Papi and Caroline

With the exceptions of the Olympics, the Boston Marathon, and whatever my sister is doing, I truly could not care less about what happens in sports. However, from a pop culture frame of mind, I do admit to a curiosity as to how the song Sweet Caroline became the "unofficial"-maybe official- theme song of the Boston Red Sox. 

The song, written and recorded by Neil Diamond in 1969, was inspired by a 1964 magazine cover which included a then-eleven year old Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy. It would eventually reach #4 on the Billboard chart, and would go on to sell millions of copies.

Zip forward 29 years to 1998 Boston. Amy Toby was Fenway Park's musical director; a big part of her job was to choose the music to play between innings at the Sox games. She chose to play Sweet Caroline because she had heard it at other sporting events, but she played it  only if the Sox were winning, and only in the later innings of the game. The fans took this as a good luck charm.

The tradition as we know it today, however, didn't start until John Henry and partners bought the Sox in 2002. At that time, Toby's new bosses requested the song be played during the eighth inning of every game, no matter what.

In the time since then, other Fenway musical directors have put their own take on the song. For instance, Megan Kaiser turned off the volume during the most well known parts of the song, as the fans know the lyrics so well, they just sing it on their own.

And so it's gone through the years. But, it seems now that the romance may be over: Caroline is out, and a new song is in--At Fenway, by Haverhill, MA native Brian Evans. As reported in this April 1st, 2013 post by the Boston Dirt Dogs, Evans' song has taken Caroline's spot in the eighth.

According to the report:

The Red Sox brass behind this effort, specifically Tom Werner and Dr. Charles Steinberg, are reportedly hoping fans sing this part of the chorus aloud: "Gonna spend the day, over at Fenway. Gonna see them hit that ball ... a mile high. No matter where you sit. You’re in heaven for a little bit. It’s gonna be a great day, At Fenway."

Given the date of the BDD post, and the fact that I cannot find any other media sources that reported this, I'm thinking it's not true. (Readers-Can you help with this?) One thing I know for sure is, if it's true,  I'm not convinced Evans' song is going to work. It's OK, I suppose, for a jazz song, but this guy is no Neil Diamond. And, as I said at the top, I'm no expert in sports, but I think this will take some of the energy out of the crowd. The appearance of Shatner in the video is a plus, however.

Either way, Sweet Caroline will always mean Boston to me.