Our very own Intentional Walt Cherniak had the privilege of catching the first two games of the 2004 World Series live and in-person from Boston's Fenway Park! Walt's been kind enough to give enough a first hand account of his experience as he roots for his Red Sox to win it all...

Saturday morning, I headed over to the airport in Baltimore to catch a flight to Providence. Immediately, things seemed surreal. There were at least 20 people wearing Red Sox hats and jerseys and waiting to board the flight.

When we got on, the wise-ass pilot came on the intercom and said, "Let's go Cardinals! The crew made me say that." He got the boos he was looking for.

Went to pick up my rental car after we landed, and as luck would have it, the guy processing my reservation admitted he was a a Yankee fan. "I've always been amazed there are so many Yankee fans in Providence," I told him. "You must be Italian."

He was, and his father and grandfather grew up rooting for DiMaggio, Berra, Rizzuto and Frank Tepedino. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

He was a nice enough guy, and made some conciliatory comments, but you could tell he was still feeling it. I told him that if he rooted for any other team, I'd feel sorry for him.

Drove to the hotel in Stoughton, Mass., about 10 miles southeast of Boston. I used Marriot points for the hotel stay, but I wasn't getting anywhere near the city. Besides the Series, the Head of the Charles regatta was going on and several colleges were holding parents' weekends. Hotel rooms were scarce.

Which is why the Cardinals found themselves in the Quincy Marriott, about five minutes from where I was staying. LaRussa was mucho pissed about this and said so in the Sunday papers. How could they do that to the man who invented baseball as we know it? Boo freakin' hoo.

My friend Brett, who arranged for the tickets, was busy working. He works for a travel company called Target Sport that runs sports-themed and entertainment-themed packages like cruises, Super Bowl trips, etc. His company was marketing plane-hotel-ballgame packages to St. Louis for the middle games of the Series.

I hopped on the Red Line and headed for Faneuil Hall, where I could get some food and soak in the atmosphere. Got off one stop too early, though, so I stopped a guy in Sox gear and asked if I was headed the right way. He gave me directions, but then said he had something I had to see. It was a framed, autographed picture of his friend, a Navaho "code talker" throwing out the first pitch in a game at Fenway back in April. These "code talkers" apparently used their native language to communicate with U.S. troops during World War II and confuse the German code breakers. He also handed me an article on this guy from the Albuquerque newspaper.

More information than I needed, but it was interesting, and I continued along.

The Quincy Market/Faneuil hall area is always busy on weekends, but it was really buzzing Saturday, and there was Sox gear everywhere. Two interesting items I saw on sale, both related to Schilling. The first was his No. 38 jersey, but on the back, instead of his name, it said "Wicked Pitchah." The second was a pair of "rally sox," basically white sweat socks with fake blood stains on them. For $6 they were all yours.

Did I mention that it was freezing? The sky was gray and overcast, and it couldn't have been more than 45 degrees. To make it worse, the wind was gusting at about 20 m.p.h., and with no sun, it felt like winter.

Brett finished up at work and met me at Government Center, and we headed for the ballpark. But first, we had to stop at NESN (the New England Sports Network, for you non-New Englanders). Target Sports was hoping to advertise its St. Louis package on the pre-game and post-game show, and Brett had to stop in and visit a sales rep to talk price.

NESN is located inside Fenway Park. When we finished up, Brian the sales rep asked where we were headed. Brett told him that Sam, a guy he knew in the Red Sox' corporate programs area had left standing-room tickets for us at the will-call window. Brian said, "He's in his office right now if you want to go seem in person." The Sox' offices were right across the hall, and we walked right in like we owned theh place.

Made some small talk with Sam, thanked him for arranging the tickets, and headed out. "Here," said Sam, "take these."

He gave us two grandstand tickets -- Section 30, Row 5, $145 apiece -- and said, "Enjoy the game."

"We're sending him a present later," I told Brett.

Went into the ballpark and Fenway was just ELECTRIC. I've been going there for more than 35 years, and I've been there for several Opening Days, Yaz' final game and a game in the 1995 ALDS, and I've never heard the park that loud. A big part of it was all the World Series theatrics, of course.

First, they roll a temporary stage on to the outfield, and the Dropkick Murphys come out and play their 2004 rendition of "Tessie."

