BSN Exclusive: Memories of 2007 World Series and Fenway Park

Built in 1912 on a small piece of wetland, known as a fen, betwixt the streets of Lansdowne, Van Ness, Jersey and Brookline Avenue and opened just days after the tragic sinking of the RMS Titanic, Fenway Park is the oldest and most iconic ballpark in the majors.

Home to the Green Monster, a mammoth wall stationed just 310 feet down the left field line reaching just over 37 feet, and the red seat, where Ted Williams hit a ball approximately 520 feet into the right field stands during his first MVP season of 1946, the playground of the Red Sox is easily considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Sporting World.

Before this millennium, Boston was a city more well-known for its agony of defeat than its thrill of victory.

The Celtics hadn’t won since 1986, the Bruins hadn’t raised the Cup since 1972 and the Patriots were frequently also-rans since joining the league in 1970, completely void of any Super Bowl victories.

And the Red Sox were the worst of them all. The Curse of the Bambino. Bucky “Bleepin’” Dent. Bill Buckner. Aaron “Bleepin’” Boone.

They hadn’t won a World Series since 1918, when a 23-year-old named George Herman Ruth hit eleven homers as a part-time outfielder and won thirteen games as a part-time starting pitcher.

Since 2000, the Massachusetts state capitol has done a one-eighty becoming the city of championships courtesy of six Super Bowls for the Patriot, four World Series for the Red Sox, one NBA Championship for the Celtics and one Stanley Cup for the Bruins.

For the Boston Red Sox, it started when a seemingly inconsequential stolen base by current Dodgers manager Dave Roberts turned just another playoff save for the great Mariano Rivera and another New York Yankees’ World Series birth into the moment that would alter the course of history in Beantown.

The Red Sox would come back from a 3-0 deficit in the AL Championship Series, the first and only team to ever do so in MLB, win the 2004 World Series and go on to celebrate global domination in four of the last fifteen seasons, more than any other franchise during that period.

During this reign, the second of those championships came in 2007 at the hands of the Colorado Rockies, who appeared in their first and only World Series.

Though the boys in purple would get swept in four games and hold a lead for only three innings, fans will forever place those Rockies’ players on a pedestal for taking their franchise as close to the mountaintop as metaphorically possible.

Those who proudly wore “Colorado” and “Rockies” across their chest remember more than just the loss of a World Series. Memories of their time at Fenway Park, one of baseball’s last temples, won’t be vanishing any time soon.

For Cory Sullivan of AT&TSportsNet and catcher Chris Iannetta, two players on that magical 2007 roster who still reside at 20th and Blake, the images from Game One and Two are forever etched upon their baseball loving souls.

“Fenway is one of the cathedrals of the game,” Iannetta commented. “It’s fun to be a part of, fun to go there as a fan. It’s definitely fun to be there as a player.”

Born and raised in Providence, Rhode Island, next door to long-time Red Sox Triple-A affiliate Pawtucket, he understands the park’s place in history better than anyone.

“To stand in the same batter’s box as some of the greats, stand in left field and to know that Ted Williams played there, it’s pretty cool,” Iannetta added.

“Any time you can play a World Series game at Fenway is pretty spectacular,” he’d say about what had been only the sixth Fall Classic held in the New England sports mecca since 1918.

His profound reverence for the ballpark and, particularly, the green behemoth in left field is unmistakable. While Iannetta did not get an opportunity to play during that late October series, the memories are remarkable.

“I just remember I wasn’t playing that much,” he shared. “But in batting practice I was trying to launch and crush some balls over the Monster. It was childhood dream.”

Sullivan’s recollections of the oversized wall are equally as special.

“I went out to the Green Monster, checked it out,” the pre- and post-game analyst shared. “We all went inside and signed it because that’s a tradition. There are some incredible names in there. Everyone through history that’s played there has signed it.”

When asked how long he spent scouring the signatures hidden behind the wall and out-of-town scoreboard, Sullivan proudly responded, “Probably a good hour.”

The left-handed hitting Sullivan with ten career home runs also wasn’t shy about his attempts to send one over the Green Monster, retorting, ““I tried. I tried going oppo, but that’s tough.”

In right field is the other notable landmark just beyond Pesky’s Pole, a lone red seat among a sea of green in the bleachers.

“I will say,” Sullivan continued, “the Ted Williams seat where they marked for his homer, none of us could anywhere close. That is an absolute bomb.”

As for the World Series itself, Sullivan didn’t have to strain hard to conjure up a cornucopia of treasured moments from over a decade ago.

“It was so much fun,” he glowed. “Obviously, the history alone that sets a bar. Their fans are great. They’re baseball fans. If I remember correctly, James Taylor sang the anthem one time. Boyz II Men performed. It was a big show. Stephen King was there. My parents sat next to (Celtic punk band Dropkick Murphy’s lead singer) Ken Casey. Lots of big Red Sox fans.”

Coors Field may be the third oldest ballpark in the National League, but it’s far from a relic of a bygone era.

Until generations of Rockies fans make the trek to LoDo with their grandfathers and, decades later, their grandchildren to celebrate a century of play at Coors Field sometime near the year 2100, the Northeast will remain the one and only home to the truest baseball cathedral in the world, Fenway Park.