By John Wilkerson

For almost 10 years now, I’ve been thinking about “The Reel”. I’m talking about the rolling collection of highlights from places you’ve been, people you’ve seen, etc.  When you think of good times, “The Reel” is what provides your scenery.

My good friend John Pennington tossed that reference my way when he and I and another friend, Mike Mitchell, attended the 1999 All-Star game in Fenway Park in Boston.

Before the midsummer classic was held, the living legends of the game were introduced around the infield. Names like Hank Aaron and Willie Mays were enough to mark the date and time as a moment you would never forget to begin with, but when Ted Williams was driven into the middle of this collection of baseball’s greatest, I thought it was a moment that could never be approached, no matter how many times I would attend a game in “Beantown.”

To see the reaction from legends in their own right hustle to the golf cart carrying “The Splendid Splinter” was more than refreshing. It was a shining example that greatness makes a fan of greatness based on a love of the game.

My trip to Boston in 1999 certainly was “One for the reel.”

Now, let’s move ahead to last week.

As it turned out, I was wrong to think that I would never be a part of an atmosphere at Fenway Park that could approach what John, Mike, and I had experienced in 1999.

My wife and I have spent a part of our summer vacation on Cape Cod for the past five years. We have grown to love the area and the Red Sox have become the one pro team that we can agree on.

Previously, we had made three trips to Fenway Park.

We saw Boston dismantle the Rangers in 2004.

In 2006, we saw “The Local 9” shutout Kansas City 1-0.

Last year, from a vantage point down the left field line, we were there for a measure of revenge by the Royals, as they pounded Boston 9-4.

This season, we were looking forward to watching the game from what are as coveted seats as there are for any Major League baseball game. We had tickets atop the famed Green Monster in left field. While we had been through that section a handful of times while taking the Fenway Park Tour, this would the first time we would get to experience a very unique vantage point.

When you have tickets to sit on “The Monster” you and your fellow ticket holders are the only ones allowed in that section for batting practice.

As the gates opened, we calmly made our way to our seats in row two (there are a total of three rows spread out over 10 sections in this part of the park.

Since the Red Sox begin their batting practice before the gates opened, some fans raced up there with the hopes of getting a home run ball…practice or not.

One guy with a glove caught two balls while the Sox were taking their cuts and two more when the Minnesota Twins took their turn.

It wasn’t surprising to see him keep the balls off Sox bats, but I was impressed that he gave the Twins home run balls to fans that hadn’t been as fortunate as he had.

Most in attendance had gloves, but a young man the row behind us wound up making a great play with bare hands. Even though you are about 40 feet above the playing surface, the fence itself is only 315 feet from home plate. In other words, the ball can get there in a hurry.

As for the game itself, it looked like Minnesota was going to hand the Sox a loss.

Then, it was time for some Fenway magic.

The Sox scored a run to trail 5-3 in the bottom of the eighth inning. Later in the same frame, Manny Ramirez sent the crowd into a frenzy with a game-tying shot. The ball landed seven seats to the left of where we were sitting.

Boston took the lead with one more run in the eighth. All-Star reliever Jonathan Papelbon came in and closed out the game as the Red Sox came up with a much-needed win.

It was a glorious night for baseball in terms of weather. It was as entertaining a game as I’ve ever attended.

And, it was another one for the reel.