My Opening Day at Fenway courtesy of a fan of OOTP

silvam14 · 04-05-2026, 11:12 PM

I just wanted to share an amazing opening day experience I had on Friday at Fenway.

For a few years now ( I think since 2023) Every once in a while, I would get a DM here on this forum from someone saying they loved my ballparks and the work I had done for OOTP. He offered me Red Sox tickets on multiple occasions if I was interested.

Well, I'm in the Boston area, but I am a cautious person and did not know who this person was going by the board name. Still, every so often he would re-new his offer and I would still kind of "poo poo" it and give an excuse why I could not take the tickets.

Long story short, when I was again asked a week ago if I would take 4 great seats to opening day at Fenway, I was curious to know how he could come across these seats all of the time.

He replied that he should introduce himself. He was John Henry of the Red Sox. Well, I almost fell out of my chair. He told me he was a big fan of OOTP and other baseball sims and loved my work with the historical ballparks/uniforms. He asked that I call his assistant for tickets to Opening day. (this was the day before) I was beside myself and still a little skeptical that when I called, his assistant would even know who I was.

Long story short, His assistant was awaiting my call and I went to opening day with my brother and met an interesting guy and had just a surreal moment and the best Live sports experience in my almost 50 years. I'm still in the clouds here. Mr. Henry came over to my seat (well, his seat) and introduced himself during the opening day pre-game festivities. My brother and I were able to step onto the track near the dugout to take pictures and I had a chat with Mr Henry about OOTP while the Red Sox were being introduced. I felt like I was chatting with any OOTP enthusiast on here. He was very personable. Here are a few pics from my day. The seats were remarkable, right next to Alex Cora (even fist bumped him after the win)

I think it is astounding that people from all walks can share the same passion. I hope to stay in touch and discuss the state of OOTP and baseball sims.

Thanks for reading and thanks to Mr Henry for not giving up on me

. I'm forever grateful!

liberty-ca · 04-05-2026, 11:34 PM

Thank you for sharing this!

Swiffle · 04-05-2026, 11:58 PM

Wonderful story, awesome gesture by him to reach out and make an offer like that too!

dishnet34 · 04-06-2026, 12:00 AM

Heck yeah, brother! That's an awesome experience! Very well deserved given all the work you do here on the forums! I'm so glad you had a good time.

HerbD · 04-06-2026, 01:03 AM

Great story...thanks for sharing!!

Hooray Saturday · 04-06-2026, 02:40 AM

wow! that's cool!!

omg_pwnasaurus · 04-06-2026, 05:37 AM

Holy **** dude! I thought this was an April Fools post at first till I checked the date lol. That's awesome man, you deserve it, you do amazing work. Good on Mr. Henry as well! Seems like a cool guy! Cheers.

Tycobbler · 04-06-2026, 07:31 AM

How exciting is this! Very good for you my man. Fenway is on my bucket list so i'm kinda jel

David Watts · 04-06-2026, 08:06 AM

That is so cool. Congratulations.

crazyjoedavola · 04-06-2026, 08:06 AM

Awesome story amigo, super happy for you and your brother, and your talents are much appreciated around here...thanks for sharing!

glenmere14 · 04-06-2026, 08:43 AM

Well deserved, given all your contributions to the OOTP community over the years!!

Sweed · 04-06-2026, 09:16 AM

I am so happy to see someone that has put so much into OOTP get an unexpected reward. This is too cool! I remember Markus mentioning Mr. Henry playing OOTP around the time they got the MLB license. I wondered over time if he still played or had moved on? Question answered. In any case Silvam you deserved the experience. Talking OOTP with John Henry, wow.

Rain King · 04-06-2026, 09:32 AM

Love this!

snepp · 04-06-2026, 09:34 AM

This is fantastic, thanks for sharing.

Highlander · 04-06-2026, 09:46 AM

Wow...that's amazing! Thanks for sharing!!

uti-pontus-hage · 04-06-2026, 09:52 AM

Fantastic story. Thanks for sharing!

I read it to my wife, who has zero interest in baseball, and she got goosebumps.

Larryk007 · 04-06-2026, 11:05 AM

This is so cool!! What a nice gesture!!!!! But....did you have to beat my Padres?

gpellis · 04-06-2026, 11:06 AM

This is super cool! John Henry is also heavily involved in iRacing (or used to be anyways), it's always cool to see his name pop up here too. Looks like a great time!

Ratbelly · 04-06-2026, 12:32 PM

This is amazing!

John C · 04-06-2026, 07:05 PM

Very, very cool. It's really amazing how such passion projects can lead to such interesting opportunities. It helps that your legendary status around here is earned and utmost deserved.

Also TIL you live pretty close to me. Small world. My wife sang the anthem at Fenway last year, which was also amazing. We may be there in May when the Phils come to town.

