Go Sox: How to Stay Safe While Keeping the Faith

Boston University Police assisted the Boston Police Department with crowd control Sunday night, when the Red Sox clinched the American League championship. Click through the slide show above to see photos of the Fenway area during and after the game. Photos by Daryl Deluca, assistant dean of students

The Fenway Park floodlights, the screaming fans, and the party atmosphere will draw thousands to Kenmore Square tonight as the Red Sox meet the Colorado Rockies in the first game of the World Series. But Boston University officials have some advice for students without tickets: stay away from the area during and after the game.

Instead, students can take in the action at BU Central, where the first three games will be shown on TV. They can catch the remaining matchups on big screens at the Sargent Activities Center, One University Rd., or the George Sherman Union’s Metcalf Ballroom. Both accommodate up to 1,500 people. Snacks will be provided at all locations. 

“Things can get a little crazy down at Fenway during a big event like the World Series,” says Jeff Murphy (GSM’06), assistant director of the Students Activities Office. “And it’s the University’s responsibility to provide alternatives to potentially dangerous situations. We’re just glad we can harness student enthusiasm and have a great event on campus.”

Whether students watch the games on or off campus, Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore says, they should obey the law and “uphold the standards here at the University by not endangering themselves or anyone else."

"It’s fun to celebrate after a big win,” he says. “But it is my hope that if students have postgame celebrations, they do so in a safe way.”

Officers from the Boston University Police Department will be dispatched to Kenmore Square and to various residence halls during all home games, according to Captain Robert Molloy of the BUPD. On the night of the deciding game, the entire department will be deployed, and a tactical response team will work with Boston Police to help control crowds in Kenmore Square.

“Sunday night went very well because the Boston Police minimized the amount of people they allowed into Kenmore Square and eliminated lines of people hanging out at restaurants and bars during the seventh inning,” Molloy says. “No arrests were made by the BU Police on Sunday night.”

Boston Police, however, arrested 17 people — at least one a BU student — on charges of disorderly conduct after the Sox clinched the American League championship on Sunday.

Still, the scene was quite different from the events of 2004, Molloy says, when the Sox defeated the Yankees in New York in game seven of the American League Championship Series. Victory celebrations were marred by vandalism and violence. An Emerson College student died after she was hit in the eye with a pepper-filled pellet fired by a Boston police officer on Lansdowne Street, and the same type of projectile injured a BU student.

“The Boston Police have learned a lot since then,” Molloy says. “They’ve reached out to agencies all over Boston, including the BUPD. There is a lot more crowd control now.”

Both Elmore and Murphy note that while students are enthusiastic about the possibility of another World Series championship, the excitement is not quite as unrestrained. “I think there’s a sense of been there, done that among the students,” Elmore says. “There was such an overwhelming emotional rivalry between the Sox and the Yankees, and we just don’t have that this year.”

Still, it’s a thrilling time. “It’s very exciting to live in a city where potentially we’re going to watch the home team win another World Series,” Elmore says. “And I’m saying that as a very embittered Mets fan.”

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Vicky Waltz can be reached at vwaltz@bu.edu.