A little history interlude here. "Tessie" is a song that was very popular around the turn of the 20th century. The Red Sox had a fan club that called themselves The Royal Rooters. "Tessie" became their theme song. They were based at the Third Base Tavern (last stop on your way home), which was owned by "Nuf Ced" McGreevey. They'd make their way into ballgames as a group, banging drums, playing instruments and singing "Tessie."

In the very first World Series in 1903, they drove the Pirates and Honus Wagner crazy with all the racket. While the Rooters sang, "Honus, why do you hit so badly?", Wagner hit .222 and the Sox won the Series.

So "Tessie" is back, apparently.

Loudest cheers in the introductions were for Ortiz, Lowe and Schilling. The Sox even introduced guys who came up after the roster expansion -- Adam Hyzdu, take a bow -- but B.K. Kim was nowhere to be found. Stephen Tyler howled a version of the National Anthem, and then Yaz literally came out of left field to throw out the first pitch.

Then they played baseball.

Those of you who could stand it already watched the game, so I won't go into details. What struck me, though, was how upbeat the crowd stayed, even after they Sox started booting the ball all over Fenway and let St. Louis tie the game. I guess overcoming a 3-0 deficit to BEAT THE YANKEES in the BIGGEST CHOKE IN PROFESSIONAL SPORTS HISTORY does a lot for your confidence.

Speaking of the Gotham Gaggers, I found it very interesting that in two nights at Fenway, I heard only one half-hearted "Yankees Suck" chant, and that fizzled out before it ever got started.

That was very surprising. Red Sox fans chant "Yankees Suck" at the Patriots victory parade. They chant "Yankees Suck" at rock concerts, and at games against the Devil Rays and Royals.

This might be the ultimate indignity for Yankee fans. They've become irrelevant, unimportant. That dragon has been slain. (Chuckle, chuckle)

Got to bed at around 2 a.m. after taking the T back to the hotel, got up the next day, read all the great Sunday Globe stories and headed for the ballpark again. I wanted to buy some souvenirs, and I couldn't get near the place the night before. They had two lines headed into the souvenir stores, one for normal merchandise, and a much longer line for ALCS and World Series-themed shirts and hats. The line snaked around inside the store, and extend halfway down Yawkey Way. At 11 a.m., no less. It was like waiting in line for Space Mountain.

Bought a World Series T-shirt and some hats for the kids, but I refused to buy anything that said, "A.L. Champions." Larger goals this year.

We grabbed an early dinner at the Hard Rock, and picked up our standing-room tickets for Game 2. A lot of fans were in front of TV monitors in the stadium concourse, watching the end of the Patriots game. We took advantage of that by grabbing standing-room spots right behind home plate.

Again, it was freakin' freezing, Mr. Bigglesworth. More wind, blowing in from left field, with some cold drizzle just to make things more uncomfortable. I'm typiing this with a sore throat and a terrible head cold, and this is where I got it. Would it be that terrible to play a World Series game in the Northeast during the daytime?

While we were waiting, we started talking with this guy wearing a camouflaged hunting jacket. "How can I get up into the Green Monster seats?" he asked us. We suggested he try to bribe the attendant at the bottom of the stairs, but also told him he'd have much better luck doing that during the regular season.

The guy's name was Larry, and he'd flown up from St. Petersburg to see Fenway and the Series. He was originally from Pittsburgh, and said he loved old ballparks. The Pirates should never have torn down Forbes Field, he said.

Turns out he's the brother of Curtis Leskanic. "I'll bet HE could get you into the Monster seats," we told him.

He said Leskanic's shoulder is being held together with baling wire, and that he'll probably retire after this season. "All those years in Colorado did a number on him," he said.

A much more subdued pre-game show, with James Taylor doing an acoustic version of the anthem, and 80-somethings Johnny Pesky, Bobby Doerr and Dom DiMaggio all throwing out ceremonial first pitches.

The rest of the night belonged to Schilling, of course. From where we stood, we could see he wasn't popping the fastball, and he was clearly in pain. I didn't realize unitl I listened to the radio after the game that he almost didn't start. But this guy has brass ones, as the Yankees found out, and he overcame four more errors to do the job.

I have no idea how this Series will end, and after the game, you couldn't find a Sox fan willing to say it was over. We've seen too much to fall for that sucker bet. But it doesn't get much better for a Sox fan than watching them win the first two games of a World Series at Fenway Park.

Like the commercial says, "Priceless."

"Intentional" Walt Cherniak