Red Sox fans packed the streets around Fenway Park for the team’s home-opener Friday, some holding tickets, and others shelling out hundreds of dollars for the chance to see the first home game in what fans hope will finally be a World Series-winning season.
The festivities were briefly overshadowed by a handful of Boston police union members who used the event to protest Mayor Thomas Menino’s failure to negotiate a new contract.
Fans lined up in front of the 92-year-old park as early as 11:00 a.m., many having ordered tickets on Feb. 1, when they first went on sale for the 2004 season.
“The Sox’ chances are as good as they’ve been for 40 years,” said Arthur Korandanis, 52, whose friend had invited him to the game after buying season tickets immediately after they went on sale. “Of course I’m psyched about the season.”
Jon Costantino and his girlfriend Amanda Burridge, both 18 and from Revere, showed up to Fenway with a wad of cash – and after an hour of searching, paid a bank-breaking $380 for two standing-room tickets.
“That was the going rate,” Costantino said. “I talked him down from $250 each.”
But Costantino ended up sitting outside the park after he could not find a third ticket for his girlfriend’s 17-year-old sister, who tagged along with the couple, hoping to get into the game.
Meghan Hoyle, an 18-year-old Stoughton-native, wearing a bright-red Red Sox shirt and hat, said she and a friend had been looking for nearly four hours and had come up with nothing.
“They were sold out when I tried to order them online,” she said. “I hope we’ll be able to get some when the game starts, but we spent all our money on souvenirs, so we can’t pay much.”
The Sox’ disappointing loss to the New York Yankees last season in the seventh game of the American League Championship Series appeared to be on most fans’ minds – and many were hoping to erase the memory entirely.
“Let’s not talk about it,” Hoyle said.
Vendors around Fenway Park capitalized on Opening Day crowds, according to 21-year-old sausage-stand cook Joe Gioguardi. He said the spike in business at his “Cha-Chee Sausages” was the result of increased public interest in the Red Sox, after the team came within five outs of making the World Series last season.
“Business has been fabulous and we hope it carries on throughout the season,” he said. The stand had sold “many, many, many, many, many” sausages.
Greg Sera, manager of The Souvenir Store, a souvenir shop on Yawkey Way, said he was so busy that he could not give exact sales numbers, but said “sales have been excellent.”
The handful of police protesting contract negotiations did not hamper the baseball-hungry attitudes around the park. Protesters showed up at the event hoping to educate the crowd about the dispute between unions and Menino, which has been two years ongoing, said Mark Parolin, vice-president of the Boston Police Superior Officers Federation.
“We just wanted the public to know that there are 32 outstanding contracts and only one tentative agreement so far,” he said. “We all deserve a raise.”
Despite the disagreement, Boston police are not allowed to strike. Parolin said the union will continue to protest at high profile events, including this July’s Democratic National Convention, until an agreement is made.
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