Thanks for all your replies - we can taste the Sam Adams already!

Yes, Samuel Adams is great beer. I especially recommend the Double Bock. And, if you can, tell Adams to send some of that Double Bock to us in DC. The regional distributors in my area are refusing to carry it.

2 1/2 to 3 hrs for an AMERICAN league game? In the National League -yes, but try more like 3 1/2 hrs on average for AL games.

True baseball hasn't been played in an American League park since the Designated Hitter was introduced over 30 years ago.

yeah. It's really exciting to watch those pitchers walk and strike out over and over

Cricket explained

This was taken from another website

Cricket as Explained to a Foreign Visitor

You have two sides one out in the field and one in

Each man that's in the side that's in goes out and when he's out he comes in and the next man goes in till he's out

When they are all out that side that's out comes in and the side that's been in goes out and tries to get those coming in out

Sometimes you get men still in but not out

When both sides have been in including the not outs then that's the end of the game

HOWZAT


Clear as mud???

Bill

but not nearly as exciting as watching a steroid juiced designated hitter play HR derby.
pitchers walking and striking out and how an NL manager weaves that into the game plan is one of the many intricacies that make baseball such a great game for knowledgeable fans.

a few more details that might help you. Because of security concerns backpacks and bags are not allowed into the game- I was allowed to take a larger purse in with me, but I had three kids with me (all wearing red sox hats).
Unlike English football stadiums you will be able to move around from section to section- except to the bleachers (seats in the outfield). fans from the Mariners will be mixed in with the red sox fans.
At the start of the game during the national anthem please remove you hat- one of those patriotic signs of respect taken seriously in the US.
Traffic is terrible as are the crowds on the green line (subway to the park). Depending on where you're staying you might be better off walking. It's not a long walk from the Back Bay- walk through Kenmore Square not Boyleston St as it's easier.
As mentioned before food and drinks are way overpriced. Grab a water bottle to bring in with you. Get peanuts from the vendors outside the park- better than inside the park.
Vendors walk up and down selling hot dogs, cokes, peanuts, ice cream during the game. Watch how others order- yell, put your hand up, and lt the guy know how many you want. If you are sitting in seats (not your standing room area) you'll need to pass your money down the row to the vendor. Your change will be sent back down the row.

By the way, watch out for foul balls, especially down the third and first base lines, close to the field. Give your noggin' a throttling.

Highledge - I will be honoured to remove my hat during the Star Spangled Banner.

Can I ask another question please - this "Designated Hitter" thing seems a bit controversial - can someone shed a little light please? For newcomers, I live in England (but am actually Irish) and know little of the games you play in the colonies, but I'm very keen to learn!

Oh, No! Next he's going to ask us to explain the infield fly rule and no one understands that.

In the American League, the league to which the Red Sox belong, the pitcher does not bat. The team is allowed to have a player on the team who bats in place of the pitcher. This player is called the designated hitter (DH). This player only bats and does not play a position in the field. Generally DHs are very good hitters and poorer fielders. In the National League, there is no designated hitter. The pitcher must take his turn at bat. Pitchers are generally believed to be poor hitters. Though I always find it terrific when a pitcher hits a home run.

In Interleague play (when a AL team plays a NL team), the game follows the rule of the home team. So its funny to watch AL pitchers, who only bat maybe once or twice a season, flaying away at horrible pitchers.

You are watching an AL game - so you will see DHs.

Now about that infield fly rule. If there's a pop fly and ...

An Irishman...coming to Boston.... anxious for a Sam Adams... going to see the Red Sox... all you need now is a Yankess SU*KS T-shirt and you're an official native!

I suggest starting at Boston Works just across the street and down a bit (5 minutes maybe) from Fenway Pahhk. This place is a great brewery with every sort of beer imaginable and THE best onion rings I have ever had.

But don't fill up! You really need to experience the sausage sub from Yawkey Way. They're better and cheaper outside the park. Don't buy at the first vendor, walk up and down a bit because they are priced a bit different. Smother with peppas and onions with a layer of mustard and enjoy. I live in MA and couldn't get tickets!

MagicRat, though baseball is a fine game, it has been perverted in many ways over the years. The designated hitter rule was the worst perversion. The squeezing down of the strike zone gave too much advantage to the batter, sort of as if the goal mouth was widened in hockey or world football. The onset of several indoor baseball stadiums is disgusting and unAmerican. The dearth of day games even on Saturday stinks. The orchestrated cheering programed over public adress systems is Orwellian. Buying a beer or a hot dog at a stadium is a rip-off. Lastly, the steroid scandals has demeaned and corrupted the game. American sports fans are statistics/records freaks. Will Barry Bonds have an asterisk placed beside his name in the record book like poor old Roger Maris did. Seems to me that everything Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa have done in the last six or seven years is suspect and SMELLY.

one more thing. Pick up a copy of the Boston Globe and read the sports page. You'll learn a lot just be reading the articles.