More Than a History Lesson

I'm in Boston this weekend covering the Royals and Red Sox at Fenway Park, my favorite stadium in baseball.

I'll walk to the ballpark later today, just as I walk almost everywhere when I'm here. As a former history major, I love that Boston seems to have a story on every block, with plaques dating back to the 1700s.

But on my walk this morning with our play-by-play announcer, Ryan Lefebvre, the history was from our lifetime.

We passed the Massachusetts State House, where a 9/11 remembrance ceremony was underway. The American flag flew at half-staff as names were being read aloud.

9/11 remembrance at the Massachusetts State House

Many of the athletes I now cover don't remember that tragic day. Some weren't even born yet. That's hard to comprehend for those of us who still know exactly where we were.

I expect there will be more ceremonies tonight at Fenway, a place that has been collecting memories for generations. It opened in April 1912, the same week the Titanic sank.

I've collected a few memories there myself.

In 2004, I covered my first World Series as a broadcaster, as the Red Sox chased their first championship in 86 years.

And in 2013, after the Boston Marathon bombing, I saw the eerily empty streets of Boston, followed by the emotion and patriotism inside Fenway when baseball returned.

First game at Fenway Park following the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013

Now a new generation will have their own moment there. Tonight, many of the players I cover, like the young fans in the stands, will feel something a textbook never gave them.

That's what a place like Fenway can do that a book can't.