BOSTON - I’d been looking for the perfect Boston dive - and I use dive as a compliment - since I hit town Friday. I found it Tuesday afternoon, later than I would have liked but better than not finding it before I returned to Charlotte.
Avoiding the tourist shops, I saw a flight of stairs. When you have to walk downstairs to get into a place, that’s a good sign.
The Salty Dog was small, and inside the door were two bars at which customers could eat. I ate clam chowder, half a turkey sandwich, drank water and watched the Boston-Texas baseball game on TV.
Something about the game was familiar. I opened the paper and saw that the score through five innings was the same as in Monday’s opener. I also saw, when Texas finally came to bat, that Curt Schilling, who threw hard and well Monday, was pitching again.
Monday was tantamount to a holiday in Boston, fans breaking away from work and finding a TV to watch their beloved Red Sox in an afternoon game from Arlington, Texas.
Lots of cities get excited about opening day. Only where baseball is special do fans get excited about watching an opening day replay a day later. Salty Dog employees often sneaked in to watch an at bat or part of an inning, and when I walked in, a guy at the bar, an employee it turned out, watched transfixed.
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