While some Boston University students took issue with the Red Sox once again raising ticket prices, the Sox have agreed to plan BU Night at Fenway Park in conjunction with the Student Union and Dean of Students’ office.
BU Night at Fenway Park will take place on April 29 when the Red Sox battle American League East rival Baltimore Orioles. It will be the Orioles’ first visit to Fenway since Cal Ripken, Jr., waved goodbye to fans late last September.
Laurie Steinberg, the Union vice president of public relations, said the Union has purchased 700 tickets and may purchase more. The tickets will either be $13 or $9, depending if the seats are in the bleachers or the right field grandstand.
Steinberg worked with the Red Sox marketing department last season and said her relationship with the team helped in discussing the particulars of the event with them.
“I have a good relationship with them, so I was given permission to ask a BU performing group to do the [National] Anthem,” Steinberg said.
Steinberg chose the Dear Abbeys to perform the Star-Spangled Banner because of a relationship between the Abbeys and the Union.
“The Dear Abbeys were asked because they’re a personal favorite of mine and they’ve helped out the Union on several occasions,” Steinberg said. “It’d be a nice way to give back to them. The Abbeys are a Union favorite.”
Accompanying the Dear Abbeys, the BU ROTC Tri-Force Color Guard, made up of the Air Force, Navy and Army, will be on field carrying the flags.
Steinberg said the night satisfies the students’ want for Sox tickets at an affordable price.
“It’s an extremely affordable way to see the Red Sox play. It’s half the price than if they go to the ticket window for another game,” Steinberg said. “Tickets are always in such high demand for the Sox, and it’s such an easy way for students to see a game early in the season.”
Steinberg said BU Night at Fenway Park would be a great way for students to come together and show their school spirit, since BU students are usually chastised for a lack thereof.
“It shows school spirit to come out to something like that,” Steinberg said, “to cheer on the Abbeys and the Color Guard and to wear your BU T-shirt and show pride in your school and in the Red Sox.”
Steinberg said the Sox contacted her about the possibility of setting up some kind of event with the University.
“The Red Sox are working right now to increase the level of awareness that college students have of Fenway Park and [the fact] that tickets can be affordable,” Steinberg said. “They just want to reach out to college students in the area since they make up a large part of the population in Boston.”
Steinberg is still negotiating a possible raffle for the event. Possible prizes could include winning a Nomar Garciaparra-autographed baseball or throwing out the first pitch at the April 29 game.