04-05-2026, 11:12 PM	#1
silvam14 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Dedham, MA Posts: 10,140	My Opening Day at Fenway courtesy of a fan of OOTP I just wanted to share an amazing opening day experience I had on Friday at Fenway. For a few years now ( I think since 2023) Every once in a while, I would get a DM here on this forum from someone saying they loved my ballparks and the work I had done for OOTP. He offered me Red Sox tickets on multiple occasions if I was interested. Well, I'm in the Boston area, but I am a cautious person and did not know who this person was going by the board name. Still, every so often he would re-new his offer and I would still kind of "poo poo" it and give an excuse why I could not take the tickets. Long story short, when I was again asked a week ago if I would take 4 great seats to opening day at Fenway, I was curious to know how he could come across these seats all of the time. He replied that he should introduce himself. He was John Henry of the Red Sox. Well, I almost fell out of my chair. He told me he was a big fan of OOTP and other baseball sims and loved my work with the historical ballparks/uniforms. He asked that I call his assistant for tickets to Opening day. (this was the day before) I was beside myself and still a little skeptical that when I called, his assistant would even know who I was. Long story short, His assistant was awaiting my call and I went to opening day with my brother and met an interesting guy and had just a surreal moment and the best Live sports experience in my almost 50 years. I'm still in the clouds here. Mr. Henry came over to my seat (well, his seat) and introduced himself during the opening day pre-game festivities. My brother and I were able to step onto the track near the dugout to take pictures and I had a chat with Mr Henry about OOTP while the Red Sox were being introduced. I felt like I was chatting with any OOTP enthusiast on here. He was very personable. Here are a few pics from my day. The seats were remarkable, right next to Alex Cora (even fist bumped him after the win) I think it is astounding that people from all walks can share the same passion. I hope to stay in touch and discuss the state of OOTP and baseball sims. Thanks for reading and thanks to Mr Henry for not giving up on me . I'm forever grateful! Attached Images __________________ Senior "Nancy Boy" of the OOTP Boards _______________________________________________

04-06-2026, 12:00 AM	#4
dishnet34 All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 1,711	Heck yeah, brother! That's an awesome experience! Very well deserved given all the work you do here on the forums! I'm so glad you had a good time. __________________ OOTP's Official Perfect Team Hype Man / host of TWIPT Saturday Showdown and Perfect League World Series "Find a way to be alone in a baseball stadium at sunrise, when the only sound you hear are about nine birds that got lost, and found themselves in a stadium, and they’re chirping across the grandstand trying to figure out where the f*** they ended up." -Dan Besbris

04-06-2026, 01:03 AM	#5
HerbD All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Indiana Posts: 980	Great story...thanks for sharing!! __________________

04-06-2026, 05:37 AM	#7
omg_pwnasaurus Major Leagues Join Date: Jul 2020 Posts: 420	Holy **** dude! I thought this was an April Fools post at first till I checked the date lol. That's awesome man, you deserve it, you do amazing work. Good on Mr. Henry as well! Seems like a cool guy! Cheers. Last edited by omg_pwnasaurus; 04-06-2026 at 05:42 AM.

04-06-2026, 08:06 AM	#10
crazyjoedavola Minors (Double A) Join Date: Jun 2025 Location: The Opera Posts: 143	Awesome story amigo, super happy for you and your brother, and your talents are much appreciated around here...thanks for sharing! Last edited by crazyjoedavola; 04-06-2026 at 08:07 AM.

04-05-2026, 11:34 PM	#2
liberty-ca Major Leagues Join Date: Oct 2017 Location: New Westminster, BC Posts: 474	Thank you for sharing this!

04-05-2026, 11:58 PM	#3
Swiffle Minors (Single A) Join Date: Aug 2021 Posts: 85	Wonderful story, awesome gesture by him to reach out and make an offer like that too!

04-06-2026, 02:40 AM	#6
Hooray Saturday Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 257	wow! that's cool!!

04-06-2026, 07:31 AM	#8
Tycobbler Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: 20 minutes from Comerica Park Posts: 2,015	How exciting is this! Very good for you my man. Fenway is on my bucket list so i'm kinda jel

04-06-2026, 08:06 AM	#9
David Watts Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Looking for a place called Leehofooks Posts: 10,143 Infractions: 0/1 (1)	That is so cool. Congratulations.

04-06-2026, 08:43 AM	#11
glenmere14 Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 259	Well deserved, given all your contributions to the OOTP community over the years!!

04-06-2026, 09:32 AM	#13
Rain King Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 3,323	Love this!

04-06-2026, 09:34 AM	#14
snepp All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 1,818	This is fantastic, thanks for sharing.

04-06-2026, 09:46 AM	#15
Highlander All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 1,031	Wow...that's amazing! Thanks for sharing!! __________________ "The baseball mania has run its course. It has no future as a professional endeavor." — Cincinnati Gazette editorial, 1879

04-06-2026, 09:52 AM	#16
uti-pontus-hage Minors (Single A) Join Date: Oct 2024 Location: Sweden Posts: 87	Fantastic story. Thanks for sharing! I read it to my wife, who has zero interest in baseball, and she got goosebumps.

04-06-2026, 11:05 AM	#17
Larryk007 All Star Reserve Join Date: Oct 2022 Posts: 554	This is so cool!! What a nice gesture!!!!! But....did you have to beat my Padres?

04-06-2026, 11:06 AM	#18
gpellis Minors (Double A) Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 182	This is super cool! John Henry is also heavily involved in iRacing (or used to be anyways), it's always cool to see his name pop up here too. Looks like a great time!

04-06-2026, 12:32 PM	#19
Ratbelly Minors (Double A) Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 175	This is amazing! __________________

04-06-2026, 07:05 PM	#20
John C Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Albion, RI Posts: 2,286 Infractions: 1/0 (0)	Very, very cool. It's really amazing how such passion projects can lead to such interesting opportunities. It helps that your legendary status around here is earned and utmost deserved. Also TIL you live pretty close to me. Small world. My wife sang the anthem at Fenway last year, which was also amazing. We may be there in May when the Phils come to town. __________________ Facebook \| My Videos