Got my tix online in the morning, then got in the car and drove to Boston. Got my Anna's and went over to Lansdowne Street around noon. At the entrance to the Yard Sale, I was told I needed my winning e-mail to get in, which, of course, I didn't have since I didn't win. So I asked the guy if they planned on opening it to the public. He said, "they haven't yet...." When I asked "they haven't yet," he said, "well, there was some talk, but I don't know if they'll do it."

So I walked around the park for a while, continually checking the tweets from the team, since that's how they announced it last year. I eventually moved my car to Yawkey Way where I could get wifi--and I saw Darnell McDonald. Did the quickest grab/turn on/snap of all time, and got two mildly crappy shots of him getting into his waiting car:
Then after buying something at Twins, I asked another Fenway employee, "Are they gonna open up the Yard Sale to everybody?" He took a look at me, almost like he was determining my TravisBicklish jacket was a thread to "the brand," and said, "no." I did the standard clarification query, and he again said one word, "nope."

As we know, Fenway employees often tell you the exact opposite of the truth, so I wasn't about to give up. Fifteen minutes after being told No, the tweet appeared: Yard Sale now open to the public, come on down! I rushed in.

The jersey boxes were still there. Lots of recent ones, home, road, and red, plus a bunch of spring training ones. Then there were just a handful of 90s ones. Bill Fischer, John Dopson, Danny Darwin, Steve Ellsworth, etc. Some with the black armband. I really wanted one of those, but, at 65-75 bucks each, I knew I'd only be getting one. Also thought about a Manny Delcarmen one. But finally opted for a red Dana Levangie one:

Always liked that old bullpen catcher of ours, so I went with him. Even though there's no year tag, and nothing unique like the armband. But Dana was such a big and underrated part of two championships, and I saw so much of him in the early 2000s, I figured I'd rather have part of his history than a cooler-looking part of somebody's I don't care about as much.

They also had bats (not many left), signed balls, and other assorted junk in the Absolut Clubhouse. Out in the VOMITORIUM was more awesome junk. Instead of buying bricks, then filling a bag with junk, they just put low, low prices on the junk (media guides, etc.)--and the bricks, which were down to $5. That's right, I'm one step closer to building my own Fenway Park:
My third brick! Nice corners, fairly complete, an alphanumeric....wait, I'm critiquing a BRICK! My "joke" at the checkout line fell flat, when I asked the woman what kind of crazy person would buy a brick. She said, "you'd be surprised." Hellooo? I'M buying one. GET IT?

They also had a bunch of signs--hundreds of concession stand food item signs. And then there was the "slightly outdated technology" corner. TV monitors for five bucks, small speakers and electronic parts, etc. Out of that room I ended up with a
one-dollar sign from one of the Duck Boats from the rolling rallies: Russell Nua!
Then I took this pic of the Pru between the House of Blus and Ice Ream.
Anyway, I spent a lot of time in there, and just wished I had unlimited money. I'm just glad I got in this year after last year's fiasco. Ran into Kelly, and we talked about the damn employees and how they always seem to be trained to lie and stuff.

Remember, September tickets go on sale Sunday (today) at 10 a.m. Good luck.