Fever Pitch Page #4

Steve Levy is in Fort Myers

with some of the members of the set...

known as Red Sox Nation.

Down here in Fort Myers, Florida,

the story is always the same.

- When the calendar page flips to March-

- Are you interested?

No, I just, you know-

I mean, I have a friend

who is interested.

Oh, the schoolteacher.

When are we gonna meet

this future breakup?

Thanks, Dad.

That's really encouraging.

Well, I thought you would have

brought him with you.

Well, you know,

he wanted to come.

It's just that, um, well,

he has this tradition, you know.

And it's very important

to him every-

The Sox are right there! The Sox are right there!

Where do the Sox rank

in terms of importance in your life?

I'd say Red Sox,

sex and breathing.

I have season tickets to Fenway Park.

I haven't missed a game in 11 years.

I love the Red Sox. They're gonna win.

All the way this year, baby!

Do you have a job?

Do you work for a living?

Of course I do. Yeah, I'm a teacher.

I mold young minds.

- Can you help these guys out?

- Can you believe this a**hole?

29th of May, Seattle, all right?

You know what?

I gave it to the lady down at the bakery.

Ben, all I got so far

is the 21st and 22nd, man.

We're only on May. We've been here

for four hours. Let's try to speed this up.

30th of May, we're still at Seattle.

Who wants a Sunday game?

These guys can have

whatever games they want.

All I ask for

is the first Yankee game.

You went to six Yankee games last season,

you selfish pig bastard.

You got to go to every great game.

Lowe's no-hitter.

Your mother's hysterectomy?

I put her out for free, remember?

- She had insurance for that.

- Attention, morons.

- You went last year.

- You guys want Yankee tickets? You wanna talk Yankee tickets?

- Yes.

- Really.

Okay, well, I wanna

see you dance for me.

You don't wanna dance?

I don't wanna embarrass you.

I don't wanna embarrass you.

I'll just take this. Everyone just go.

Ill go talk to some kids in the street.

I see a little bit there. That's pretty nice.

That's it. The doctor

is giving me something.

The doctor is giving me

some magic tapping there.

Oh, I like that a lot.

Yeah, that's- Oh!

Al I right, Little League, you wanna go?

You want some of this?

- How's this, Ben? This is dancing for tickets.

- I'm dancing, Ben.

- Troy, sit on the beanbag, please.

- Hey, I started, Ben.

Gerard, I guess you don't want them, huh?

- This is worth tickets.

- I'm not dancing. This is totally stupid, man.

Fine. Hey, hold out

for the Royals, huh?

You are on a total power trip,

you know that, man?

- This is totally ridiculous, man.

- I was dancing first, remember?

You said dance,

I started dancing.

You call that Yankee dancing?

No, no, that's like Devil Ray dancing, okay?

That's Devil Ray.

I'm talking about Yankee dancing.

That's what I'm talking about. Yeah, get into it.

Yeah! How bad do you want it?

Yeah, that's nice. I love it. Come on in.

That's it!

Come on! Whoo!

That's right. I'm-

Hey, what are you doing here?

I thought you weren't coming in until tomorrow.

You look fantastic.

- I got in last night.

- You know Troy, Kevin and Gerard.

- Everyone else, this is Lindsey.

- Hi.

Hi, Linds.

- Party?

- No, it's draft day.

This is the day we organize the whole season,

who gets to go to what game with me.

But don't worry.

You're still going to opening day.

Yeah, thank you. Can I talk to you

about something really quickly?

Sure, yeah, no problem.

Quick break, everybody.

There's some nice Pakistani

cold cuts there, courtesy of Mrs. Segal.

I still don't think

they're worth two Sunday tickets.

- Whoo-hoo!

- Hey! Hey!

Come here.

Wait, I got you something.

I set aside some great games

for you too.

Hmm? For when we go

to the games together.

Thanks.

It's what the players wear.

It's authentic.

I gotta be honest.

This is getting me hot.

Listen. Um, you know,

I saw you on ESPN.

Oh. We looked like

morons, didn't we?

Uh, yeah, yeah, total.

Not you so much, but-

Well, it's very hot,

you know. It's Florida.

You start seeing things.

Um, you know, Ben...

I didn't realize how big

this Red Sox thing is with you.

What?

Hey, I told you.

See, this is-This always happens.

Every time I-

Whoa, whoa, whoa, don't jump off a building.

We're just talking.

- Sorry. Knee jerk.

- Ben, come on, man. The cold cuts are gone.

- Let's go in there.

- Two minutes!

Wow. I really hit

a nerve there, didn't I?

Uh-

Yeah.

Come here.

Thank you.

I think there's a better approach

to this whole Red Sox thing.

- Really?

- Yeah. After all, if I want this promotion...

I am going to have to push myself

really hard this summer.

And I've never really been very good

at servicing myself, my job and a relationship.

Wait, wait.

We're not breaking up, are we?

- No, no, this is a good thing.

- Okay.

You're gonna be so consumed with all of this

that you won't feel neglected all summer.

No, no, yeah,

I'm not gonna feel neglected.

And I won't feel guilty

for having to do my job.

Yeah, you shouldn't.

So, what I'm saying is,

I think this is perfect.

All right. Go, Sox!

We got 'em right here, folks. Come on down.

Cut your deficit and balance your budget.

Programs here!

Get your programs here!

- Hi. Hi.

- Hey.

Peanuts! CrackerJacks!

Who wants peanuts?

Who wants CrackerJacks?

Peanuts! CrackerJacks!

Who wants-

It's unbelievable, right?

You can't even believe how-

- Look, right here, go. This is it.

- Thank you.

Is this amazing? Is this crazy?

Would you look at these seats?

They're-They're very red.

No, I mean, their proximity to the field.

This is Fenway Park.

- Oh.

- You can't buy these seats. You have to, like, inherit them.

It's like a guy offered me $100,000

for these once.

- And you didn't sell them?

- No, if I ever need the money that bad...

I can always call up a rich old lady

and give her some sweet lovin', you know?

That's what I'm all about.

Hey, what's up, Al?

- How you doing?

- I'm on dialysis.

Right on, buddy.

Hey, Al, this is Lindsey.

Hi. Al Waterman.

Here, have a sponge.

- Thank you.

- Al is the first guy I ever met...

- at my first Red Sox game ever.

- Really?

Yeah, he's aged horribly.

Hey, the Belnaps.

- This is Artie. Viv. This is Lindsey.

- Hello.

- Hi, Lindsey.

- Hello.

- Been divorced 20 years, still share the seats.

- Really.

- Hey, Ben.

- Sheri!

- How you doing? Where's Teresa?

- She's right here.

Oh, my God. What happened?

You look fantastic!

I lost 200 pounds.

I had my stomach stapled shut.

- A doctor or you did it yourself?

- Oh, real funny.

Hey!

This is quite a little group

you have here.

Well, it's my summer family.

Let's hear it for Jordan Leandre.

Ladies and gentlemen,

throwing out the first ball today...

New England's own Stephen King.

Right down the middle.

Did you tell Schuyler?

Okay, al I right, listen.

Um, excuse me.

What time is the game over?

Uh, it's not like a Broadway musical

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