By Jason Woods
New Englanders may associate a few things with October, like foliage changing color, pumpkin carving and Halloween. But for a city that lives and breathes baseball, this month may have a different name: Soxtober.
After five months of regular season play, the Boston Red Sox clinched a spot in the playoffs for the second consecutive year after defeating the Cleveland Indians 5-4 Sept. 23.
The Red Sox wild card berth has them facing the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for a best-of-five American League Division Series (ALDS), with the first two games being played in California. The Red Sox won last night’s game 4-1.
Although some students, Boston natives or not, said they would be tuning in to watch the playoff games, they won’t all be enjoying the games in the same way.
“I’m pretty busy,” said Emily Libby, a sophomore biology major. “So I’ll just watch it in my room, where there won’t be any distractions.”
Other students said they would also prefer to stay in and be low key, like sophomore pharmacy major Alexandra Cote. Although Cote said she wouldn’t be able to get into bars because she is underage, she said, unlike Libby, she doesn’t want to watch the games alone.
“It’s just going to be some friends and [me],” Cote said. “I like my room and it will be more fun that way.”
Freshman fans living in residence halls may not always have big spaces or large TVs. In the Stetson halls, a big screen TV and couches might work well as a place for scores of younger fans to gather and watch together, eliminating the need for apartment-like residence halls.
There are also options in the Fenway area for some students who said they would prefer to explore Boston’s nightlife and use the playoffs as an excuse to enjoy a different setting than their residence hall.
“I like going to sports bars to watch games,” said Jennifer LaRosa, a senior behavioral neuroscience major. “I like the atmosphere. It’s a good place to relax.”
One local venue where students can go to watch the games is Jillian’s, a place that serves as a bowling alley, and ping pong and billiards hall. Located on 145 Ipswich St., Jillian’s is an 18-plus venue most of the week, except after 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, when it is 21-plus. In the ALDS, only one game falls on a Friday.
A newer venue, which opened in May, is the Bleacher Bar. Located at 82A Lansdowne St., this restaurant and bar features a garage door that is left open for diners to peer into the ballpark when a game is not in-play, according to the company’s website.
Regardless of where they are planning to watch the games, Sox fans said they feel confident about the series, despite the Red Sox having 1-9 losing record against the Angels this season.
“The Sox swept the Angels the last two times they met in the series,” said Brady Delahanty, a sophomore political science major. “They were the wild card back in ’04 [and] we saw how that turned out. They’ll be OK.”
