It wasn’t until I was 44 years old that I attended my first major league baseball game. As a third culture kid in Pakistan I didn’t grow up with an affinity for baseball. In fact, the bulk of my experience around baseball consisted of me sitting at my maternal grandma’s apartment during a home leave, watching occasional games on a small black and white television. “Grandma K” as she was lovingly called, was a fan. All I saw were men in funny suits running around catching a small ball. It didn’t make sense to me. Now cricket,  the game enjoyed across the pond and throughout the subcontinent? That made sense!  I was mostly interested in Grandma K’s Ritz crackers and peanut butter.

But at 44 I entered the big leagues. I found myself at the Diamondbacks Stadium in Arizona with premier seating, a benefit through my husband’s job. To my surprise – it was fun. Really fun. Despite the pitiful record of the Arizona Diamondbacks that year I found myself caught up in the Wave, “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” and even watching people down huge amounts of beer in plastic cups. It was, for me, a pivotal point of learning to enjoy something that is an American past time.

It was that year that I became a Red Sox fan, just in time to thoroughly enjoy the historic winning of the World Series after years of succumbing to the “Curse of the Bambino”. A few years later we moved back to Massachusetts and found ourselves walking distance from Fenway Park.

And this week Fenway Park has turned 100 years old. Home to the famed Boston Red Sox and one of the most beloved stadiums in baseball history, Fenway had its 100th Anniversary Party yesterday and will host a game in honor of the anniversary today. Heads up fashionistas – they will be playing the New York Yankees wearing vintage uniforms. As America’s oldest major league stadium Fenway deserves this recognition.

There is a magic at Fenway Park – anyone who has visited will attest to this. Much smaller than other major league stadiums, it has the charm of history and longevity on its side. Fenway Franks, those hotdogs that would probably taste mediocre anywhere else, Sweet Caroline, The Green Monster, and more are all part of the Fenway experience.

So Happy Anniversary Fenway Park. In our world that honors progress, beyond what it is worth at times, may we enjoy 100 more years of vintage!