In a baseball player's dream, 12 members of the Darien Challengers team got to spend a day in Fenway Park, getting batting tips from Red Sox coaches, eating lunch in the dugout and taking a tour the stadium, one of baseball's monuments.
The Darien Challengers, a baseball team for kids in the area with disabilities, were chosen for a trip to the stadium by the "CVS Caremark All Kids Baseball Camp" program, jointly run with CVS Pharmacy and the Boston Red Sox, which invited 12 teams this year for a day at the stadium.
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience," said Darien Coach Mike Donoghue. The kids "were just so excited and kind of in awe."
Parents and family members, along with volunteers, accompanied the kids into the stadium late Thursday morning. Between the coaching and the touring, the group stayed most of the day at the Boston ball park, then saw a night game, which the Red Sox won 7-4.
Red Sox Hitting Coach Greg Colbrunn gave batting tips to the nine kids from Darien (along with one each from Bethel, New Canaan and Weston), and the kids posed next to the famous "Green Monster" wall at the stadium. They also got to hit balls on the playing field (none made it to the Green Wall, Donoghue reports.)
"I'd like to thank CVS Caremark and the Red Sox for this program," Donoghue said. "It's really a phenomenal thing they do."
Rain kept the kids from seeing Red Sox players practicing in the stadium late in the afternoon, the coach said.
Some of the kids who are Yankee fans agreed to put aside the team rivalry just for one day.
"Tripp Lyons, "a die-hard Yankee fan who watches every single game" agreed to wear a Red Sox hat for the day, Donoghue said.
"Today [Friday] he's back to being a Yankee fan, but I think he'll never forget his Red Sox cap."
Donoghue recalls Jimmy Ice of Darien saying after the visit: "I'm a Mets fan, but this has been the greatest day of my life."
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