Faces in the crowd at Fenway (III)

In the course of a recent discussion of Pink Hats (male and female), some of the hosts on WEEI vented about what they called an excess of babies and toddlers during games at Fenway, as well as too many fans who are utterly oblivious to the game and/or ignorant about Sox history.

N4N had the good fortune to be there yesterday for the 2-1 win that moved Boston into first place, ahead of the Rays. And, yes, there were three toddlers (all under three years old) within about 15 feet of me, causing a stream of anxiety about whether they'd provide a caterwauling soundtrack for Dice-K's start.

To his credit, the 13-month-old to my left tolerated the afternoon heat in RF Box 87 like a champ, without benefit of a few of those $7.50 cups of Sam Adams, and the other kids weren't bad, other than being cute and vying for occasional attention.

Still, let's be real, people. Do children under six really belong at a baseball game? Are they even going to remember it? Are their caretakers going to spend too much time fussing about them instead of mulling Youk's VORP?

Spare me "the wave" while you're at it.  

Then there were those nearby fans who started talking about Fenway's foul poles. One asked aloud about whether one of them was somewhat important. There was some brief confusion about the Pesky pole and whether it was the one involving a certain home run. One guy in this crew knew that the shot in questin involved some body-English to motion the ball fair.

I'm willing to cut beginners some slack since people have to start somewhere. But c'mon, guys, bone up on your history.