Ranking the best in-game experiences for each MLB team

Boston Red Sox: Sweet Caroline

If you’re a serious baseball fan who’s never been to Fenway Park in Boston, all I have to say to you is get on it, immediately. There’s a reason Fenway Park has been added to the National Register of Historic Places. There is nothing quite like stepping out of the concourse and into the seating bowl if you love baseball. Even if you hate the Red Sox with a passion, Fenway is just special. It’s a piece of American history and will probably outlive most of us.

Fenway is so historic that it doesn’t really need gimmicks to make it a special experience. Just being there really is more than enough. There are so many things that make Fenway great, from congregating on Lansdowne Street to grab a drink before or after the game, checking out the Green Monster or finding the seats in the outfield that mark historic home runs hit by Ted Williams. With its awkward dimensions, cramped, close seats Fenway is a baseball cathedral.

Neil Diamond’s iconic hit “Sweet Caroline” has become a bit of a rallying anthem for Red Sox fans at Fenway Park. The song is played between halves of the eighth inning, something of a second seventh-inning stretch for the home crowd. The song was first played by a Fenway employee who chose the song to honor a friend’s newborn daughter.

Over the years, some Red Sox fans have occasionally called for the song to be retired or at the very least played less frequently than once a game. It’s probably not going to happen, though, as the song has survived for nearly 20 years. If there’s one thing New England sports fans love, its their own traditions. The song isn’t going anywhere at this point.