this morning when I was excited to see the headline that the Sox had given around 20 million to a pitcher named Sandoval only to learn that he is another one of those dubious Tommy John signings and really can't be counted on until 2026.
I remember in 1950 sitting in the lower bleachers between my grandfather and my dad at a game with the Tigers and Dizzy Trout. In 1977 I sat in the bleachers between my father and my son for a wind blown game against the Twins. In 2022 I watched a three game series with the Pirates - this time at PNC Park - sitting next to my son and each night a different grandchild, two of them granddaughters. I remember in 1986 my daughter and my best friend calling in distress moments after Buckner's bobble and I remember in 2004 my son and daughter each coming some distance to sit with me in suburban Virginia during the golden run to the championship. I saw Nomo's no hitter on April 4, 2001 in Baltimore. I remember taking a much younger woman who would become my wife to a great matchup at Fenway in 1999 between Pedro and a young Tim Hudson and an irreverent usher congratulating me on taking my daughter to the game. When that marriage broke up almost 20 years later I remember moving from South Carolina to my current abode in Wisconsin while each night on the road watching the Red Sox trounce the Dodgers and realizing that my son in law after many years had indeed become a baseball fan. I remember a series in Kansas City in 2022 talking to Red Sox fans from Arkansas and Mississippi who had no connection with New England and realizing that the Red Sox had become a kind of America's Team.
So the Red Sox have been a constant thread through a long life, right down to this morning when I was excited to see the headline that the Sox had given around 20 million to a pitcher named Sandoval only to learn that he is another one of those dubious Tommy John signings and really can't be counted on until 2026.
I was a senior at Robert Service High School in Anchorage, watching the '75 series in our family den as a National League fan, and the overmatched Red Sox were struggling so gallantly against the Big Red Machine that by the time Armbrister interfered with Fisk I had turned into a Sox fan. As confirmed by Carbo's wonderful out-of-nowhere home run in the sixth game.
That game was on TV and I saw it. Some backstory: my uncle had the only or one of the only two electrical appliance stores in town and he sold televisions. He always took one of the latest and greatest ones home, buying it from himself, or whatever. So I watched that game, sitting on the floor to see the small screen better. Where was everyone else, I was the only one watching. One of the nuances was on foul balls hit straight back, once in a while one would come right at the camera and it would get bigger and bigger, looking like a basketball, and then I guess harmlessly bouncing off glass. After the Sox lost (and they had to win only one of two at Yankee Stadium to clinch the pennant but lost both) I said to myself that’s it, I was gonna switch over to being a Yankee fan. Spring of 1950 that was gone. Red Sox fan since.
Enjoy reading the different fan experiences - especially the statistical minority older than me. I became a Sox fan, and Pudge Fisk fan a few months before Leron Lee seemed to end his career in a home plate collision. My only real complaint as a Sox fan was that I happen to be living in Yankee country in northern Jersey as an 11 yr old Sox fan in 1978. That was not fun. 2004 did a lot to heal some of those old wounds, and FWIW, that 1978 Sox team is still may favorite of all time.
Born in 1949, my first strong memory is of the 1959 World Series with the Dodgers against the White Sox. Two memories of that series are still strong in my mind, one being the sleeveless arms of Ted Kluszewski and the erratic pitching of a young Sandy Koufax. My first visit to Fenway was in August, 1962 with the Sox hosting the Los Angeles Angels. Bo Bo Belinski vs Earl Wilson. Attendance was just over 5,000. I remember a fan yelling at Lou Clinton and you could hear Clinton yelling back.
I am so old that 1) I don't know what "super cringe" means and 2) I don't give a damn.
I’m older than dirt. At least, that’s what my 28 year old grand-daughter says.
The day I was born the Red Sox blasted 3 whole hits while defeating the Kansas City Athletics 2-1. Joe Foy hit his 11th Homer of the season while Reggie Smith and Mike Ryan contributed hits. Captain Carl, Boomer Scott and Tony C held hitless. Gary Waslewski out dueled Catfish Hunter for the win.
The Red Sox beat the Yankees 3-1 the evening I was born in September 1970.
Yaz, Tony C., and Rico Petrocelli scored Boston’s runs.
Yaz, Tony C., and Rico Petrocelli scored Boston’s runs.
Just as a point of reference.
US population distribution
US population distribution
- 0 – 14 years: 18.2%
- 15 – 24 years: 13.0%
- 25 – 54 years: 39.0%
- 55 – 64 years: 12.9%
- 65 years and over: 16.8%
I think we should add this to the SOSH subheading:
Home to the Red Sox DTFC contingent and a place where Rick Lancelotti's name is still thrown around.
