Why does boston have sweet caroline

The Boston Globe explains that when "Sweet Caroline" was first played at Fenway, it was only heard during random games and only between the middle of the 7th and 9th innings. What's more is that Toby only played the song if the Red Sox were ahead in the game, seeing the song as a good luck charm. If you haven't seen the video of Neil Diamond performing "Sweet Caroline" at Fenway following the Boston Marathon bombing, you need to because it will give you chills, even if you're not a Red Sox fan.

Diamond showed up unannounced to surprise fans and express his love for the City and her people following the tragedy that fell on them. Jude Obits And though the team's dismal season did prompt the front office to briefly discuss doing away with the song, a Red Sox official said in an e-mail recently that the song was "here to stay.

And it's hard not to notice that any groans that might have come during cold, early-season games seemed to get swallowed up when the weather turned and the team started winning.

On a recent glorious evening when the Red Sox went ahead just an inning before, the ballpark thundered, so good, so good. Dugan Arnett can be reached at dugan. Follow him on Twitter duganarnett. Fans sang "Sweet Caroline" during a game earlier this season. This was organic. This was from the crowd singing it. They sang it with such participation, audible participation, why not play it for them if they want to sing it?

On April 20, , in the emotional first game back at Fenway Park after the Boston Marathon bombings, Diamond came out to the diamond to play his song live.

How 'Sweet Caroline' became a Fenway hit. Diamond was motivated to write it, he said, after he saw a photo of Caroline and her pony. This seems very nice, the nay-singers will exclaim, until you start closely examining the lyrics. Warm, touchin' warm Yes, the words do seem a little weird since Diamond revealed who Caroline was, but you can spin it another way; perhaps he was thinking of a little girl being lonely after her father's death, and that memories of them together would help her through the darkest times.

If Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg was upset by the lyrics, she never made these feelings public. In fact, Diamond was at her 50 th birthday party to sing it to her live. I stopped short of asking Diamond himself, but did go to another expert for answers. He helps sick people and their loved ones get through their hardest hours, and has had quite a few serious medical scares in his own nuclear family.

He also has a son who's seen several tours of duty in Iraq leading a U. Army National Guard unit charged with detecting and disarming bombs and other explosive devices. O'Neill is about as level-headed and un-pink-hattish an individual as you'll find, but he looks at this whole Sweet Caroline thing a bit differently.