Futures at Fenway
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"Futures at Fenway" was the name given to a pair of minor-league baseball games held at Fenway Park in Boston on Saturday, August 26, 2006. It was announced as the "inaugural" such event, although no details about holding it again in the 2007 season have yet been made public.
Fans holding tickets were granted admission to both games, with the second game beginning an hour after the end of the first. In this sense, it was a traditional doubleheader, although it does not technically meet the definition because different teams were involved. The event was notable not only because it featured four different teams playing in the same park on the same day, but because the games were from two different minor-league levels (single-A and triple-A). The Boston Red Sox, the parent club of two of the four participating teams, were on the road, freeing up the stadium for the games. Both games were shown live on the New England Sports Network.
The brainchild of Boston mayor Thomas Menino, the event was believed to be the first minor-league game(s) played at Fenway since 1977, when the park hosted the Eastern League All-Star Game, and the first regular-season minor-league games there since 1968. [1]
[edit] Game 1
The first game featured the Red Sox' single-A New York-Penn League affiliate, the Lowell Spinners, against the Oneonta Tigers. Lowell won the game 3-1 with all three of their runs coming in the 4th inning. The Spinners used 19 different players in the game, presumably so that everyone on the team could have the thrill of playing in Fenway Park. Spinners closing pitcher Joshua Papelbon, younger brother of Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon, received a large ovation when he entered the game in the 9th inning, and promptly retired the side to earn a save. Although there was no official attendance listed for the first game, the announced ticket sales of 33,394 may potentially have been the largest ever to see a single-A baseball game (though not any minor-league game, see [2] and [3]).
[edit] Game 2
The second game of the doubleheader pitted the Red Sox' triple-A affiliate, the Pawtucket Red Sox, against their International League rival, the Rochester Red Wings. Down 1-0 in the 5th inning, Rochester's Kevin West hit a two-run home run onto the famed Green Monster to give the Red Wings the lead. The teams traded the lead back and forth for three more innings before Pawtucket's Carlos Peña hit a two-run shot of his own in the 8th, over the home bullpen in right-center field, to give the PawSox a dramatic 5-4 lead. That score held up through the 9th, meaning both Sox affiliates were victorious on the day.
Before game 2, the Red Sox organization honored Pawtucket manager Ron Johnson for his 1000th career victory (which occurred on May 21, 2006), and PawSox owner Ben Mondor, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