A bunch of old dudes who are super cringe.
I was born in 1956. My father brought me to Fenway in the very early 1960s but I don't remember the exact year. The outside of the park is all black and white in my memory: The trolley cars, guys in gray and black suits and fedoras. Inside the park it was in color and smaller than I imagined. The only other thing I remember is Yaz hitting a home run into the right field bleachers. The only game of any sport that good ole dad took me to.
I 100% know that Ortiz wasn't on the 2018 WS Sox team- or even the 2017 team but I still can't shake this weird feeling that he actually was.
So I checked out his last season (2016) in ML and the guy still had a 1.000+ OPS with 38 HR's a career best 48 fucking 2B''s!!! I wonder why he retired.....
He was 40 years old and everything hurt, the preparations and recovery he had to go through to perform at a high level kept being more and more onerous and he was ready to be done. I have long suspected if he hadn't decided 2016 would be his last year he wouldn't have been able to play as well as he did, he knew it was the end and he could leave it all out there.
Born in 1950. My Dad attended Harvard Medical and worked as a vendor at Fenway to make ends meet. Old enough to have seen Teddy Ballgame play and took my SoSH handle from the dude who hit a grand slam while I was whining to my dad about "Automatic Out Buddin." Also fortunate enough to have met (and married) a native Pittsburgher and got to see Roberto Clemente play before his tragic death. Lived in the middle of Reds country in 1975, attended a Pirates WS game in 1979 and got to share the joy of 2004 long distance with Dad. Raised both of my daughters to be Sox fans.
Rich Hill is 364 days older than me, so he staved off my being older than all of MLB. it looks like I will be older than them for 2026 for the first time ever. Unless Rich Hill convinces someone he's still got a bit of that Dick Mountain in him. I was thinking of getting a Rich Hill uniform in his honor as my last active player. It works out that he finished up as a Red Sox.
I didn't have the Sox passed down to me, I just started watching games when I was 16, the 1997 Red Sox. Before that I went to games but wasn't really engaged. Jody Reed was my first favorite. Starting in '97 Nomar, Wake, Valentin were favorites. Pedro arriving in 1998 was the baseball equivalent to seeing a naked woman for the first time. What a time to be alive! I only assume when the olds talk about seeing Ted Williams etc that they experienced the same thing I did watching Pedro.
I didn't have the Sox passed down to me, I just started watching games when I was 16, the 1997 Red Sox. Before that I went to games but wasn't really engaged. Jody Reed was my first favorite. Starting in '97 Nomar, Wake, Valentin were favorites. Pedro arriving in 1998 was the baseball equivalent to seeing a naked woman for the first time. What a time to be alive! I only assume when the olds talk about seeing Ted Williams etc that they experienced the same thing I did watching Pedro.
Yaz and I share the same birthday (Aug 22) but I've celebrated it 22 fewer times than he. I remember going to Fenway with my dad (Yankee fan from north NJ) and sisters in the late 70s and telling them that, with each called ball he took, Yaz was shrinking the strike zone. On a 3-0 or 3-1 count, I predicted he'd smash the next pitch into the Sox bullpen, which he did. My sisters say that's the moment they became Red Sox fans.
Been reading this forum for years, but this specific post and replies really touched my heart. Hearing about everyone's first moments with the Sox made me wanna share and join the group.
I am Doug Mirabelli minus 17 days old.
First real memories of watching baseball are the Dodger-Yankees World Series of the 70's... and I just didn't like the Yanks and the way they won (really, throw your hip into a double play ball?). Fred Lynn All Star grand slam was what made me a Sox fan. Tough times for a bit, but oh my, there have been some amazing times.
I am Doug Mirabelli minus 17 days old.
First real memories of watching baseball are the Dodger-Yankees World Series of the 70's... and I just didn't like the Yanks and the way they won (really, throw your hip into a double play ball?). Fred Lynn All Star grand slam was what made me a Sox fan. Tough times for a bit, but oh my, there have been some amazing times.
My first baseball memory. October 1964. I live in Colorado, a long way from any major league possibilities, and I will turn six in November. I wander into the living room where my mom and her dad are watching the Yankees and Cardinals in the World Series. I watch for a bit. They ask me who I am rooting for. I say, "The Yankees." My grandfather calls me over, looks me square in the eye. "No one likes the Yankees," he says. I loved him. And believed him. Thus primed, I became a Sox fan in 1967.
