Red Sox Nation has plenty of time to kill

By: ERIC BREIER - Staff Writer | Saturday, June 23, 2007 9:49 PM PDT ∞

The Boston Red Sox are one of those rare sports franchises that take on a life of their own. It's not just David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez. It's Red Sox Nation, the Curse of the Bambino, the end of the Curse and the Green Monster.

And, if you can find a ticket, you have one more day to see the Red Sox in San Diego as they finish a three-game series today against the Padres.

It's obvious a good portion of Red Sox Nation will be quite familiar with Petco Park by the time Boston leaves town today. These people are like Raider Nation, minus the criminal records. They'll go anywhere, any time to see their team.

What better time to try to get a handle on Red Sox Nation than with a visit to www.fenwayfanatics.com?

Cool stuff

< There's an insane amount of information available. Where do they find the time to post all this stuff? There are bios and career statistics of many current and former Red Sox players. The schedule portion of the site has the result of every game, including spring training and playoffs, since 2004, not to mention the Red Sox pitcher involved in the decision. Do these people have jobs?

< While the Fenway Park section is pretty much devoid of pictures of baseball's oldest ballpark, there's lots of good information for anybody making a trip to such hallowed ground. A click over to the tickets section of the site gives you prices (better start saving your money now), a seating chart and a link to Stub Hub (you'll need it; Fenway has been sold out for every game since May 2003.

Check at the door

< You can post comments on the feature stories, but some type of forum would seem to be in order. Give Red Sox fans a chance to voice their opinions on the trade that sent Doug Mirabelli back to Boston for Josh Bard and Cla Meredith.

< The site is pretty light on quality photos. And we'd love to see some video clips from great (and not-so-great) moments in Red Sox history.

The grade

There's no shortage of Red Sox Web sites out there, but it's hard to imagine many could be more complete than this one. Everything you wanted to know about the Red Sox and more. Give it four out of five mouses.

Staff writer Eric Breier laughs every time he sees co-worker and San Diego native Scott "Huggy" Bair wearing a Red Sox cap. Dude has never been east of El Centro and somehow he's a Red Sox fan. On the other hand, the hat does nicely complement the "I loved Drew in Fever Pitch" T-shirt he wears every Friday. Breier can be reached at ebreier@nctimes.com.

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