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March 25, 2008

Red Sox opener in Japan: The tavern was full at 7 a.m.

The scene at McFadden's this morning.

Journal photos/ Bill Murphy
Jerry Duffy (left), of Providence, and Kyle Bosworth, (right) of Coventry, react as they watch the Boston Red Sox open the 2008 baseball season vs. the Oakland A's from Japan, at McFadden's in Providence this morning.

PROVIDENCE -- If you wanted a seat at the McFadden’s at 7:15 a.m., you were too late. Ditto for tables, and booths.

In fact, Kyle Bosworth, 25, said he was upset because he didn’t get to the bar until 6:30 a.m. “The opening pitch was at 6:15.”

“Six-oh-six,” a friend chimed in.

The Red Sox played their opening game in Japan today, a reason for many Rhode Islanders to roll out of bed hours early.

They wore suits and jerseys and, I think, pajamas. They ate doughnuts and muffins. They drank juice and coffee and – yes, at 7 a.m. – a spectrum of booze and spirits.

“I’m not the only one drinking,” Bosworth said, when told that his bottle of Bud Light was what drew this reporter to his table. And he wasn’t, not by a stretch.

But hey, it's a special occasion.

“Only because it’s in Japan,” he said.

Bosworth and some friends and coworkers had been planning the excursion for a week. They probably wouldn’t have sacrificed the sleep if the opening game was at 6 a.m. at Fenway.

The low rumble of conversation burst into a brief, unified cheer when Sox got the third out in the fifth. But for all the excitement, things weren’t looking too good for the Sox, with Oakland leading 2-0 at 7 a.m.

“Diasuke could be doing better," Bosworth said, “but it’s still early.”

Matt Flaxington, 22, also made a sacrifice for the Sox, sleeping just an hour before making the trip across the river from East Providence see the game.

Flaxington’s friend, 23-year-old David Raposa, was also upset that they got in “late,” at about 6:15.

“I had to hit the snooze button a couple of times,” he said. But that they would wake up hours early to go to a bar on a Tuesday morning to watch a baseball game seemed almost self-evident to Raposa.

“There’s nothing like opening day.”

Read: Fans in Boston and Oakland started early, too.

-- projo.com staff writer Brandie M. Jefferson

Posted by Brandie Jefferson  at 8:07 AM | Permalink

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