Google search: What does “Sweet Caroline” have to do with Fenway Park?
Hoped-for answers:
- Neil Diamond wrote the song to honor under-cover cross-dressing lady ball player Caroline O’Toole, shortstop. For six glorious seasons in the 1920s, Ms. O’Toole contributed to a winning streak the Red Sox wouldn’t see again for decades. She was kicked off the team when a teammate surprised her in the locker room, but her legend lives on, commemorated in the 8th inning of every game.
- The ghost at Fenway Park is named “Caroline” (are baseball stadiums like theaters, in that they all ought to have a ghost?).
- 1970s third-base coach Charlie Flannagan was known for his kind and nurturing style of interaction with players. His fellow coaches derided him, saddling him with the nickname “Sweet Caroline,” after a song that was climbing the charts that summer. Despite the other coaches’ jeers, Flannagan was a surprisingly effective coach. The song became a defiant anthem as he talked his players through base-stealing homers in game after game.
- The crowds sing it in honor of home-grown heroine Caroline Kennedy, who inspired the song.
None of these are true, but all are much more awesome than the real answer (TL:DR, “I don’t know, we just kind of liked that song.”).
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