They were singing “Dirty Water” again Wednesday night at Fenway Park. The Red Sox beat the Dodgers to take a two-game lead in the World Series.
The game got off to a nostalgic start as members of the 2004 World Champion Red Sox team collectively threw out the first pitch. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who was on that Boston team, didn’t join them for the pitch, but did come out of the dugout for a quick hug with his old teammates.
The Red Sox bats were hot Wednesday night, but it was pretty cold in the stands. Somehow that didn’t make much of a difference for Phil Lembo of Melrose, who dug into a small plastic batting helmet full of ice cream. “The ice cream’s not melting,” he said. “And it tastes great.”
The Sox won the second game of the series four to two, which was enough to keep the temperature from chilling the spirits of Jen Fiddler of Holden. “It was cold,” she said, “but totally worth every second of it.”
Raul De La Rosa is in town from Los Angeles for the game, and says the conditions likely impacted the Dodgers. “I’m sure the cold affects them,” he said. “Especially the pitchers, I’m sure.”
Los Angeles hadn’t started a game this year in a temperature below 58 degrees. “This is the first time we’ve played in … weather like this — San Francisco a little bit, but nothing like this,” Roberts said before the game. “So it’s an adjustment, and that’s part of the home-field advantage and especially being in the bullpen, where you have a little heater, but still have to kind of get hot and stay hot. It’s more of a challenge.”
The World Series now heads to balmy LA for the weekend, and Dodgers fans are hoping that change of scenery might be enough to heat things up for their team.
If the Sox win two of the next three games at Dodger Stadium, they’re the champs. But two losses in LA would bring the series back to Boston next week for at least one game. That could give them an exciting opportunity to win the World Series at home. But after Wednesday night’s win, Edwin Lynds of Holden said he’s not hoping they’ll come back. “Close it out as fast as you can,” he said. “I don’t want to take any risks whatsoever. LA’s a good team.”
Former State Sen. Linda Dorcena Forry, who was at the game with her son John, agreed. “You know, they can finish in LA, because we will party with them when they get home to Boston. It’s alright!” she said. Her son had a bold prediction that was shared by many at Fenway Wednesday night. “Red Sox in four!”
“This team is a hot team,” Sox fan Dermot Murray of Topsfield said on Lansdowne Street after the game. “They’re on fire. You know, young, exciting team, and we’re going to win this thing.” But Murray’s a little more conservative on how many games it will take to finish the series. “I think it would be ambitious to say four,” he said. “But I’m not sure they’re coming home. So I’m going to say in the next three games, it’ll be over. And the next time we see this team will be on the duck boats.”
Leo Haskell was selling sausages on Lansdowne Wednesday, and although he’d lose business, even he would rather see the Sox win in LA than risk taking this series to six or seven games. “You’ve got to beat them while they’re down,” Haskell said. “And if we have an opportunity to sweep, that’s what we want to do. And we’ll have the parade early next week.”
