What I did on my summer vacation

The first two nights of the trip we spent in Newton with a vet-school friend of Faith’s. (By the way of you want a good veggie restaurant in the area, try the Red Lentil in Watertown.) We moved into our hotel on Saturday and just lazed.

Sunday we were supposed visit the Museum of Fine Arts, which happened to be hosting an exhibit of glass work by Dale Chihuly. What a zoo. The line stretched down the stairs and way around the corner. And it was raining. Hard. And we only had one umbrella and a rain jacket, and neither of them were mine. And after waiting for about a half hour and making slow progress towards the door, a museum staffer can around and told us we wouldn’t be able to get in. Swell.

The only thing that saved the day was our discovery on the way to the T that the Yankees were staying in the Ritz-Carlton, around the corner from our own hotel. This we learned from the small group of Yankee paraphernalia-wearing people standing behind a velvet rope cordon. Seems the team bus would be making three trips to bring the players to Fenway for the final game of the series, an ESPN Sunday night game. So Rachel got to play paparazzo for a few hours.

I hung out with her, amazed at the patience and insanity those fans had to wait all that time for the chance of having one of the Yankees sign a ball, hat, bat, or photo. They seemed to enjoy the sense of community and comradery such “mob acrtion” engenders.

With one exception, when the Yankees did finally emerge in bits and drabs (and none together; they all came out either individually or with the wife/girlfriend), they might sign, but none with a smile on his face. Like it was an obligation rather than what I would think would be a flattering gesture. Brett Gardner out at one point, said he would sign later, but didn’t. Derek Jeter didn’t stop, but at least he went on the bus; several players took cabs or car service). Nick Swisher didn’t sign or stop, but at least he didn’t look like he was walking the last mile. I know these guys are just people, but, jeez, fellas, lighten up. A little smile or wave to the people who’ve been standing out in the rain waiting for a kind gesture — not to mention who pay your salaries — wouldn’t kill you. Just sayin’.

Maybe I’m too naive. One guy asked Rachel if she was just taking pictures. What he really wanted was to give her something to have signed by Mariano Rivera. I guess there’s a one-item-per-fan limit, which make sense from the players point of view. She was a good sport about it and Rivera did sign, but when she tried to give back to the guy, he ignored her, perhaps afraid he would get caught for having multiple items signed. But the fans were all respectful and thankful, which was cool.

Rachel took these photos. You can see a few more shots on her Flickr page.

Robinson Cano looked like his dog just died…	but at least he signed.
Derek Jeter didn’t stop on his way to the last bus, which means fans had been waiting for him for more than four hours.	Mariano Rivera spent the most time signing.