Playing at Fenway a Dream Come True

For the teammates, friends, and family of the Harvard baseball team, the Beanpot Championship game meant much more than simply another win or loss. Those in the stands, from the seasoned Fenway veterans to the newbies viewing the park for the first time, all offered feelings of amazement, pride, and quite a few fond memories.

“It’s been a four-year dream of mine to see my roommate standing in front of the Green Monster and roaming left field so gracefully,” said Joe Carr, a Boston native and the roommate of leftfielder Chris Mackey. “Seeing number four out there reminds me of a young Yaz, Jim Rice, and Ted Williams combination.”

Across the aisle, Rob Balkema, a New Jersey native, Mets fan, and Harvard football player, made sure to poke fun at the many Red Sox fans surrounding him by reminding them of the infamous Bill Buckner missed ground ball in the 1986 World Series, 20 years ago this year.

“As a Mets fan at Fenway, I think of Bill Buckner on the 20th anniversary of the ’86 series,” Balkema said.

In the parents’ section, the mothers, fathers, and grandparents of the Crimson players both expressed pride and told stories of youths spent in and around Fenway.

For Jim Byrne, father of injured second baseman Brendan Byrne, the park brought back memories of his father, a policeman who used to bring young Jim Byrne to the park when he was on duty during games. In those days, Byrne remembered, the park routinely had only 5,000 fans on hand, although the attendance began to rise after the 1967 Impossible Dream season. After spending years in his teens as a vendor at Fenway, it seemed that things had finally come full circle for Byrne, now a proud father of a Harvard team leader. The younger Byrne, who is recovering from season-ending surgery on his meniscus, watched from the stands.

Joe Mackey, father of leftfielder Chris Mackey, fondly remembered when he played at Fenway in the Beanpot tournament and faced UMass pitcher Mike Flanagan. Flanagan went on to become an Orioles star and Cy Young award winner.

Judith Klimkiewicz expressed the thoughts of many of the parents.

“For any young boy,” she said, “especially in Massachusetts, it is a dream to play here. You can see them get so psyched, and they play a little bit differently. It’s a proud moment for a parent.”

Although many of the players and parents considered Fenway an integral part of their youth, others were visiting the oldest park in baseball for the first time. Sophomore Matt Kramer’s grandfather, Irv Kramer, a St. Louis resident, was at Fenway for the first time with his son, a Harvard grad.

“This is a great ballpark,” Kramer said. “It’s beautiful and it’s fantastic to be here.”

For young and old, fan and family alike, those sentiments perfectly echoed the feelings of the day.

--Staff writer Julie R. S. Fogarty can be reached at fogarty2@fas.harvard.edu.