A couple years back, I was on a business trip to Las Vegas. I know what you’re thinking–oh, sure, Red. I bet you got a lot of work done with all those distractions and buffets and hookers and gin bars and hookers and hookers and also, the hookers. But the fact is, I worked my silly Irish ass off (when I wasn’t writing out checks to hookers, that is). And after a particularly turgid afternoon, I sauntered up the street under a blazing, 110-degree sun, and planted myself in a booth at the ESPN Zone restaurant.
Hardly one of those dimly-lit neighborhood bars that I’m so tragically fond of, but it did the trick, especially after the waitress flipped on the Sox-Orioles game. Suddenly, even though I was a couple thousand miles from home, my eyes were filled with Fenway greens and the Citgo sign and Youk’s circus beard, and all was right in my universe. As an added bonus, some hot chicks who were also Red Sox fans came over to make my acquaintance, although it only took a few whiskey belts to frighten them off but good.
Point is, a place where you can go to watch the Sox game when you’re far from home is like an oasis in a big, messy desert. Outside the comfy confines of Massachusetts, you need to know such places exist–places where the beer runs cold and folks speak the language of Beckett and understand what you mean when you say you’re about to “pull a full Timlin” on someone’s ass. They remind us that Red Sox Nation is truly a Nation, and it binds us all no matter how far we roam.
Anyway, the point of all this was to put out the call for your input. Give me the Red Sox-friendly bars you like to hit when you’re light years from New England. The places where weary travelers in need of a quick Ellsbury hit can find solace and satisfaction. For example, I’ve never been to Sonny McLeans on the left coast, but my man Curtis and my homegirl Ariel swear by it. Surely there are more out there. Fire away in the comments section.
Oh, and bonus points if they have Pabst on tap.
