Last week I had won a pair of tickets to see Johnny Baseball at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, I LOVE CAMBRIDGE. It is a locally written production that somehow meshes the stories of the 2004 ACLS Red Sox/Yankees game 4, the Curse of the Bambino and the Red Sox not so stellar racial background into one flowing musical. Ya, I wasn't quite sure how they were going to do it either. I was skeptical to say the least, but it has been getting rave reviews and Ratty had been all but begging me to see it with him, so my hopes were high. The Weekly Dig sends out a daily email of things going on in Boston, and more often than not has some sort of contest to win tickets or passes to something new happening in the city. They were giving away 2 vouchers to see Johnny Baseball, and all you had to do was be the 3rd or 7th person to email them back with the name and number of a retired Red Sox player. Hi, Johnny Pesky, number 6! He is phenom and I love him so much I wish he was my grandfather. When I worked at Fenway many moons ago, I actually sat in the stands during Red Sox batting practice, listening to all these amazing stories from when he used to play. I even have an autographed Johnny Pesky Red Sox Hall of Fame business card he gave me. Hi, it's love. I probably should have been working, but whatever. Anywho, I quickly typed my email, making sure to let a few beats pass, knowing that being the first eager beaver to respond will get me nothing. A few minutes later I get a response, saying I was number 3! I get the passes, WOOHOO! I love winning things, like love. Once I won a book on depression and how to cope and I should have been somewhat offended, but I didn't care because it was FREE. My family seems to think that I'm really lucky, I've won the $1,000 club prize at my church back to back months (what's a 12 year old gonna do with 2k?) and I am pretty sure I am banned from ever joining again. I've won countless raffles, contests and prizes, to the point where my brothers rub my head for good luck. I don't think I'm exceptionally lucky, I just think I try. Most people would have looked at the email and been like, oh I bet someone already won. But what if they didn't? What's the harm in sending an email? There is no harm, which is probably why I've won 2 Weekly Dig prizes recently, 2 passes to Harpoonfest, and now 2 tickets to Johnny Baseball.
When I told Ratty that I won them he was ecstatic. He had confessed that he thought about entering but figured someone had already beat him to it - HA yes me! We made plans to go as soon as my passes came in the mail and we had a free night. Since A.R.T is in Harvard Square, it's pretty much implied that the show would need to be pre and post gamed with some drinks and food at local establishments. It just so happened that on Groupon that day, OM, a trendy restaurant in the Square, was selling passes for $50 worth of food and drink for $25. Ratty scooped it up and we had a plan. Cocktails and apps at OM then the show.
I got the passes in the mail and realized that I had about 5 days to use them before they expired, so we picked the next night to go see the show. I maybe should have realized that Harvard's graduation was taking place that weekend and the Square would be a nightmare, but it didn't even occur to me. As a native Cantabridgian I never concerned myself with what Harvard was doing, ever. After circling for what felt like months, and calling Ratty in a panic because I didn't have any quarters, explaining to Ratty where the roll he gave me was wasn't great, apparently 'my other cute bag!' isn't an acceptable answer, I finally got a 1 hour spot and figured I'd come back in 1 hour and put more quarters in the meter. We get a seat outside at OM and order some drinks. They are pretty famous for having all types of interesting and infused cocktails, so picking just one to start with was tough. We also got a few orders of steamed dumplings, why on a 90 degree day this seemed like a good idea, I'll never know, but they were delish regardless. We finished up and I ran to throw 4 more quarters into the meter to get me to 8pm, when they shut off, and I arrive at my car at the same time as the meter maid. I beg him not to give me a ticket, claiming I have quarters and that it wasn't supposed to end until 7pm, but he just looks at me, tired and all sweaty and tells me that he has to give it to me, but that I should challenge it. It's like he knows me or something because I haven't paid a parking ticket it about 2 years, I challenge them all. I even went to a hearing for one once because they didn't believe my letter and my excuse. Well they believed it in person and that $75 ticket was history. Maybe this is the Parking Ticket Karma Fairy getting back at me. It's probably only fair actually.
I get back to the table, flashing my new red envelope and we make our way to the A.R.T for the show. Ratty kinda knows everyone there, like people are coming up and saying hi and hugging him and stuff. Who ARE you? Clark Rockefeller? I'm talking to the head of the PR company that is doing the marketing the show when she catches wind that I won the tickets and suddenly I'm talking to the Marketing Director for the Weekly Dig. He will actually come in VERY handy in about 5 minutes when we realize it's cash only at the bar and he tells the bartender to put our beers on the house. I bump into my 6th grade softball coach, his wife, the police commissioner and his wife, who hugs me, and I remember why I love Cambridge. I know people.
Our seats are fantastic and we are in the front row on the side, right on the stage practically. When the show starts Ratty actually gets peanuts thrown to him by the faux Fenway vendor and we get 'good game'd' at the end of the show by the entire cast. Pretty cool for free tickets! The show ends up being amazing, there is no way to describe it, but they somehow weave the multiple story lines that span almost 90 years into one fantastic story. I may or may not have been brought to tears at the end. Like, the house lights come up and I'm crying and blubbering like a fool. I heard that it was only supposed to be here through June, but it will most likely get extended. We also saw it during the pilot program too, so the script could change multiple times before the final draft. Ratty already asked if we could go again when it's all finalized. I said sure.
We ended the night sipping some Sam Summers at the Legal Seafoods outdoor bar at the Charles Hotel. It was such a nice night. I was sad it was a Tuesday because I would have liked to have kept drinking and end the night at the Beer Garden at Charles Kitchen, but I had to be a buzzkill at 11:30pm and convince Ratty he didn't need iHOP but rather bed. He'd thank me in the morning. It was a great night in Harvard Square, I could do it everyday! Viva Cambridge!
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