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Survivor’s Billy Garcia Has a Day in the Park; Fenway Park, That Is!

by Lynn on June 8th, 2008

My pal, and guest correspondent, Betsy Hijazi checks in with an update about her baseball game visit from Survivor: Cook Islands’ Billy Garcia and his cousin Larry. Thanks again, Betsy!!

A few weeks ago I invited Billy Garcia to come up to Boston to go to a Boston Red Sox baseball game. As previously reported, I didn’t expect him to say yes, being the huge New York Yankees fan that he is. But I enticed him by asking if he’d like to see how the other half lives. Sure enough, he said yes and planned to bring his cousin Larry, who is as big a Yankees fan as Billy. They quickly informed me of their plans to wear their Yankees jerseys in famed Fenway Park, which made me laugh…nervously.

[Photo: Betsy Hijazi]

Without question, I’m a loyal Red Sox fan, but I’m not a die-hard Yankee hater and treat other fans respectfully (which I attribute to my Arizona upbringing!). I can’t say the same for all the Sox fans here in Boston. When it comes to the greatest sports rivalry in America – or sports history itself — Red Sox and Yankee fans can be incredibly territorial and loyal and can be down right mean, especially when libations are flowing. So I warned Billy and Larry that there might be some problems, but it wasn’t until I started sharing the big news about the ‘plan’ with other Boston sports fans that I started to get even more nervous as Billy and Larry got closer and closer to Boston. Truth be told, I hoped that they wouldn’t put those jerseys on at all!
(click on “Read More” for the rest!)

To my surprise, Billy and Larry showed up wearing simple t-shirts and I let out a HUGE sigh of relief! It was short lived, however, as they told me that they planned to put their Yankees jerseys on during the National Anthem – Oh the blasphemy!!!! Until we got to that point, though, we decided to take in a few sights in Boston and enjoy the few hours we had before game time.

[Photo: Betsy Hijazi]

We headed over to the Prudential Tower so that Billy and Larry could look out over all of Boston. I pointed out the popular sights and then we walked over to view Fenway Park from high in the sky. Billy and Larry were quite excited! My camera has a great zoom lens on it and I was shocked to find out just how close I could zoom in on the Park. We took some additional photos and headed out towards Yawkey Way.

[Photo: Betsy Hijazi]

As we explored the area, I came to find that Billy and Larry had never been to Boston and they had always wanted to come here. Now, New York is only a mere three hours from Boston, so this really surprised me. But what surprised me even more was that Billy and Larry are huge baseball fans and have always wanted to see a game in Fenway Park. In fact, they dream of seeing a baseball game in every professional ballpark in America! They could barely contain their excitement at coming to Boston and going to Fenway Park; it was something they had dreamed of for years! They had even tried to get tickets to Fenway before, but with the Sox’s popularity, it was virtually impossible to obtain tickets. I had no idea that when I asked Billy if he wanted to come to Boston to see a Sox game, that I would actually be giving him a gift of something he had wanted to do his whole life. It really kind of made me feel good inside.

So off we went towards Yawkey way – which Billy and Larry told me is the same word as ‘Yankee’ but with w instead of an n – figures that’s how a New York fan would look at it! We arrived at Fenway and there were hoards of fans. It was such a fun atmosphere! The weather was not bad – a little chilly – but not bad. There was music playing, sausages cooking, kids playing with clowns on stilts, and a good time to be had by all!

We walked around Yawkey Way for about an hour, ducking in and out of memorabilia stores and buying a few drinks (Dominican beer – since Billy and Larry are Dominican!). Billy and Larry were having such a great time! They kept remarking how the atmosphere out on Yawkey Way was so different than at a Yankees game. They said that Boston was a real feel-good time and that a Yankees game was so ‘corporate’ with a lot of ’suits’. THIS is was what it was supposed to be like – everyone having a great time.

Now, while Billy and Larry are Yankees fans, it’s worth noting that they are Dominican [player] fans more than anything. And who more than Manny Ramirez and Big Papi could make Billy and Larry happier? Billy said that the majority of Dominicans are actually Red Sox fans and that they, Billy and Larry, get a lot of guff from their family for being Yankees fans. In fact, Larry’s father is the biggest Red Sox fan and nearly cried when he found out his son, a non-Red Sox fan, was going to a Red Sox game in Boston! He just couldn’t believe he was actually going – so much was his disbelief that Billy and Larry had to call him, and other family members, right there from Yawkey Way!!! If I ever get Sox tickets again, I’ll be sure to invite Larry’s dad to come up to the game – clearly it would be a dream come true for him!

We made our way into Fenway Park and Billy and Larry remarked at how small, but cozy the Park was. It’s much smaller than Yankee Stadium, and a much more fun atmosphere! We took photos and watched the players come out onto the field to warm up a little and then the game got underway. One exciting moment for any baseball fan happened as during one pre-game awards ceremony, the daughter of the Great Jackie Robinson was on hand to present an award to a young boy. Talk about a being around a little bit of history!

[Photo: Betsy Hijazi]

As promised, Billy and Larry pulled their Yankees jerseys out of their bags during the National Anthem and put them on. I expected quite an outlash from the fans, and was pretty much shocked when no one said a word! The game sailed along with the Sox beating the Kansas City Royals. We all hoped Manny would score his 499th and 500th home run, but that was not to be for another 2 weeks. In fact, the pitching was so great that night that most people left the plate hit-less. It’s nice to see that type of score for the opposition, but it’s much more fun to see someone like Manny or Big Papi hit one out of the ballpark!

During the 7th inning stretch (if I recall correctly), the Red Sox anthem of Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond was played and even Billy and Larry got in on the fun and sang along with the crowd. Under it all, I think they are really Red Sox fans and just enjoy being the family black sheep, rooting for that ‘other’ team!

I created two slide shows with all the photos we took from the day and you can view them here or on YouTube. The 2nd slide show is really a bit of a dig to my good friends Billy and Larry – and if you want to see what I mean, have a listen to Part II!

As we left the ball park, the guys got a few boos as people noticed their Yankees jerseys, but the reality is that it was ALL good natured fun. No one was mean about the jerseys at all! Outside of Fenway, as we left, there were street vendors selling anti-Yankees t-shirts, so as Billy and Larry passed by, they did get a few more surprised reactions and negative comments. But the guys survived just fine.

We all had a wonderful time and I know that Billy and Larry will cherish this memory forever! Thanks guys for making it so much fun for me too! Go Sox!! – oh, and go Celtics!!! Beat LA!

Check out Billy’s MySpace page for additional commentary by Billy of is day at Fenway.

Reality TV, reality-tv, Television, survivor, CBS Survivor, billy garcia

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