After Friend Bails, Group Invites Homeless Man to MLB Game for Night of His Life
For a few hours on a Tuesday night, a homeless man enjoyed a Red Sox baseball game, compliments of three young men he had never met.
The homeless man, identified only by his first name, John, was asking passersby for spare change on the evening of July 16.
He was approached by three young men, friends from Malden, Massachusetts, who had come to Boston to enjoy the Red Sox game.
The friends — Sean Wetzonis, Pedro Lugo and Francisco Rios — told John that they had an extra ticket to the game because one of their friends unexpectedly canceled.
They asked John if he wanted to see the game with them, offering him the spare ticket.
“Hey man, I have some money but I also have a spare ticket to the Sox game,” Lugo told John, according to CNN. “It’s all yours if you’re interested.”
John thought for a moment before standing up and exclaiming, “Hell yeah, let’s go.”
“I wanted to take someone who would appreciate the ticket and have the time of their lives.” https://t.co/h59vvWUxlA
— WPEC CBS12 News (@CBS12) July 19, 2019
The group headed to their seats in section 88, stopping to buy John a beer on the way in.
Wetzonis said that throughout the game, John soaked up the sights and sounds of the ballpark.
Three friends had an extra ticket to a Boston Red Sox game. Instead of selling it, they gave it to a man who they say was homeless. https://t.co/H97Q6bOneB pic.twitter.com/cJvGjnXECX
— ดีงามพระราม8 (@abbear111) July 20, 2019
“I was fairly loud during the game, yelling as if the Sox could hear my cheers despite us being back in the grandstands,” Wetzonis said. “John didn’t seem to be much of a yelling type but really enjoyed the music and environment of the game.”
At the bottom of the eighth inning, with the Red Sox losing, John decided he was ready to leave Fenway Park.
“He thanked us for everything and he expressed his gratitude,” Lugo said.
As John left, the three men hoped that he had enjoyed the chance for a little relaxation and fun.
“Maybe [the game] helped alleviate the stressors that come with being homeless for the few hours at the game,” Wetzonis said.
While the group of guys could have sold the extra ticket for some extra cash, they had decided on the way to the ballpark that they wanted to offer the ticket to someone who would really enjoy it.
“I wanted to take someone who would appreciate the ticket and have the time of their lives,” Lugo told CNN.
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