I hate this about myself, but I'm compelled to tell you that, although I, too, was ecstatic for Fred Lynn and his All-star Grand Slam in 1983, you and I were cheering for the California Angels' Fred Lynn.
For sure. I'm a SoCal guy. That's just how the Sox got into my skin. Knew where he was from and the ROY/MVP. Rice, Boggs, Clemens, Mo, Pedey, Papi, Nixon, Evans... all the rest of the favorites started with Lynn.
45 years old and one of my first Red Sox memories (that I actually remember) was game 5 of the world series and being in the right field bleachers and my dad telling me after that win that I was going to get to witness something that only my grandmother had seen in her lifetime. Then I got to have my first heartbreak 2 games later watching on TV haha. That being said I was hooked for life!
I’m old enough to know that these next few weeks before spring training starts are the absolute longest of the whole year. Freezing cold, hot stove is cooling, everything is speculation and lip service until they actually play some ST games. I wish there could be some real reports of what guys are doing in the offseason instead o& all the bullshit twitter/X posers speculating… I’m surprised we haven’t heard about Trevor Story’s IF camp in TX that he usually does.
73 years old.
First Fenway game, 1960; Ted hit a homer.
Was a school crossing guard in 1962 and, with a ton of other kids, saw Al Luplow's great catch falling into the bullpen (Dick Williams hit the ball).
Saw 4 or 5 losses before seeing the Sox win, 3-2 on a walkoff homer by Russ Nixon off of Tommy John https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BOS/BOS196406260.shtml
(in 1987, 24 years later; Tommy John was pitching for the Yankees when I saw them play the Tigers in Tiger Stadium, my lone trip there).
First Fenway game, 1960; Ted hit a homer.
Was a school crossing guard in 1962 and, with a ton of other kids, saw Al Luplow's great catch falling into the bullpen (Dick Williams hit the ball).
Saw 4 or 5 losses before seeing the Sox win, 3-2 on a walkoff homer by Russ Nixon off of Tommy John https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BOS/BOS196406260.shtml
(in 1987, 24 years later; Tommy John was pitching for the Yankees when I saw them play the Tigers in Tiger Stadium, my lone trip there).
genius. It's amazing how many times and players this specific line has been used for.... every year. I try not to, but I fall for it ALL THE TIME.
40 years old.
I fell in love with the Red Sox (even though they were terrible) cheering for Mo Vaughn, John Valentin, and always getting upset when Donny Sadler would get thrown out 9 times out of 10 by a step. I remember being pumped to get a Dwayne Hosey card after his flash in the pan first week in the majors before absolutely flaming out
my parents refused to pay for NESN so most nights were huddled around the radio (I remember being pumped when they clinched in 95) and Friday night UPN38 and Saturday Fox games were must watch for me. I made every attempt to go to offseason meet and greets with Nomar, Darren Lewis, and Jimmy Williams. In awe of my “heroes”
I fell in love with the Red Sox (even though they were terrible) cheering for Mo Vaughn, John Valentin, and always getting upset when Donny Sadler would get thrown out 9 times out of 10 by a step. I remember being pumped to get a Dwayne Hosey card after his flash in the pan first week in the majors before absolutely flaming out
my parents refused to pay for NESN so most nights were huddled around the radio (I remember being pumped when they clinched in 95) and Friday night UPN38 and Saturday Fox games were must watch for me. I made every attempt to go to offseason meet and greets with Nomar, Darren Lewis, and Jimmy Williams. In awe of my “heroes”
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yes. I’m happy to be clairvoyant enough to bring something positive and baseball related to this board in early January! My timing was pretty lucky as I had no inside knowledge. The part that was interesting is that it was last year billed as infielder camp. Although I’m really happy to see that Grissom is there, Refsnyder and Anthony are also participating.
It is cool that Story does this, and that he brings some of the young guys into the mix as well. It sucks that he has not been able to get on the field much as a Red Sox. Guy seems like a real leader on and off the field.
I saw a clip of this last winter, and he specifically mentioned that Troy Tulowitzki was a strong veteran presence when he was first called up with the Rockies several years ago. Troy did something similar, and Story found it very helpful and wanted to pay it forward for the next generation.
I saw a clip of this last winter, and he specifically mentioned that Troy Tulowitzki was a strong veteran presence when he was first called up with the Rockies several years ago. Troy did something similar, and Story found it very helpful and wanted to pay it forward for the next generation.
old enough to remember Fisk waiving the ball fair in 75 and young enough to tear up when Yaz popped up to end 78.