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A Red Sox Story
DATELINE: RedSox Nation, September 28, 2005
by Jen Bakios
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A Night in the Life of the Littlest Red Sox Fan: A Heartwarming Tale of Childhood Generosity
Big Papi at bat
One morning several weeks ago, my six year old daughter and I were listening to the radio while driving. A Boston radio station was soliciting donations for the American Red Cross for the Hurricane Katrina victims in return for song requests and my daughter asked if she could call so that they would play her favorite song. I explained what they were trying to do, that you needed to donate money, and she asked if she could give her $2 weekly allowance. I dialed the cell phone for her and handed it over, thinking she wouldn't get through and that was the going to be the end of it. When I heard her trying to spell her name and address, I knew this was going to be trouble.
After many repeated, loud attempts to tell the poor woman her address, my daughter finally asked her if she thought her mom could help and handed the phone over to me. Laughing, I explained what she had wanted to do, gave her our information and, when I found out a credit card was required decided to contribute a bit more than the $2. We reached our destination and, although she never heard her song, she felt good about donating her allowance to charity.
That evening, as we were driving home, my cell phone rang. It was the DJ from the radio station, telling me that he had heard my daughter wanted to donate her allowance. I went through the whole story on-air for him and he thanked us and played her song. She was absolutely thrilled and called everyone we knew to tell them she was famous. We thought it ended there...
My cell phone rang at 7:00 am the next morning. It was the DJ from the radio station again, telling me that we were finalists for Red Sox tickets. Red Sox tickets??? I figured it must have been a mistake. Apparently, and somehow we missed this, they chose people who had participated in the radio-a-thon at random to receive Red Sox tickets. The phone rang fifteen minutes later, confirming that we did, indeed, win the tickets. I hadn't told my daughter about the possibility, but when the delay caught up to the radio in the kitchen and she, who was eating breakfast before her first day of school, heard what had happened she became hysterical until all you could hear on the air was high-pitched, girly squeals, my laughing, a dog barking, and the beeping of the bark collar. Have I told you that she is a bigger Red Sox fan than I?
Fast forward to September 27: My daughter's first game at Fenway. Before even entering the park, she could barely contain her excitement. When we entered the gate and showed the ushers our tickets, we kept repeatedly being told "Go down", "Go down." When we finally entered our section, just above the Red Sox dugout, we were in absolute awe to find out our seats were two rows behind the team.
The team applauds as Johnny Pesky is introduced on his 84th
birthday
Although the Sox lost, in a painful disintegration of their pitching, the game was fantastic. She cheered her little heart out until she lost her voice and was rewarded by a wave from Trot Nixon, David Ortiz, Terry Francona, and Theo Epstein. Kevin Millar threw her a ball
Kevin Millar and Edgar Renteria warm up
and Manny, being Manny, aimed a trademark double-fingered point in her direction. Even her hero, Johnny Damon, known for not paying attention to the fans during games couldn't help but smile at her as she cheered for his every move (including standing in the outfield!). As I tucked her in bed late, late last night,clutching a laminated photo of Johnny Damon and a game ball, cracker jack crumbs stuck to her cheek, waiting for the tooth fairy, she said, "This is the best day of my life." That's pretty hard to disagree with.
Posted at September 28, 2005 04:11 PM
That is one of the best stories I have heard in a really long time.
Thank you so much for sharing your inspiring story with us. You have a very special little girl. She should be really proud of herself and what she did. I know I'm proud of her.
We can learn from anyone no matter what age we or they are.
Posted by: Ellen at September 28, 2005 06:25 PM
What a fantastic story, Jen: thanks so much for sharing it with us. Reading it, I felt like I shared a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Maybe you should alert NESN for their series "Stories from RedSox Nation" or whatever they call it. Fantastic!!!!!! (a Six {count'em}, exclamation point post!
Posted by: John at September 28, 2005 04:55 PM