FENWAY PARK & THE BOSTON RED SOX

 


My daughters, Stephanie and Suzanne, played softball with the Girls Bobby Sox Softball League of Tuolumne County when they were younger.  We were living in Groveland at the time, so they were playing on the Groveland team.

Here they are celebrating their second championship in as many years.  Funny story about that.  After this victory their coach moved down the hill to Sonora and volunteered to coach a team down there.  Mindful of how he had coached the Groveland team to back-to-back championships, the powers that be gave him a team composed of those girls who, shall we say, were not the best players.  I guess they feared if they gave him a talented team of any sort, he’d beat all the other coaches again?  We all thought that was a pretty crummy thing to do to him!  So what did he do with the not-so-talented team they gave him?  Why . . . he coached his new team of ‘misfits’ to that year’s league championship of course!  The perfect revenge!  And boy, did we all have a good laugh over that! J       

Suz and Steph went on to play softball in high school.  This photo is from 1991 – Pitcher, Suzanne, on the left, and three other Sonora High softball players were coming in off the field celebrating a hard-fought victory.

In 1992, Stephanie, in her senior year, as her sister had done the year before, went on her high school’s annual History Trip.  There were 36 students and I went along as one of the chaperones which didn’t bother Steph.  In fact we had some great Mom-daughter time during the trip!  It was a wonderful experience.  We flew to Washington D.C. and over the next two weeks visited Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and everything around and in between.

In Boston, we could see the lights of Fenway Park from our hotel.  Being so close, several of the kids decided to go to a game when they found out the ‘Sox were playing at home while we were there.  Unfortunately, it was a rainy evening, but they had a blast anyway.

1993 Boston Red Sox baseball team.  I couldn’t find a 1992 team photo, but hopefully the lineup didn’t change too much over the one year difference?

A postcard showing the interior of Fenway Park.  At the time Sonora High students had a cheer they loved to yell at games called “Icky La Boom Ba”.  It didn’t matter, of course, that the kids who went to the game at Fenway Park weren’t at home in Sonora.  They let loose with “Icky, La Boom Ba” right there in the middle of the Fenway crowd.  Luckily, everyone laughed!

I have no idea where our hotel was in relation to the two postcard pictures.  I know we were near a 5-way signal-controlled intersection and were constantly hearing screeching tires and honking horns.  A strategically placed notice in our hotel room read: “DO NOT DRIVE INTO DOWNTOWN BOSTON”.  Whoa!  That should give one pause!

Rain or not, the kids were having fun.  Daughter Stephanie is up in back with the hood up on her Red Sox rain poncho.

And the score was Red Sox 3, other team 1.  I never did find out who they were playing?

:->

La Nightingail 

P.S.

I was a good softball player in my younger days too – a good hitter.  It gave my ego a nice boost when opposing players in the outfield backed up when I came up to bat. J

My later claim to fame on a baseball field such as John Thurman Field in Modesto, pictured above, was singing the National Anthem before the start of Modesto Athletics games in the early 2000s when the team was affiliated with the Oakland A’s.

P.P.S. 

The nonsensical cheer

“Icky La Boom Ba” 

(softly to begin with)

Cheerleader: Icky, la boom ba
Students: Icky, la boom ba
Cheerleader: Icky, la picky wiki
Students: Icky, la picky wiki
Cheerleader: Awful, a dawful waffle
Students: Awful, a dawful waffle
Cheerleader: Oooo!  Aaah!
Students: Oooo!  Aaah!


Repeat louder.

Repeat a second time SHOUTING!

J

Comments

  1. KristinMay 19, 2023 at 3:40 PM

    You have so much baseball history in your family and photos too!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rajani RehanaMay 21, 2023 at 1:15 AM

    Please read my post

    ReplyDelete
  3. Monica T.May 21, 2023 at 6:00 AM

    I was never interested in sports myself and there is also very little of that in my family albums....

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mike BrubakerMay 21, 2023 at 9:28 AM

    You knocked this one right out of the park. I like baseball but I've never lived anywhere that had a major league team so I'm a fan of the minors. The real minor minor single-A teams. Sadly they never stay tied to the same big league team and the few players that do get called up rarely stick around. But it always fun to enjoy the games at small town parks. Never a problem with crowds or parking.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Molly's CanopyMay 22, 2023 at 11:26 AM

    You were a great softball player AND sang the national anthem? Very impressive!! These are wonderful photos and stories of your family's intersection with softball and baseball. Great memories to have. And kudos to the coach for showing that with the right spirit and guidance, any group of female players can excel.

    ReplyDelete

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