Fenway Flashback: Chief Brody

Today's flashback isn't about a specific game. It's about a recurring "character" in our Fenway escapades.

I had bleacher season tickets in section 40, row 13, seats 5 & 6. These seats are behind the Red Sox bullpen. The seats are on the aisle next to an entry ramp from the concession area beneath the stands. Since the ramp comes up behind the bullpen, curious fans would often stop, stand in the entry area and look at the bullpen. This would invariably block our view.

Except on Wednesday nights. Wednesdays brought a Boston cop (there are many on detail all over the park every night) named "Joe" to our section. We called him "Chief Brody" because he bore a resemblance to Roy Scheider who played Chief Brody in the JAWS movies. He would stand on the ramp out of the line of site for the seated fans. "Joe" was a Boston "Special Forces" motorcycle cop who was a Viet Nam vet, a 10th degree black belt and one bad dude. The guy looked like he could rip you apart.

But he kept the aisle clear! You couldn't stand there for more than 10 seconds without him moving you along. Sometimes he'd politely move people along and if they didn't comply he'd get a little more "persuasive." More than once I saw him wrestle belligerent drunks who did not move down the ramp and out of the park. I had a friend at a game once who got a little flip with him and was "escorted" out of the park. The guy reveled in this! He enjoyed goofing on the crazed drunks and he felt it was his personal duty to keep that ramp clear for safety reasons and for us fans who were obstructed by folks standing there. He'd often joke with us about how many drunks he bounced in a night, particularly when we had been imbibing to excess. I remember running into him once during the day in Boston-he said he had never seen me sober!

The guy has to be retired by now-he often spoke of retirement when he was chatting with us. I always liked Wednesday nights because the line of sight was rarely obstructed and we got to see a bad ass cop in action!