When I write ”down on the farm” in the above headline, I’m not talking about the place where cows graze and drop steaming bowling balls on the ground.  I’m talking about the farm club of a major league baseball team.  In this case, the Red Sox Triple-A team in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

Fishing for Autographs

I went down to the farm yesterday to chat up future Red Sox big leaguers.  It’s nice to get out of the studio every now and then, so I welcomed the ”designated for assignment” term that’s used when big leaguers are sent down.  McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket is a nice place and the clubhouse is miles away better than Fenway Park’s clubhouse.  But really, which clubhouse would you rather be in?

You see things at minor league games that you just don’t see in the bigs.  Autograph seekers here are fishers rather than barkers.  Instead of shouting at a player and begging for his signature, some dangle the goods over the dugout.  I like this one, a milk jug on a shoestring, with a baseball and a Sharpie placed inside.  Others drop down mesh bags or clipboards with baseball cars attached.

Lars Anderson/Pawtucket 1B

Lars Anderson, a surfer dude from inland Northern California signed happily after he finished up a conversation with a newspaper reporter.  Could you see this happening at Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium, or Citzens Bank Park?  Neither can I.

I’m a big believer in supporting the hometown team.  It’s geographically honest and it’s always appropriate to adopt the “When in Rome do as Romans do Philosophy”.  Boston is home now.   But I love when Philly folks come to town.  It brings back great memories.

My pal and fellow author Lorraine Ranalli came to town to promote her wildly entertaining book Gravy Wars.  I was sitting next to her nibbling on a pesto pizza in Bertucci’s when a man came in to get one signed.  “You paisan?” she asked.

“Of course,” he said as they chatted about sauce vs. gravy semantics and origins. 

Afterward I strolled over to Fenway Park and saw a Philadelphia paisan whose Philly attytude spills over like gravy off the sides of a wooden spoon.  It was St. Joseph’s Basketball Coach Phil Martelli, minus 40 pounds.   Then I saw Phillies announcer Tom McCarthy who looked like he lost some weight too.  “I don’t eat the ice cream at Citizens Bank Park anymore,”  he said.  ”It’s Turkey Hill you know.” 

Kevin (left), with St. Joe's Coach Phil Martelli

I know, I had plenty of it when I covered the Phillies for Sportsnet in Philly.

Even Ryan Howard looked a good 20-30 lighter than the last time I saw him.   Hey I’m proud of them all, but when familiar faces look noticeably slimmer, you wonder if it might be time for you too to shed a few. 

Phillies First Baseman Ryan Howard

And then there was a couple of dudes from South Jersey, which (surprise!) included two paisans, who hopped in the car spur of the moment and drove 5 1/2 hours to check out the weekend series.  The Sox promptly dropped 9 runs on starter Jamie Moyer, who didn’t get out of the second inning as the Sox whupped the Phillies 12-2 in Game 1.  Game 2 wasn’t much better.  Fortunately for the Phils and their traveling fans they squeeked out a win in Game 3 before moving on to New York to play the Yankees.

A largely non-successful Phillies series in the Bean on the scorecard mattered little to the traveling faithful.   It was non un gran problema as Italians might say.  The thrill was just being there.  And considering the South Jersey boys had a Red Sox tour guide to show them around Fenway Park, that made it an embarrassment of riches.  Abundanza!

South Jersey Fellas

We’re in the middle of a snowstorm here in New England.  It’s snowed two of the past three days.  I did some shoveling today in the driveway of the Wellesley home.  I like shoveling snow.  It’s good exercise and it reminds me of my youth when I’d shovel my family’s driveway in Meadowbrook, PA and the driveways of my neighbors–the Reutamanns and Adsheads.

Steve Begin Clearing a Path on Fenway Ice

Bruins Coach Claude Julien with Tim Thomas

I’d clear the driveway and pour water to make a mini skating rink.  It was great fun, but murder on the blades of my skates.  But really who knew and who cared?  So imagine what memories popped into my head when I watched the Bruins skate at Fenway Park the day before The Winter Classic and saw several players and even Head Coach Claude Julien grab shovels and go to work.  That to me is the essence of returning to your childhood roots.  I’ll remember those moments even more than The Winter Classic Game itself.  If you have a good winter skating/shoveling memory, share it below.

L to R. CSNNE's Jackie Pepper, Kevin Walsh & CSNNE.com's Joe Haggerty

It was really something skating at Fenway Park today, and to be a part of the first skate made it even better.  I’ve skated on better pond ice before but that’s not the point; and the quality of the ice on this day will not be the quality of the ice when the Bruins and Flyers play on January 1st, 2010.

Ice crews will have several days to fix the rough and soft spots

What was really cool was the people who were there and the feeling that we were all a part of something special.  Hockey Hall of Famers like Bobby Orr and others wished they could have had something like this in their playing days.  

Bruins Great and Hall of Famer Bobby Orr

There will be many others who skate at Fenway prior to the big game on the first of the year and quite a few of them will pay big bucks to do it; but we did it for free and we did it first.   That’s what warmed all of our hearts.  Hey we needed it too, it was only 17 degrees!

Kevin lacing them up

Bruins Great Ray Bourque and Red Sox Catcher Jason Varitek share a laugh

Alice Cook, WBZ TV. Alice was an Olympic Pairs Silver Medalist at the 1976 Winter Games.

Artist's Rendition of Winter Classic Fenway Park

 *Updates from Wednesday’s posting:    Today at Fenway Park the ice crew painted the lines and logos on the ice.    Actually there was no painting that I could see, it was a plastic roll out job.  Think of the plastic slip-N-slide you played on as a kid.  When you were done sliding you rolled the plastic tarp up.  It’s kind of like that in reverse.  I watched them roll out the blue line.

So how do you skate over the plastic?  Answer: You don’t, at least not directly.  Once the lines and logos are down they flood the rink with more water, which freezes, and creates another ice surface.   I asked the ice chief “What if you have an unexpected warm winter day with temperatures above 32.  Will the ice melt?”  Answer:  No.  The super coolers below the ice surface make a bigger difference than the air temperature.  They can handle things just fine so long as the air temperature doesn’t go above 50.  The average high temperature in January is 34 degrees.

I brought along my skates today to see if we could do a little skate and tv combo.  The ice crew was amused,  ”It’s virgin ice and not ready for skating,” someone in a ski suit told me. “  We’re still a construction site.” 

Ok we’ll wait for Friday. 

Wednesday’s Posting:  Everyday something happens that reminds me of how lucky I am to have a job like the one I do.  I will never take my job for granted because I know what it’s like to be jobless and to have a job that’s not much fun.  I got an invitation to skate in the rink at Fenway Park which will later host the Flyers and the Bruins in the 2010 Winter Classic on New Year’s Day.  Joining me will be Bruins legend Bobby, Ray Borque and Kenny Linseman. I’ll let you know how it goes.  And if you’re a Flyers fan and want me to throw a sneak hip check in while I’m out there I have a question for you, “What are you freakin’ outta your mind?”