Red Sox Trophy Makes Stop in North Adams
 Young and old lined up to have their pictures taken with the World Series trophy. Look for more photos here. |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Brent Braman was well motivated to get to Greylock Bowl & Golf early on Monday afternoon.
Long before the Boston Red Sox 2013 World Series Trophy arrived for its North County appearance, Braman was up near the front of the line with his 9-year-old son, Aiden, a student at Cheshire Elementary School.
"I tried to go in '04, but by the time I got there, the line was just ... you weren't going to get to see it," Braman said as father and son waited patiently for the trophy's arrival. "We made sure we were definitely early today.
"We wanted to see it, and he wasn't too mad about getting out of school."
By a little after 3 p.m., when the trophy arrived for its two-hour stay at the sports complex, dozens of Red Sox fans young and old were liend up waiting for their chance to see the trophy and have their picture taken alongside it.
Greylock Bowl & Golf and Mingo's Sports Bar & Grill owner Osmin Alvarez, who also publishes iBerkshires.com, arranged for the trophy's appearance in the city. Earlier in the day, the trophy made a stop in Lee, and it was scheduled to head to Pittsfield on Monday evening.
Greylock Bowl & Golf General Manager Jim Shaker said the appearance at his facility is a good fit for Greylock Bowl.
"I think it's great because we're trying to make the place a real family fun place," Shaker said. "First with the bowling and then we have the golf simulators in. This room here [where the trophy was displayed] is a great event room for parties and groups.
"And the restaurant's been redone. People know it as a place to watch the game and have a good meal. When the Red Sox won Game 6, the place was packed."
And the trophy was packing them in again on Monday afternoon as residents from throughout the area flocked to North Adams for the latest Red Sox pilgrimage.
Shaker himself has fond memories of that other World Series trophy, the one in 2004 that ended the Old Towne Team's 86-year-old "curse."
"I actually got to see the trophy up close in St. Louis when they won it," he said. "I got to hug Pedro Martinez while he was holding it.
"My wife said to me after they won Game 3, 'You should go.' ... We had tickets for Game 4 and Game 5, stayed in St. Louis for a couple of days. Obviously, they won it in four. It was really something walking around St. Louis the next day. People were unbelievable, coming up to us and congratulating us for winning.
"It was kind of like a shock after being used to Boston-New York. The people in St. Louis couldn't have been nicer."
It was mostly a Red Sox crowd at Greylock Bowl & Golf on Monday, but even the occasional Yankees fan who happened by offered only the mildest, good-natured jab.
And for the Red Sox fans, the even offered an added attraction: a raffle for Fenway Park tickets benefiting North Adams Babe Ruth and Little League, Williamstown Cal Ripken Baseball and Greylock Bowl & Golf's Junior Bowling League.
In the lounge, visitors were able to see and pose with the trophy but not touch it. That rule was enforced by a pair of team personnel who accompanied the trophy on its off-seasonlong odyssey throughout New England and beyond.
"I think it's been out pretty much every day since we won," Red Sox ambassador Eli Kaufman said. "The other ones — '04 and '07 — have 'Boston Red Sox' engraved on the back. We haven't had time to get this one engraved.
"It has to go back to Tiffany's in New York, but we haven't had the time yet."
Kaufman, who has worked with the club since 2009, said the trophy has been as far away as Japan, but it was headed to Boston on Monday after its Pittsfield appearance.
The first people on line Monday afternoon were Robert Andrews and his son Colby, a student at Adams' C.T. Plunkett Elementary School.
Robert said it was a priority to get to the event early and make sure his son had a chance to see the trophy firsthand.
And was it worth it.
"Yep," Colby said, grinning from ear to ear after the pair took their turn with the trophy. "We got to see where it was engraved '2013 World Series Champions.' "
Tags: Red Sox, world series,
