Tuesday saw the Fenway neighborhood playing host to the greatest baseball contest of them all, the World Series, with the hometown Boston Red Sox facing their left coast counterparts, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Despite the early rain, Kenmore Square, Brookline Avenue and Lansdowne Street were alive with the excitement of the fourth World Series in the neighborhood since 2004 – a late season special that boosts business and builds excitement going into the winter months.
Thousands of fans poured into Fenway Tuesday night, all of them decked out in their Red Sox jerseys and hats. It turned out to be a thriller of a game that went until just after midnight – resulting in an 8-4 win for the Sox.
Locally, businesses felt the boost quite evidently during a time when – in the old days before 2004 – the season was long over and the crowds had receded.
The Lansdowne Pub bustled with activity on Tuesday, and managers said they had plenty of practice from previous Series’ to handle the excited crowds.
They recalled the excitement of 2013 when so many fans crowded into Fenway, and their October business saw a major boost from non-World Series years.
It was the same story for locally-owned Cornwall’s, owned by Pam Beale.
All Fenway businesses showed a big boost. Even the Fenway Community Center got in on the action with a community watch party for residents.
As for the Sox organization, they reported to the Sun they are very excited to host another World Series and they are thankful to the community for supporting the home team each and every year.