Every year, continuing a tradition which began in 1968, a
staltwart band of BLOHARDs and assorted other Red Sox fans has taken a
bus trip to Boston for the team’s home opener. Originally organized by
late BLOHARD co-founder Henry Berry, the trip is now coordinated by the
shadowy BLOHARD Transportation Collective, a group whose very membership
is shrouded in mystery.
Top Ten Highlights of BLOHARD Trip To Fenway For the Red Sox' Home Opener April 11, 2005
10) Dave Roberts is greeted deliriously by crowd, gives Sox braintrust (Henry, Werner, Luchino?) enormous hugs.
9) Derrick Lowe is greeted deliriously by crowd. Appears to be having a wonderful time.
8) Mike Mussina gets lit up like a Christmas tree.
7) Sweet Baby James sings "America the Beautiful". The contrast between that song and its singer on the one hand and "God Bless America" and Ronan Tynan on the other says all you need to know about the differences between the Red Sox and the Yankees generally.
6) Post-game, atop the farthest reaches of the Monster, the Standels perform "Dirty Water" live.
5) David Ortiz is greeted deliriously by the crowd. A cacophonous tsunami of love. It's probably what a Beatles concert was like in 1963, just an octave lower.
4) BLOHARD bonding.
3) Having already cost his team a game with a fielding gaffe in the Bronx, A-Rod commits another error. Multiple runs ensue.
2) A-Rod subsequently fields ball cleanly and gets standing ovation.
And the number one highlight of the day: Following a torrent of boos for his fellow Yankees, Mariano is greeted deliriously by the crowd. Laughs out loud as he trots out to join his team.
Red Sox baseball being a serious business, the trip is by no means frivolous. Quite to the contrary, it is an occasion of somber ritual and reflection. The bus typically departs promptly from Westport CT at 9:00AM, and in keeping with the solemnity of the occasion, members generally observe the time-honored imperative that there be no imbibing until Bridgeport, unless strictly necessary.