MLB.com

By Mike Petraglia / Special to MLB.com

A days-long wait might seem like a long one for regular-season tickets, but to two Red Sox diehards, it was a small price to pay. (Brita Meng Outzen/MLB.com)

• Curt Schilling tells fans he expects to finish career with Red Sox 
• Dennis Bujan waited over two days to buy tickets 
• Chris Lamberg waited in line since Wednesday 
• Photo Gallery: Flash | HTML

But eventually that magical hour did arrive, and the two diehards became the first members of Red Sox Nation to get the chance to buy tickets for the 2005 season as part of the second annual "Christmas at Fenway" extravaganza on Yawkey Way.

Nine 2005 Sox Pax went on sale Saturday, with window orders coming in as fast as the Red Sox could print the tickets. The Red Sox sold 130,000 Sox Pax tickets in the first three hours. It was the largest single day of ticket sales in Red Sox history.

Lamberg, who hails from nearby Melrose, Mass., managed to walk away after purchasing 32 tickets while Bujan, a Red Sox fan from the Bronx, N.Y., was rewarded for his time in line by getting the chance to buy 16 tickets. Both will be on hand April 11, when the Red Sox play the Yankees in their home opener.

A days-long wait might seem like a long one for regular-season tickets, but to the two Red Sox Nation diehards, it was a small price to pay for the chance to buy tickets to see the World Series champs.

"The passion of being a Red Sox fan and knowing all the years you've gone through," said Bujan in explaining what saw him through his long wait in line. "The ups and downs, and no matter what, you want to be there Opening Day when they raise the banner and they call the individual players to receive their rings right in front of the New York Yankees. And me, coming from the Bronx, I'm going to enjoy every moment. This has just been very touching for me."

"I'm 39 years very old, but I'm getting younger by the minute with these tickets in hand, for sure," an excited Lamberg quipped. "I started [waiting] Wednesday at 2 p.m. I would've doubled it. Now that I'm here [with tickets in hand], I absolutely would've doubled it."

Up to 3,000 fans waited in the rain and fog Saturday for their chance to buy tickets.

"It went by surprisingly quickly," Lamberg said. "The fellow from the Bronx was here and we talked and that was nice. It was an absolute blast and I would do it all over again. It wasn't easy every moment but I would do it all over again."

As was the case in December 2003, the team opened the .406 Club to fans, who were treated to speeches from several personalities and video, as well as warm refreshments on the chilly day.

And adding to the holiday cheer at Fenway, the Red Sox took a page out of their book from last year by surprising some fans with a guest visit by postseason hero Curt Schilling. The Sox ace, who was supposed to be on a USO trip in Iraq, took questions for over 45 minutes from eager and enthusiastic fans.

"This city transcends anything else, not only baseball, but in all of sports," Schilling told the jam-packed crowd inside the .406 Club. "That was a tremendous motivator for us and for me. Playing here is like playing 162 NFL games and 19 World Series games. It's intense."

Then there were the Red Sox staffers who had the enormous responsibility of piecing the two-day event together, a process that began just over 24 hours after Keith Foulke flipped the ball to Doug Mientkiewicz on Oct. 27 in St. Louis.

"I think I took a day after the World Series and then we jumped right into this," said Marcell Saporita, manager of Red Sox ticket services. "This event takes some time to prepare for to make sure your staff is ready, making sure ticket-wise we're making as many tickets available to the general public as possible."

"It's a vision of the ownership, bringing people inside and giving people the opportunity to purchase tickets as stocking stuffers," added Sarah McKenna, Red Sox director of fan and neighborhood services. "It's nice to be able to go home and say to someone for the holidays, 'Here's what I got you for the season.' And our hats are off to the sales staff on a day like this because they have to be so ready on a day like this. It's such a busy weekend and they have to be ready."

Another celebrity made an appearance in one of the third base suites -- the World Series trophy. Fans, in exchange for a donation to the Red Sox Foundation, had the chance to pose with the now-famous prize in front of the same World Series banner that was used for press conferences and in the Sox clubhouse for the presentation by Commissioner Bud Selig following Game 4.

"The office is slammed with fans here just to enjoy the events we have, as well as, get their first opportunities to purchase tickets to the high-demand games such as the Yankees, Opening Day," said Saporita. "The crowd is excited and have been camped out for four days now. The office has been running around like crazy preparing for this.

"We're offering not just tickets but the park to fans. That is showing the fans we want them to come here, purchase tickets and get a feel for us. That's why we have Red Sox personalities speaking and members of our staff speaking. We want them to get a feel of who we are," added Saporita.

Mike Petraglia is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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